The stock market indices suffered a nasty spill today as world markets were lower, partially because of the saber rattling between North and South Korea.

The indices dropped sharply at the opening, gapped down, tried to rally midmorning and went lower, and made session lows before noon. The rest of the day was spent backing and filling, and trying to consolidate. They did have a little bit of a late bump, but closed off sharply.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 142.21 at 11,036.37, managing to hold above 11,000, dipping under it just slightly at one point in the session. The S&P 500 was down 17.11 at 1180.73, about 4 points off its low. The Nasdaq 100 was down 34.25 at 2116.61, about 11 points off its low.

Advance-declines were nearly 4 to 1 negative on the New York Stock Exchange, and 3 to 1 negative on Nasdaq. Up/down volume on New York was 11 to 1 negative, and total volume just over 1 billion shares. Nasdaq traded about 2.85 billion shares and had about a 5 to 1 negative ratio.

So, a decidedly negative session today.

Charts of the Day:

Tonight's video includes AFFY, BWS, DRV, DY, EDZ, FTK, GORO, MDAS, MGIC, MHR, SODA, SVN and URRE.

Reviewing our Watchboard:

On TheTechTrader.com board, the vast majority of stocks were down, but there were several that did very well today. SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA), one of our swing trade picks, jumped 3.66 to 38.86. Golden Minerals Company (AUMN) was up 1.26 to 26.97, and Gold Resource Corp (GORO) 80 cents to 25.80, as the metals were slightly firmer today.

Other stocks of note, Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (BWS) was up 1.98 to 14.17, a solid session there. Palomar Medical Technologies Inc. (PMTI) advanced 1.18 to 13.09, Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (MGIC) 64 cents to 6.57, MedAssets, Inc. (MDAS) 1.37 to 18.14, Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG) 2.14 to 39.63, Genesco Inc. (GCO) 2.40 to 38.57, and Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) 1.17 to 34.57.

The ultra-short ETFs did very well today. Leading the way, the Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bear 3X Shares (EDZ), a swing trade pick of ours, was up 2.17 to 25.42, and the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) up 1.95 to 44.87.

On the downside, Apple Inc. (AAPL) lost 4.63 to 308.73, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) 2.19 to 168.20, Acme Packet, Inc. (APKT) 1.15 to 43.64, Goldman Sachs (GS) 3.27 to 157.78, and IntraLinks Holdings, Inc. (IL) 1.51 to 20.91 were among the point losers today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices fell sharply in the morning, stabilized around midday and tried to rally, but couldn't muster anything and ended up down sharply on the day.

We'll see if today's lows near the 2105 level on the NDX and 1177 area on the S&P 500 are able to hold tomorrow. Those will be the initial key support levels that we'll be watching.

Good Trading!

Harry

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Mr. Boxer's commentaries and index analysis represent his own opinions and should not be relied upon for purposes of effecting securities transactions or other investing strategies, nor should they be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy any security. You should not interpret Mr. Boxer's opinions as constituting investment advice. Trades mentioned on the site are hypothetical, not actual, positions.

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