Stocks Pause Ahead of AAPL, FB Earnings...AAPL Gaps Higher After-hours, Stocks Surge...

Five of nine sectors moved higher on Wednesday…XLE, XLI and XLF were the strongest sectors…XLK was the weakest sector again.   

Breadth weakened as decliners led advancers 1.05 to 1 on the NYSE and 2.16 to 1 on the NASDAQ.

Wednesday – weakened, decliners led

Tuesday – strengthened, advancers led

Monday – strengthened, advancers led

Friday - Holiday

Thursday – weakened, advancers led

SPY down .44 at 187.45 on 73.5 million shares, reversed in after-hours

VIX up .08 at 13.27…

TNX down .40 at 26.86…

TLT up .63 at 110.96...

XLF up .05 at 22.04 on 26.1 million shares, lower than average volume

AAPL down 6.95 at 524.75 on 13.5 million shares, reversed in after-hours

FB down 1.67 at 61.36…on 94.9 million share, reversed in after-hours

Technical Commentary:

QQQ – 0.88%, IWM – 0.63%, SPY – 0.23%, DIA – 0.10%.

After a horizontal breakout on Tuesday the SPX paused above resistance seemingly waiting for AAPL and FB to report after the close.  Breakouts typically pause, not always the day after, however with important earnings from AAPL and FB it is not surprising.  Plenty of movement occurred from stocks reporting either Tuesday after the close or Wednesday before the open.  Positive reactions gapped SWKS, GILD, BA and DAL higher, while negative reactions gapped CREE, VMW, T, AMGN, NSC and PG lower.

After the close AAPL +41.40, +7.89% announced in addition to earnings a 7 for 1 stock split and an increased share buyback.  ANGI, FB, CTXS and FFIV were also moving higher in after-hours trading following earning announcement.  

The AAPL reaction sent futures and index ETFs higher in after-hours trading:  QQQ +1.14, +1.31%, IWM +0.74, +0.65%, SPY +0.98, +0.52% and DIA +0.56, +0.34%, each reversing their down move and adding gains for the day. 

Based on the weight of the technical evidence we continue to look for the uptrend to continue higher, while understanding that many individual stocks will continue to experience negative earning reactions.

Charts are poised for a horizontal resistance breakout with earning reports increasing on Tuesday through Thursday.

Trade with the trend of the chart you are trading and continue to move your protective stops.  Continue to follow your rules.

Short-term up trend Chart Targets:

SPY = 187.17, 189.70…

QQQ = 86.90, 87.88, 89.66…

IWM = 113.84, 115.25, 118.48…

Support Levels

SPY = 183.37, 181.38

QQQ = 85.09, 84.16, 83.15, 82.03

IWM = 110.12, 108.91, 106.99

Earnings This Week:

Monday: NFLX, HAL, HAS, KMB, STI, ZION

Tuesday: AMGN, GILD, MCD, TRV, UTX, AKS, ATI, T, ACI, CREE, HOG, JNPR, LXK, RF, SPG, SWKS, VMW, XRX

Wednesday: AAPL, BIIB, CTXS, FFIV, FB, NXPI, ORLY, QCOM, TSCO, XLNX, PG, ANGI, BA, DAL, ETFC, ZNGA, DAVE, JCI, NSC,

Thursday: ALXN, ALTR, AMZN, BIDU, BRCM, CELG, CLF, KLAC, MXIM, MSFT, SIRI, SRCL, WYNN, MMM, LLY, V, VZ, AET, CNX, DECK, FCX, ESI, LVS, NUE, P, BTU, POT, RCL, LUV, SWK, SPWR, NDAQ, UA, UPS, YNDX

Friday:

Q1 Earnings Reactions

Positive Reactions – SWKS, BA, DAL, GILD, NFLX, HOG, RF, XRX, HAL, HAS, STI, BHI, BX, C, GE, GME, IBKR, INTC, JNJ, KO, MS, SCHW, SNDK, UNP, URI, WFC, YHOO

Negative Reactions – AMGN, CREE, JCI, JNPR, NSC, T, VMW, TRV, LXK, KMB, ZION, AKS, ATI, ACI, BAC, BBRY, FAST, GOOG, IBM, JPM, LLTC, MU, STLD, UNH

Reversal in progress – ATI, IBM, LLTC, STLD, ZION

Reversal of Initial Reaction – AKS, BAC, MU

The SPY Market Forecast green line is pointed up at 67.

