The stock market indices were choppy all day like we expected and ended up mixed on the session with the Dow up just 4.54 at 11.118.49, the S&P 500 down 0.52 at 1183.26, and the Nasdaq 100 down 5.28 at 2124.45.

The day started out with a move up. They made new rally highs on the NDX, did not do so on the SPX. They pulled back, tested support at 2125 on three occasions today, and resistance at 2135 on two occasions, but basically were in that 10-point box most of the session on the Nasdaq 100.

The S&P 500 meandered back and forth, vacillating between 1180 and 1185 1/2 or so, a pretty narrow range there as well. Although the NDX closed at the session low, the S&P 500 closed not too far off the session highs as did the Dow. So, net on the day a mixed session.

Advance-declines were about 3 to 2 positive on New York Stock Exchange, and about 14 to 11 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume 5 to 4 positive on New York on total volume just under 1 billion shares today. Nasdaq was 11 to 8 positive with total volume just under 2 billion.

TheTechTrader.com board was very mixed, but there were some outstanding issues on the plus side today. Leading the way by far today was Coinstar Inc. (CSTR), which exploded on a big gap after solid earnings report, up 11.32 to 57.58 on 11.25 million shares.

Other major point-plus gainers included Monster Worldwide, Inc. (MWW) up 3.67 to 18.06, Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc. (VSEA) up 2.50 to 32.72, VIVUS Inc. (VVUS) 1.62 to 7.75, TeleNav, Inc. (TNAV) 1.39 to 6.29, General Moly, Inc. (GMO) 92 cents to 5.22, and RiT Technologies Ltd. (RITT) up 88 cents to 7.30. Reddy Ice Holdings, Inc. (FRZ), up 1.33 to 3.49, had a big percentage gain of nearly 62%.

In addition, Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (TC) was up 1.31 to 12.03, Ceragon Networks Ltd. (CRNT) 81 cents to 11.06, Brigham Exploration Co. (BEXP) 69 cents to 21.10, Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (APSG) 72 cents to 33.56, and Acacia Research Corporation (ACTG) 64 cents to 26.62.

On the downside, point-plus losers included Goldman Sachs (GS) down 2.11 to 161.13, Apple Inc. (AAPL) 4.26 to 300.98, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) 1.61 to 165.23, and Golden Minerals Company (AUMN) 1.15 to 26.25.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were basically in a narrow range vacillating back and forth unable to break out to the upside, or break down, although the NDX did close near the session lows at support at 2125 going away at the close.

With market leaders like Apple, Goldman and Amazon down on the session, perhaps it’s a sign the market generals are losing momentum and that it’s time to rollover. But until they break, which they haven’t done yet, the trend is your friend, the trend is still up, However, we feel like next week will be the week they start the head down, perhaps after the elections. We’ll see how it goes after Tuesday.

Harry Boxer is a technical consultant to many Wall Street hedge funds and large institutional traders, and author of TheTechTrader.com.