The indices had a very positive session today, closing near the highs for the day going way and holding yesterday's gains and intraday support pretty much all session.

The day started out with a move up right out of the gates.  They rallied for most of the morning and then hit their peak right around the lunch hour, at which point they settled into a pullback, retested support successfully, and then rallied in the afternoon, and as indicated closed near the highs for the day.

The Dow was up about 32 ¾, the S&P 500 4 2/3, and the Nasdaq 100 nearly 16 points.  The SOX was up 3 ½.

The technicals were positive with advance/declines ahead by 24 to 9 ½ on New York and a little bit better than 3 to 2 on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume, however, was very positive today.  Total volume on New York was 1.8 billion, with about a 2 ½ to 1 positive ratio.  Nasdaq was about a 3 to 1 positive ratio, with about 1.93 billion traded.

TheTechTrader.com board was also mostly positive.  Several of our portfolio positions did very well today.  The leader was Dynamic Materials Corp. (BOOM), which advanced 1.85 on 2 ¼ million shares, closing not far off the highs for the session.

Other stocks of note, SFCC advanced 1.20 today on 2.8 million shares, a new stock we're following.  Other stocks of note, Internet Initiative Japan (IIJI),also a current portfolio pposition, advanced 58 cents on nearly 2 million shares and broke out of short-term resistance. 

Neoware Systems (NWRE) gained another 47 cents today, and closed near its highs for the day.

Portfolio position Rediff.com India (REDF) was up another 50 cents, Sify Ltd. (SIFY) 63 cents, Viisage (VISG) another 44 cents, and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) rose 88 cents.  But after the close bird flu was announced in Turkey and the stock ran even higher, retesting its multi-year highs in the 18 ½ area.

Astea International (ATEA), also a model portfolio position, advanced 74 cents today.

On the downside, there were only fractional losses today and nothing to speak of for the few stocks that did decline on our personal board today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, as indicated the rally that was triggered yesterday surged forward today despite some mid-day profit-taking.  Although we're at important key short-term resistance, any break above these current levels should lead to further gains over the next few days.

Good trading!

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.