Good morning! The end of the first week of earnings season followed through pretty much according to expectations. We saw more divergence at the open than I was looking for, however, despite the commonality of such occurrences lately. The NASDAQ had the most relative strength, gapping up into the prior day's morning range, while the Dow Jones Ind. Ave. was the weakest and opened near Thursday's close.

The market began to sell off once more out of gate, giving us that added downside that we were watching for. The strong resistance that hit going into the day with the price congestion in the NASDAQ, 15 minute 20 sma resistance in the SP500 and 15 minute 200 sma resistance in the Dow aided in the decline. It continued for about half an hour when the market came into some initial support.

The NASDAQ had the strongest reaction out of 10:00 ET. It bounced back into the zone of morning highs, creating a 2T reversal pattern intraday while the Dow formed a declining triangle. While at opposite ends of the intraday range, both indices had short setups trigger just after 10:30 ET. The NASDAQ dropped back to morning lows while the Dow made new ones on the day. The SP500, which was stuck in the middle, attempted to close its morning gap. They stalled as the 11:00 ET reversal period hit with this next support level. It was followed by a 5 minute bear flag , leading to a drop into the 12:00 ET reversal period.

The market was now exhausted after three waves of selling on the 5 minute charts intraday. It flushed on the 1-2 minute charts with volume spiking on those smaller time frames as the 12:00 ET reversal period hit. This ended the morning downtrend and began a larger correction into the early afternoon when this slower pullback (compared to Thursday's decline) pivoted strongly into and then beyond the 5 minute 20 sma. This rally continued by pulling the indices very quickly into the morning highs.

Around 13:30 ET we started to see the market turn over once more. Volume declined as the market fell into a range intraday. At first it looked like the NASDAQ would try to retest Thursday's highs, but the more extended SP500 and Dow held it in. This created that afternoon trading range we were expecting. Due to the larger intraday resistance, the market pulled back gradually off highs, making for a slow end to the week.

Heading into Monday, the market is still rather split. The NASDAQ is forming an ascending triangle on the 60 minute charts, while the Dow and SP500 are basing at lows on the same time frames. This leaves me looking both ways intraday. I have a slight upside bias into the morning simply because the SP500 and Dow both look like they can base a bit longer before facing a breakdown. The NASDAQ, on the other hand, can move higher at any time based upon the pattern it was forming into the weekend.

Economic Reports and Events
Oct 24: -
Oct 25: Consumer Confidence for Oct (10:00 am), Existing Home Sales for Sep (10:00 am)
Oct 26: Crude Inventories 10/21 (10:30 am)
Oct 27: Durable Orders for Sep (8:30 am), Initial Claims 10/22 (8:30 am), Help-Wanted Index for Sep (10:00 am), New Home Sales for Sep (10:00 am)
Oct 28: Chain Deflator-Adv for Q3 (8:30 am), Employment Cost Index for Q3 (8:30 am), GDP-Adv for Q3 (8:30 am), Mich Sentiment-Rev for Oct (9:45 am)
Oct 31: Personal Income for Sep (8:30 am), Personal Spending for Sep (8:30 am), Chicago PMI for Oct (10:00 am)
Nov 01: Construction Spending for Sep (10:00 am), ISM Index for Oct (10:00 am), Auto Sales for Oct (12:00 am), Truck Sales for Oct (12:00 am), FOMC policy announcement (2:15 pm)

