The indices had a quite negative finish not only to the session but the week, and they went out with a 4-day downtrend, near the lows for the day, particularly on the Dow and S&P 500. The day started out with a very sharp move lower after the employment report. They bounced around and then edged up slowly in bear-flag fashion for the next 4-5 hours. In the last hour or so when they failed at the declining tops resistance going back 4 days, they rolled over in a 3-wave decline and closed at the lows for the afternoon on the Nasdaq and the lows for the week on the S&P 500 and Dow.

Net on the day the Dow closed just under 8600 at 8599 and change, down more than 143. The S&P 500 at 890 and change was down 19.38, and the Nasdaq 100 at 1223 was down 29.51. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down 7.28 today, a loss of 3 1/2 percent, closing at 215.28.

The technicals were negative by 22 to 9 on advance-declines on New York and by about 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 6 to 1 negative on New York on total volume of just under 1.2 billion. Nasdaq traded a little over 1.9 billion and had 3 1/2 to 1 negative volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed with more point-plus losers than gainers. The stock of the day to the downside was Rambus (RMBS), which got hammered on a negative court decision, dropping rapidly from 18.65 mid-day to 10.25 at one point, closing at 11.24, down 7.26 on 35 1/2 million shares.

Apple (AAPL) dropped 2.12 today, and Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) got hammered for 4.40 at one point, reaching 20 but snapping back to 23.72, still down 2.07 on the day on 2 1/2 million shares. Sequenom (SQNM) gave back 1.38 to close at 23.02. Net 1 Ueps Technologies (UEPS) lost 1.06 to 12.95. Continental (CAL) dropped 1.21 to 20.37 in a weak airline sector. UAL (UAUA) was down 53 cents.

On the ETF front, the Direxion Large Cap Bull 3X Shares (BGU) was down 2.49, the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (DIG) 1.67, iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI) 1.07, and the Ultra QQQQ ProShares (QLD) 1.28.

On the plus side, DryShips (DRYS) had another fantastic day, reaching as high as 17.20 at one point, but closing at 16.58, up 1.45 on 27 1/4 million, but still a terrific performance on a negative day like today.

The short ETFs on our board were up only small fractions, except for the Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) which gained 3.24 to 58.93, and the Ultrashort QQQQ ProShares (QID) up 2.26 to 55.29.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the day consisted of a 3-leg decline, with a very sharp decline at the opening and a tedious multi-hour advance that appeared to be a bear flag and did roll over in the last hour to confirm those flags, closing at the lows for the week on the S&P and Dow.

So a negative way to end the week, and we'll see if the trend continues starting early next week. But right now the short-term trend is down, although the intermediate-term still remains up.

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.