DIA, XLI, XLK Inch to New Highs as SPY, IWM, QQQ, and XLY Pause as Momentum Slows...Oil and Energy Move Lower...

Five of nine sectors moved higher and one was unchanged on Wednesday …XLU, XLP and XLB were the strongest sectors while XLE was the weakest sector.  Oil futures down 1.51 to close at 45.11.

Breadth weakened as decliners led 1,595 to 1,398 on the NYSE and led 1,518 to 1,028 on the NASDAQ.

Wednesday – weakened, decliners led, +5

Tuesday – strengthened, advancers led, +7

Monday – weakened, advancers led, +7

Friday – strengthened, advancers led, +9

Thursday – weakened, advancers led, +4

SPY down .03 at 214.92 on 87.3 million shares, 16% below average volume

VIX down .51 at 13.04

TLT up 1.65 at 141.65…on 8.1 million shares, 10% below average volume

Technical Commentary:

DIA +0.11%, SPY -0.01%, QQQ -0.24%, IWM -0.39%,

DIA, XLI and XLK inched to new highs while SPY, IWM, QQQ and XLY paused in their three week up trends.  With so many recent breakouts you should remember breakouts typically test about 70% of the time.

New highs occurred in many stocks today including AMAT, INTC, LRCX and TXN.  STX and WDC continued to move higher.

With Wednesday’s pause day it’s time to consider moving up stops on short term bullish trades that could pull back.  All according to your profit protection rules.

Earning’s Announcements:

Positive Reactions: YUM after the close

Negative Reactions:

Technical analysis based trades should be closed before earnings.

Trade what you see, not…

Stocks below support should generally be traded bearishly until a reversal pattern forms.

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Strong Stocks: Setups and Moves You Can Use

Bull Flag Setups include:  ADP, AMZN, BMRN, CMCSA, DLTR, EA, FB, KHC, NTES, ORLY, PAYX, AWK, BCR, CCI, CMS, CNP, DLR, EIX, KIM, NEE, NEM, NI, PNW, VTR, WEC,

Bull Flag Bounces include:  O, UNH, HCN,

Horizontal Breakout Setups include: SWN, RIG, IRM, SE, ADSK, AKAM, CTXS, EXPE, MDLZ, NCLH, NTAP, NXPI, ROST, SWKS, TMUS, VIAB, CCL, RCL, FOSL, AES, OKE, CF, URI, NFX, UDR, CBG, DVN, KMX,

Horizontal Breakout include:  MSFT, CBL, PYPL, FCX,

New Highs include: ADI, AMAT, CA, COST, CSCO, CSX, ESRX, FISV, INTC, LRCX, MNST, TMUS, TXN, VRSK, STX, WDC, AA, CPA, BXP, X, NUE, SCHN, LMT, MAC, JNJ, AIV, GGP, DHI, CINF, SPG, AAL, GPRO, IRM, ATI, EQR, AMT, EW, STLD, TRIP, ATVI, INTU, LMT, ULTA, SYK, CVX, AMBA, GPS, NKE, CERN, MLM, DHI,

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Remember:  “It’s a market of stocks, not just a stock market.”

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

The SPY MFC green line is in the upper zone at 94, bullish.

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

85 NDX stocks are above their 30 DMA.

NDX Stocks to Watch on Thursday:

Moving Above 30 DMA = 1

WBA

Moving Below 30 DMA = 4

CELG, VRTX, DISH, TSCO  

6-month Intermediate Term Market Trend: Up

3-day Short Term Market Trend: Up