Light Trading Again as Support Holds on SPY, QQQ, DIA, IWM...NVDA Finds Support Leads NDX...

Sector Trend Strength:

Up Trend: XLF, XLI, XLB, XLY, XLE, XLK, XLP

Sideways: XLV, XLU, XLRE

Down Trend:

Breadth strengthened as advancers led 1,783 to 1,219 on the NYSE and decliners led 1,409 to 1,363 on the NASDAQ.

Thursday – strengthened, advancers led on the NYSE, +5

Wednesday – weakened, decliners led, +0

Tuesday – strengthened, advancers led, +9

Monday – Christmas Holiday Observance

Friday – strengthened, advancers led, +7

Oil futures were up .19 to close at 53.85 on Thursday.  

SPY down .05 at 224.35 on 48.6 million shares, 39% below average volume,

VIX up .42 at 13.37

TLT up .42 at 118.95…on 8.5 million shares, 14% below average volume

Technical Commentary:

IWM +0.09%, SPY -0.02%, DIA -0.05%, QQQ -0.14%,

Broad market SPY, QQQ, IWM and DIA held at support with below average volume on Thursday.

NVDA sold off to 102.80 before rallying more than $8 to be the strongest stock in the NDX on Thursday.

Look for a potential support bounce on Friday or Tuesday in the market and sector ETFs.

Prepare to be defensive if SPY, QQQ, IWM and DIA break below their short-term support levels of the past two weeks.

SPX down .66 at 2,249

SPX gainers NEM, DLR, ETR, NVDA, LNT, PNW, ER, PCG, WEC, XEL, EIX, ES, AGN, WY, FRT, CHD, EXC, PEG, AEE, AEP, PLD, KIM, ED, O, NI, NEE, DUK, ABC, EQR, HCP, CNP, PPL, CMS, HRL, CSRA, RTN, TAP, EW

QQQ formed a spinning top on Thursday and is a bull flag setup.  QQQ did stay above old resistance for the twelfth straight day.

  

NDX point losers: AMZN, FB, CMCSA, GILD, TSLA, GOOG, MSFT, REGN and MU

2016 Q4 EPS

EPS Positive Reactions

MU, CAG, NKE, KMX, CCL, JBL

EPS Negative Reactions

RHT, BBBY, FINL, AGN, FDX, GIS, ADBE

Follow your rules and look for potential re-entry if you were stopped out of any profitable trades.

Continue to move up stops on short term bullish trades that could pull back.  All according to your profit protection rules.  If you moved stops you may have been stopped out today.

Remember breakouts typically test about 70% of the time.

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.

______________________

Strong Stocks: Setups and Moves You Can Use

Bull Flag Setups include: QQQ, IWM, DIA, COST, NVDA, MU, AMAT, XLNX, AVGO, NFLX, MAR, LRCX, ZION, CFG, SCHW, CMCSA, SOXL, STI, JPM, C, PAYX, FISV, SQ, ALK, CTXS, INTC, TXN, BAC, DAL, LUV, UAL, WDC, MCD, MSFT, DISCA, GOOG, TSCO, USB, GS, KLAC,

One Day Pullback: TSLA,

Bull Flag Bounces include: CHTR,

At Support Setups include: SPY, CMA, ETFC, HBAN, KEY, MS, RF, HIG, UPS, CE, BHI, STLD, AAL, CAR, CC, ATVI, ATI, PCLN, PWR, DAL, FAST, ICE, ADSK, FAS, MGM, STX,

Support Bounce:

Horizontal Breakout Setups include: CHTR, LNG, AAPL, STX, CHKP, FTI,

EA, EBAY, TRV, CSX, NUE, HAL, ADI, TMUS, AKS, X, RCL, CCL, GD, BA, UTX, MMM, HES,

Horizontal Breakouts include:

New Highs include: ADP,

Break of Support: APA, NCLH, PCAR, ROST, SBUX, WBA, BBY,

______________________

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

CTAS, HAS, HOLX and KLAC were added to the NDX on Dec 19.  BBBY, NTAP, SRCL and WFM were removed in the annual changes to the NASDAQ-100.

The SPY MFC green line is in the upper zone at 86 bullish. 

46 of 100 NDX stocks closed higher on Thursday.

51 NDX stocks are above their 30 DMA.

NDX Stocks to Watch on Friday:

Moving Above 30 DMA = 3

BIDU, HSIC, ULTA

Moving Below 30 DMA = 4

AAL, NXPI, STX, SWKS

6-month Intermediate Term Market Trend: Up

3-day Short Term Market Trend: Neutral