The stock market indices had a very, very difficult session, plunging at the opening on negative futures, and then basing out for the rest of the session. In the afternoon they tried to rally, backed off late in the day, but still it was a negative session for sure.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 248.02 at 11,548.14, and the S&P 500 down 22.02 to 1193.63, or 1.8%, about 10 points off the low. The Nasdaq 100 was down 42.81 at 2211.14, or 1.86%, and about 23 points off the low.

So, they did come back off the lows today.

TheTechTrader.com was mostly lower, but there were some gainers. Inhibitex Inc. (INHX) jumped 1.68 to 10.61, or 18.8%, on 10 million shares. BSD Medical Corp. (BSDM) advanced 44 cents to 3.06, or 17%. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN) gained 5.19 to 55 even, and Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TSPT) added 47 cents to 7.06.

Low-priced Pizza Inn Holdings, Inc. (PZZI) continued strong, up another 25 cents to 5.72. Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (GCA) jumped 24 cents to 4.24. Dendreon Corp. (DNDN) was up 39 cents to 8.73, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SPPI) 68 cents to 12.85, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) 2.46 to 52.91, and Cooper Industries plc (CBE) 1.37 to 53.51.

Pharmasset, Inc. (VRUS) was the star of the day, sky-rocketing 61.47 to 134.14, or nearly 85% today.

The ultra-shorts did quite well today. The Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bear 3X Shares (EDZ) was up 2.09 to 23.49, the Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X Shares (TZA) jumped 2.32 to 34.09, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) up 3.16 to 49.49, VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX ST ETN (TVIX) 1.14 to 59.64, and the Direxion Daily Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) 1.82 to 36.04.

On the downside, SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA) lost 1.96 to 30.49. Focus Media Holding Ltd. (FMCN) plummeted 10.07 to 15.43, or 40%. Goldman Sachs (GS) fell 61 cents to 91.30, and Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (SPRD) 3.56 to 23.65.

Google Inc. (GOOG) was down a whopping 13.94 to 580.94, Apple Inc. (AAPL) 5.93 to 369.01, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) 3.76 to 181.48, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) 7.89 to 189.25, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) 5.48 to 305.58, and Panera Bread Co. (PNRA) 1.59 to 132.39,

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 3X Shares (TNA) was down 3.09 to 49.58.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were down sharply in the morning, based out midday, and early afternoon they had a rally that brought them back, but they still closed quite negative on the session.

The NDX has now dropped from about 2400 to about 2200 in the last several sessions, so we may see a snapback as early as tomorrow.

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