The markets had a volatile session, but a got very strong finish, closing at the highs for the day on some of the indices and near them on the others.

The day started out with positive market futures, but they had come way off their early pre-market highs. They opened positive but then sold off immediately to retest yesterday's late lows, but held there. When that happened, they staged a very strong rally in the morning that took the Nasdaq 100 from about 1192 to 1137, about a 45-point rally.

The S&P 500 went from about the 818 area up 848, about a 30-point rally over the next 2-3 hours. By lunch hour they reached their morning rally peak, and then rolled over sharply in early afternoon to do a very sharp plunge and retest the lows, However, they made higher lows, turned it around, and rallied very sharply back in the last hour, particularly the last 10 minutes at which point the S&P alone went from 832 to 850.

Net on the day the Dow was up 270 to 8419, the S&P 500 up 32.60 to just under 849, and the Nasdaq 100 up 38.84 to 1130. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) gained 2.45.

The technicals were solid today, with advance-declines positive by 24 to 7, or 3 1/2 to 1, on New York and by 2 1/2 to 1 positive Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 1.4 billion to the upside and only 171 million to the downside on New York, about an 8 to 1 ratio,. Nasdaq had about a 6 to 1 positive volume ratio, with 1.77 billion to the upside and only 292 million to the downside.

TheTechTrader.com board, as a result of the late surge, closed mostly green. Leading the way were some of the ETFs, with the BGU up 2.93 to 30.63, the DIG 1.81, the FXI also up 1.81, the EWZ up 1.30, and the QLD up 1.44.

----------------------
See Harry's Chart of the Day Video Presentation
----------------------

AAPL advanced 3.54 and ENER 2.64. Portfolio position EBS jumped to 24.24 up 1.87, and SQNM snapped back 1.90 to 15.97. AFAM was up 1.90, and portfolio position SPWR closed at 30.17, up 1.55.

Some of the agriculture stocks, despite a weak opening, turned it around, with CF closing at 45.95 up 1.73 and MOS at 27.16 up 1.76.

POT still was down on the day, off 1.27, and so was AGU ,which also did not make it back into the plus column, down 1.12.

Other stocks on the downside, the USO dropped 1.39, as oil went to 3 1/2-year lows. The SDS in the ultrashort ETF area got clobbered for 7.95, the BGZ 9.84, and the QID 5.82.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns we had two steep spike lows today, making higher lows on the second low, triggering a very late strong rally that took the indices to near their session highs. It was a promising session for the indices, but everything will depend on tomorrow's action and whether they get a follow-through and take out overhead resistance. Right now we'll be watching the 1133-37 zone, which is just above on the NDX, and the current level on the SPX at 850, which is immediate resistance, followed by the 858-60 zone.

Good trading!

Harry

For more of Harry Boxer, sign up for a FREE 15-Day Trial to his Real-Time Technical Trading Diary. Or sign up for a Free 30-Day Trial to his Top Charts of the Week service.

(c) 2008 AdviceTrade, Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed only by written permission of AdviceTrade and The Technical Trader at info@advicetrade.com . In using any portion of Harry Boxer's content, you agree to the terms and conditions governing the use of the service as described in our disclaimer at http://www.thetechtrader.com

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.

Harry Boxer Archive

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.