SPY, DIA, QQQ Open Higher Grind Sideways in Range Bound Trading...IWM Moves Lower...Oil Rises Third Straight Day...

Five of nine sectors moved higher on Tuesday …XLE, XLK and XLF were the strongest sectors while XLV was the weakest sector.  Oil futures rose .36 to close at 50.20.

Breadth weakened as advancers led 1,687 to 1,306 on the NYSE and decliners led 1,492 to 1,035 on the NASDAQ.

Tuesday – weakened, advancers led on the NYSE, +5

Monday – strengthened, advancers led, +8

Friday – strengthened, advancers led on the NYSE, +4

Thursday – weakened, decliners led, +8

Wednesday – strengthened, advancers led, +4

SPY up .59 at 208.44 on 72.4 million shares, 13% below average volume

VIX up .11 at 18.48

TLT down .62 at 133.54…on 6.0 million shares, 10% below average volume

Technical Commentary:

QQQ +0.32%, SPY +0.28%, DIA +0.15%, IWM -0.19%,

Oil rose as did SPY, DIA and QQQ.  Volatility VIX was up slightly.  Bonds TLT were down. The broad indexes were mostly range bound after a higher open with RUT down for the day.

NDX +13.24 was led by point gains in MSFT, FB, ADBE, AMZN, AAPL, INTC, GOOG, ESRX, MU and MDLZ. 

MSFT bounced up from support in a sideways range.  FB bounced from support in a slightly down sloping channel while ADBE bounced up for the second straight day to horizontal resistance from a long bull flag channel (17 days).

Oil rose for the third straight day gaining about 80% of its move down over the prior six days.  Energy stocks MRO, KMI, TSO, RRC, DO, MUR, APA, DVN, XEC, EOG, HP, PXD and SE were among the top 25 SPX leaders on Tuesday.

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:  JNJ, CSCO, XRX, FISV, AVGO, AMZN, CMCSA, ESRX, INCY, WBA, IRM, X, SCHW, DISH, WYNN, GPS, VIAB

Bull Flag Bounces include: MDLZ, SPY, IWM, UNH, SWN, AMAT, EA, PCLN, MU, WDC,

Horizontal Breakout Setups include: ADBE, INTC, PAYX, OKE, MAT, ROST, WMB, HPE, XOM, CSX, RIG, CHK, RRC, CVX, CAT, IBM, DVN, NOV, MU, STX, LB, NVDA, ULTA, CA, MNST, ATVI, TXN,

Horizontal Breakout include: LRCX, WRK, SE, EQT, ADP, DLTR

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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 pointed up at 58, bullish.

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

64 NDX stocks are above their 30 DMA.

NDX Stocks to Watch on Wednesday:

Moving Above 30 DMA = 3

ADSK, ESRX, MDLZ

Moving Below 30 DMA = 4

BBBY, ENDP, FOXA, NTES

6-month Intermediate Term Market Trend: Neutral

3-day Short Term Market Trend: Up