Small Caps Gain as Eight Sectors and SPY Pull Back...

Eight of nine sectors moved lower on Thursday …XLU, XLE and XLY were the strongest sectors while XLB was the weakest sector.  Oil futures fell .19 to close at 38.11. 

                         

Breadth weakened as advancers led decliners 1.21 to 1 on the NYSE and decliners led 1.03 to 1 on the NASDAQ.

Thursday - weakened, advancers led on NYSE

Wednesday – weakened, advancers led

Tuesday – strengthened, advancers led

Monday – mixed, advancers led on NYSE

Friday – weakened, advancers led

SPY down .50 at 206.02 on 94.5 million shares, 5% below average volume

VIX up .39 at 13.95…

TNX down .44 at 17.86…

TLT up .92 at 131.07…on 7.8 million shares, 5% above average volume

XLF down .05 at 22.50…on 32.4 million shares, 40% below average volume

AAPL down .57 at 108.99 on 25.8 million shares, 21% below average volume

FB down .60 at 114.10 on 21.2 million shares, 15% below average volume

Technical Commentary:

IWM +0.28%, DIA -0.14%, QQQ -0.15%, SPY -0.24%.

NDX -7.23 on Thursday was led by point gainers BIIB, MSFT, ALXN, CELG, CMCSA and ILMN.  Point losers included AMZN, INTC, GOOG, PCLN, FB, TXN, AVGO and MDLZ.

NDX percentage leaders: INCY, BMRN, ALXN, ILMN, VIAB BIIB, WDC, NTAP, NCLH, DISCA, VRSK

The DJIA was led by gains in IBM, AXP, DIS, MSFT, GS and CVX as only 10 of 30 stocks moved higher.

Trade what you see, not…

Stocks below support should generally be traded bearishly until a reversal pattern forms.    Bear call spreads and short put verticals on VXX can also assist in providing protection for downside risk.                                                                                                                           

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 SPX MFC green line is at 94. 

51 of 100 NDX stocks closed higher and two were unchanged on Thursday.

83 NDX stocks are above their 30 DMA.

NDX Stocks to Watch on Friday:

Moving Above 30 DMA = 5

ALXN, BIIB, BMRN, INCY, WDC

Moving Below 30 DMA = 4

EBAY, PCLN, PYPL, XLNX

6-month Intermediate Term Market Trend: Neutral

3-day Short Term Market Trend: Up