SPX Pauses as RUT Gains...Financials Surge as Leading Sector...

One of nine sectors moved higher on Tuesday …XLF, XLB and XLI were the strongest sectors while XLV was the weakest sector.  Oil futures eased down .69 to close at 46.26.  Oil is forming a potential bull flag.

Breadth weakened as decliners led 1,553 to 1,451 on the NYSE and advancers led 1,504 to 1,317 on the NASDAQ.

Tuesday – weakened, advancers led on the NASDAQ, +1

Monday – strengthened, advancers led, +9

Friday – weakened, decliners led, +3

Thursday – strengthened, advancers led, +4

Wednesday – weakened, decliners led, +0

SPY down .36 at 218.00 on 58.1 million shares, 3% below average volume

VIX up .18 at 13.12

TLT down .54 at 139.67…on 6.2 million shares, 16% below average volume

Technical Commentary:

IWM +0.19%, SPY -0.17%, DIA -0.17%, QQQ -0.32%,

The SPX was led by gains in MOS, UAL, CF, MDLZ, TSO, MS, AAL, PRGO, BAC, WFC, MET, CNC and LUV.

SPX losers included HSY, NEM, GPS, FCX, ULTA, FOSL, MRO, NRG, BMY, URBN, DG, VFC, JEC and MUR.

Consider moving up stops on short term bullish trades that could pull back.  All according to your profit protection rules.

Remember breakouts typically test about 70% of the time.

Technical analysis based trades should be closed before earnings. After-hours

Trade what you see, not…

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

______________________

Strong Stocks: Setups and Moves You Can Use

Bull Flag Setups include: URBN, LB, M, KSS, CERN, ROST, AAPL, KMI, JD, MAR, HRL, WMB, JCP, TWTR, GPRO, RL, CAT, TIF, BURL, HLT,

Bull Flag Bounces include: EA, CHTR, IWM

Horizontal Breakout Setups include: MPC, IWM, SPY, PCAR, CTRP, INTC, ATI, VLO, STX, CCL, PAYX, NFLX, MSFT, AAL, NVDA, MAT, HPE, CBG, AVGO, WDC, QQQ, JWN, PCLN, KMX,

Horizontal Breakout include: GS, XLF, ETFC, C,

New Highs include: AMBA, MS, CBL, WFC, GS, JPM, C, FAS, XLF, PCAR, STT, CHK, BAC, ZION, XLNX, WRK, SWKS, SYMC, NTAP, AVGO, AMAT, ADSK, MU, ADBE, TSN, URI,

______________________

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 pointed down below 80 at 67, defensive.  SPY is above short-term support, take defensive action if SPY breaks below 217, otherwise trend is short-term trend is neutral and stay positioned accordingly.

33 of 100 NDX stocks closed higher and one was unchanged on Tuesday.

56 NDX stocks are above their 30 DMA.

NDX Stocks to Watch on Wednesday:

Moving Above 30 DMA = 1

MDLZ

Moving Below 30 DMA = 6

AMGN, BMRN, SBAC, SBUX, TMUS, VOD

6-month Intermediate Term Market Trend: Up

3-day Short Term Market Trend: Neutral