The markets opened lower, went lower all day in stair-step fashion, and closed near the lows for the day going away. It was an ugly way to start the week.

The Dow was down 173.30, the S&P 500 nearly 22, the Nasdaq 100 more than 51, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) down 6.53, about 1 1/2 percent.

Technicals were very negative by 4 1/2 to 1 on advance-declines on New York and 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was even worse, also 4 1/2 to 1 on New York but almost 9 to 1 on Nasdaq. Total volume on New York was 1.4 billion. Nasdaq traded about 1.85 billion.

TheTechTrader.com board was blood red across the board, with very few gainers. The shippers got hammered today. DryShips (DRYS) dropped more than 12, Excel Maritime (EXM) 5 3/4 and TBS International (TBSI) nearly 4 1/2.

Junior solars also got hammered today, with Ascent Solar (ASTI) down 3.21, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) , one of our Charts of the Week, down 2.31, and Evergreen Solar (ESLR) down 1.59. ENER also dropped 2.11. EMKR also dropped 1.15, Solarfun (SOLF) 2.36, and Hoku Scientific (HOKU) 68 cents.

Sigma Designs (SIGM) dropped 3.16. In the Chinese sector, China Finance Online (JRJC) fell 1.63, Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) 2.80, Chindex (CHDX) 1.28, China Natural Resources (CHNR) 1.86, China Medical Technologies (CMED) 2.23, and Global Solutions (GSOL) 1.81.

In addition, the Q's dropped 1.24 and Cree Inc. (CREE) 1.10.

On the plus side, SVNT, one of our Charts of the Week, was up 1.30 today in a very weak market, following up on its strong gain of the last few days. Kongzhong Corp. (KONG) gained 81 cents on 7 million, on strong earnings projections.

As you would imagine, the short instrument ETFs were sharply ahead today, with the SDS up 1.57 and the QID 1.80.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices sold off steadily, broke key support, taking out 2050 NDX and 1460 S&P, and now are approaching the November lows on the Nasdaq 100 near the 1980-90 zone and the late November gap on the S&P 500 at the 1430-35 area. They may be tested as early as tomorrow morning.

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.