The bulls had their heads handed to them on Friday, as the indices got crushed in one of the biggest losses in years. The Dow Jones, in particular, got hammered for 367 points, the S&P 500 nearly 40, the Nasdaq 100 56 1/2 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) down a whopping 21.32, or more than 4 percent.

The day started out with a sharply lower opening. They moved steadily lower until around mid-morning when the indices had a snapback rally which failed at intraday price and moving average resistance. They then began a slow rollover retest, bounced again, but couldn't hold it, then rolled over sharply and took out the lows late in the afternoon and spiked down into the close, with the indices closing near the lows for the day going away.

The technicals were extremely negative with a more than 5 1/2 to 1 negative ratio on advance-declines, and a similar amount on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was worse, dropping by about 17 to 1 on New York and about 11 to 1 on Nasdaq. Total volume was heavier, about 1.6 billion traded on New York and about 2.4 billion on Nasdaq.

TheTechTrader.com board, as you can imagine, was sharply lower, with many multiple-point losers. The shipping stocks took it in on the chin and led the way down, with DryShips (DRYS) dropping 11 1/4 and Excel Maritime (EXM) down a little more than 4.

Among other losers, Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) fell 5.08, VMware (VMW) 3.81, Eschelon Corp. (ELON) 2.93, and Ascent Solar (ASTI) 2.21.

China Sunergy (CSUN) was down 1.75, FuelTek (FTEK) 1.44, GigaMedia (GIGM) 1.18, Rediff.com India (REDF) 1.22, Immersion Corp. (IMMR) 1.22, and Sigma Designs (SIGM) gave back 1.47.

On the plus side, CyberSource (CYBS) gained 2.31 on strong earnings and upgrades, and portfolio positions SDS, up 2/58, and QID, up 1.62, obviously benefited from the day's decline, being ETF short instruments.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices broke hard on Friday, extending the 7-day declines on the S&P, broke support and closed at the lows for the week going away.

It's going to be very interesting to see what happens Monday, as often they reverse from the options expiration day, but I believe there's likely more downside to come.

Harry Boxer is a technical consultant to many Wall Street hedge funds and large institutional traders, and author of TheTechTrader.com, a real-time diary of his day, swing and intermediate-term trades. For more of Harry Boxer, sign up for a free 15-day trial to his Real-Time Technical Trading Diary, or sign up for a free 30-day trial to his Top Charts of the Week service.