Earnings Announcements of Interest
Only stocks with an average daily volume of 500K+ are listed. List may not be complete so be sure to always check your stocks' earnings dates before holding a position overnight. (A) = Earnings after the close, (B) = Earnings before the open, (?) = Earnings time not specified at the time of this writing
Oct 24: ALTR (4:15 pm ET), ACF (A), ACI (B), ASN (B), ASH (?), ATHR (?), CD (A), CCU (A), CNET (A), FDG (?), TV (?), JCOM (?), JCI (B), KMB (B), LNCR (A), MACR (A), MRK (B), NBR (A), NBIX (?), PTV (A), PBI (A), PCL (A), PLAY (A), RCII (A), SGP (B), SLAB (B), TXN (A), TRI (B), UDR (A), VLTR (A)
Oct 25: ABGX (A), ACE (A), AKS (?), AKAM (A), AW (A), AMX (A), AMTD (B), AJG (A), AT,L (?), AVB (A), BLS (B), BXP (A), BP (02:00 am ET), BNI (B), CHRW (A), CTX (A), CME (B), CHIR (4:45 pm ET), CB (A), COH (?), CA (?), CVH (B), DST (A), DD (B), ESV (?), FFIV (?), FLEX (?), FBR (A), GNW (A), HAL (B), HCA (B), N (?), INSP (A), IP (B), ISSX (A), ISRG (?), KIM (B), LAB (B), LCAV (B), LXK (B), LMT (B), MDG (A), MTH (?), MUR (A), NCI (08:35 am ET), PNR (?), PKI (A), PPP (?), RFMD (?), SEPR (B), SHW (?), SIMG (A), SSTI (A), SIRF (A), SO (B), STM (A), TLAB (B), TIN (B), JOE (B), TMO (A), TUP (B), UPL (A), X (?), WAT (?), WBSN (A)
Oct 26:  AGR (B), APD (?), ATI (B), MDRX (A), AHC (?), AHM (?), APCC (A), AMKR (A), APPB (A), AMCC (A), ARBA (A), ARRS (A), ADP (B), AVX (B), BIDU (A), BLDP (B), BEAV (B), BIIB (A), BOW (B), CDN (A), ELY (A), CAH (B), COGT (A), CYH (A), COP (B), GLW (A), CSX (?), DCX (?), DO (?), DBD (B), DRIV (A), DRE (A), ECA (?), EPD (?), ERES (A), ESRX (A), EXTR (A), GRMN (B), GMR (A), GRP (B), GW (A), HRS (A), IDXC (B), JNS (B), JNY (B), KMG (?), KOMG (A), LLL (B), LEA (B), LPNT (A), LPX (?), LSI (A), LU (?), MXO (A), WFR (?), MGM (B), MCRL (A), MNST (B), NTGR (A), NEM (?), NSC (?), OMX (?), OPWV (?*), PFCB (1:00 pm ET), PDG (A), PLUG (B), PX (B), PHM (A), RAI (B), R (B), SEE (?), SII (B), SSCC (B), S (B), HOT (B), TROW (B), TASR (B), TMX (A), BA (B), EL (B), FAF (B), NDAQ (A), TRID (A), UMC (?), VAR (A), VRTX (A), WC (A), WLP (06:00 am ET), WWY (?), XEL (B), YCC (B), ZMH (A)
Oct 27: AET (B), AAI (B), ALA (?), AEE (B), AXL (B), AMMD (A), ANDW (?), AU (?), APA (B), ABI (B), AZN (?), AN (B), AVID (A), AVT (?), BLL (B), ABX (A), BEBE (?), BDK (B), BG (B), BR (A), CTL (B), CRDN (B), CIN (B), CCE (B), CTV (A), CPWR (A), CNXT (A), CFC (B), ELN (B), ELX (?), XOM (?), BEN (?), FMT (B), GGC (A), GP (B), GSK (07:00 am ET), GR (B), HC (?), HLT (B), IMCL (B), IM (A), IRF (A), IVGN (A), ITT (?), KLAC (A), LEXR /A(, LIZ (?), LTR /B(M LYO (B), MRO (?), MEE (A), MXIM (A), MFE (A), MWV (B), MET (A), MSFT (?), MCEL (?), MLNM (?), NCR (B), NXL (?), NWL (B), NFX (B), NXTP (B), NXG (A), OLN (A), PHS (B), PRX (B), PTEN (B), PENN (07:00 am ET), PD (B), PGN (B), QLTI (B), STR (A), RTN (B), RNWK (?), RSAS (A), SAPE (A), SPG (A), SKM (05:00 am ET), SNE (B), SWN (A), STA (B), SU (B), TKLC (A), TNE (B), TRA (B), DOW (B), THQI (A), TDW (B), TSM (08:00 am ET), UNP (?), UHS (A), UST (B), VSEA (A), VZ (?), VTSS (A), VMC (A), WLT (?), WMI (B), WFT (B), WEN (?), WDC (A), YELL (A), ZHNE (A)
Oct 27: AET (B), AAI (B), ALA (?), AEE (B), AXL (B), AMMD (A), ANDW (?), AU (?), APA (B), ABI (B), AZN (?), AN (B), AVID (A), AVT (?), BLL (B), ABX (A), BEBE (?), BDK (B), BG (B), BR (A), CTL (B), CRDN (B), CIN (B), CCE (B), CTV (A), CPWR (A), CNXT (A), CFC (B), ELN (B), ELX (?), XOM (?), BEN (?), FMT (B), GGC (A), GP (B), GSK (07:00 am ET), GR (B), HC (?), HLT (B), IMCL (B), IM (A), IRF (A), IVGN (A), ITT (?), KLAC (A), LEXR /A(, LIZ (?), LTR /B(M LYO (B), MRO (?), MEE (A), MXIM (A), MFE (A), MWV (B), MET (A), MSFT (?), MCEL (?), MLNM (?), NCR (B), NXL (?), NWL (B), NFX (B), NXTP (B), NXG (A), OLN (A), PHS (B), PRX (B), PTEN (B), PENN (07:00 am ET), PD (B), PGN (B), QLTI (B), STR (A), RTN (B), RNWK (?), RSAS (A), SAPE (A), SPG (A), SKM (05:00 am ET), SNE (B), SWN (A), STA (B), SU (B), TKLC (A), TNE (B), TRA (B), DOW (B), THQI (A), TDW (B), TSM (08:00 am ET), UNP (?), UHS (A), UST (B), VSEA (A), VZ (?), VTSS (A), VMC (A), WLT (?), WMI (B), WFT (B), WEN (?), WDC (A), YELL (A), ZHNE (A)

Toni Hansen is President and Co-founder of the Bastiat Group, Inc., and runs the popular Trading From Main Street. She can be reached at Toni@tradingfrommainstreet.com.