Saturday, January 19, 2008

Last Week's Market Action

Wow -- what a terrible week for the bulls:

The S&P 500 ended the week down 76, or 5.4%, to 1325, and has pulled back 15% since Oct. 9. The Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 100, or 4.1%, to 2340, and is 18% off its October high. The Russell 2000 Index of small stocks fell 31, or 4.5%, to 673. Its 21% drop since July 13 puts it officially in bear-market territory.


The bottom line is the market is dropping hard.

I'll have an article before the open on Monday about the markets. As a hint -- it will not be good.



The SPYS have a pretty clear downward trajectory in place. Notice the following:

-- The index gapped down on Monday and never recovered

-- The market couldn't keep any gains. The market rallied near the end of trading on Tuesday but the rally faded. The same thing happened Wednesday and early Friday.

-- The chart has a clear pattern of lower lows and lower highs.



The QQQQs have a very clear downward trajectory. Notice the multiple times the index tried to rally but faltered. Also note the index ended the week near the weekly low. Bottom line: this chart is terrible.



The IWMs are also in terrible technical shape.

-- They gapped lower at the open on Tuesday.

-- They tried to rally three times on Tuesday, but couldn't hold.

-- On Thursday there is a clear pattern of lower lows and lower highs.

-- The market dropped hard on Friday and closed near weekly lows.

There is nothing good in these charts; they all say the markets are in heavy sell mode.