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Setups

H Breakout: C, ETFC, FAS, JDSU, MFRM, MS, MTW, NKE, PANW, SCHW, STI, TLT, X, ANGI, BAC, CIEN, CSIQ, QIHU, SFUN, SWI, TSL, TWTR, ADBE, CELG, CMCSA, EBAY, FB, FFIV, MNST, PCLN,

Diagonal Breakout: FSLR, IWM, RCL, UAL, DDD, ESI, GOGO, LVS, P, AAPL, AKAM, DTV, GRMN, MSFT, WFM, WYNN,

Bull Flag: INTC,    

One Day:  

Potential Bullish Divergence:

Gap Up: AAPL, ANGI, FB, CTXS, FFIV, ZNGA

Gap Down:  XLNX, ORLY, QCOM, TSCO,

Bear Flag: 

At Support: GME, ANR, RAX, ESRX,

C- Pattern:   

Moves

New Highs:       

Gap Up: SWKS, SPWR, GILD, BA, DAL  

Gap Down: CREE, VMW, T, AMGN, NSC, PG,

H Breakout: AAL, KKD, COST,    

Diagonal Breakout:   

Breakout Test:

Bull Flag Bounce:   

Bounce: ATI, WLT,   

MACD Divergence Bounce: ZION,

Bear Flag: 

Support Break: GMCR, ROST,   

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30 of 100 NDX stocks closed higher on Wednesday and one was unchanged.

Leading NDX 100 stocks included: ILMN, AVGO, GILD, BRCM, NVDA, SRCL, COST, KRFT

Lagging NDX stocks included: ISRG, NFLX, AMGN, TSLA, GMCR, WYNN, TRIP, STX, REGN, VIP, CTXS, FB, ALXN

Leading stocks > +2% on Wednesday included: SWKS, AAL, SPWR, WLT, ANR

Lagging stocks < -2.0% included: CREE, GME, JNPR, CTRP, PANW, Z, SCSS, SPLK, YELP, UBNT, P, SFUN, SOHU

Stocks to Watch on Thursday

Holding Above 30 DMA= 35

MAR, GRMN, KRFT, FAST, INTC, QCOM, WDC, CSCO, CHRW, SPLS, NVDA, SYMC, LINTA, COST, EXPD, SIAL, MDLZ, MU, SNDK, ADI, VIP, NXPI, BIDU, CHKP, CMCSA, FFIV, ORLY, FOXA, AVGO, CELG, DTV, GILD, MXIM, TXN, CHTR

Moving Above 30 DMA = 2

MYL, ILMN

Moving Below 30 DMA = 10

AAPL, EXPE, FISV, MSFT, STX, YHOO, FB, REGN, SBAC, TSLA

Staying Below 30 DMA

ISRG,  AMAT, BRCM, KLAC, LLTC, MAT, NTAP, PCAR, XLNX, BBBY, ROST, DISH, ALTR, AMGN, ATVI, CTSH, HSIC, PAYX, VIAB, DISCA, ADP, SBUX, TSCO, CTXS, INTU, AKAM, EBAY, ESRX, WFM, LMCA, TRIP, ADBE, AMZN, BIIB, DLTR, GMCR, ALXN, CERN, PCLN, WYNN, LBTYA, MNST,SRCL,EQIX, NFLX, CA, VRSK, ADSK, VOD, VRTX, SIRI, CTRX, GOOG

Sixteen Week Intermediate Term Market Trend: Up

3-Day Short Term Market Trend: Up