The stock market indices started off with a bang on Friday, and reached the highs for the week in the morning, but then sold off the rest of the session on profit taking, and ended up very near flat on the day.

The day started out with a big gap up. They backed off to test, and ran to new highs for the week and the day at 2331 Nasdaq 100 and 1260 S&P 500. They sold off in the morning, bounced around midday, formed a bear flag, and rolled over in the afternoon to end up very marginally down on the day.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 0.68 at 12,019.42, and the S&P 500 down 0.30 to 1244.28, but the Nasdaq 100 lost 7.16 to 2302.04.

Advance-declines were 3 to 2 positive on both the New York Stock Exchange and on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was almost 3 to 2 positive on New York, with total volume of 850 million shares traded today. Nasdaq traded 1.6 billion shares and had an 8 to 7 negative volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was active with a few gainers. VirnetX Holding Corp (VHC) had a big day, up 2.62 to 22.16, on a potential court ruling with Apple Inc. (AAPL).

Among other leaders, low-priced Mitel Networks Corp. (MITL) rose 79 cents to 3.53, or 29%, and VisionChina Media Inc. (VISN) 33 cents to 1.46, or 29%. But the big gainer was Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) up 5.62 to 28.99, or 24%, on strong earnings.

In addition, The9 Limited (NCTY) was up 99 cents to 7.05, Macy’s Inc. (M) up 38 cents to 32.54, Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANTH) 69 cents to 6.48, Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NM) 50 cents to 3.90, and Angie’s List, Inc. (ANGI), a new issue, 1.46 to 14.01. Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IDIX) gained 62 cents to 8.22.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. (GDP) was up 1.13 to 15.63, Flotek Industries Inc. (FTK) up 62 cents to 9.62, and Western Digital Corp. (WDC), which we traded today, 2.19 to 31.44. Dish Network Corp. (DISH) added 1.63 to 26.21. Glu Mobile, Inc. (GLUU) had a key breakout late in the day today, up 32 cents to 3.75, and Barclays PLC (BCS) rose 65 cents to 11.86.

Other gainers of note included SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA) up 26 cents to 30.41, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) 2.40 to 56.32, and Sina Corp. (SINA) 2.11 to 68.52. Apple Inc. (AAPL) was up 1.77 to 389.70, and Goldman Sachs (GS) 2.82 to 97.25.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were up sharply in the morning, reached the highs for the week, and then sold off the rest of the day to close flat on the day.

It was a generally marginal session today and one of profit-taking day considering the big rally we've had. We'll see how it goes next week.

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