The indices ended mixed, but they sure started strong. When the pre-market futures were higher, the markets gapped up and went to new snapback highs.  The rest of the morning they drifted lower.  In the afternoon they basically meandered sideways in a trading range, went no where and just couldn't muster enough strength to take out resistance and even retest the early morning rally highs.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 0.32, nearly unchanged on the day.  The S&P 500 was up 2 1/2, the Nasdaq 5 1/2, and the SOX down 2.4 today.  That certainly held Nasdaq back today.

The technicals were slightly positive.  Advance/declines were 17 to 15 positive on New York and about 8 to 7 positive on New York.  Up/down volume was 3 to 2 positive on New York with about 1 1/2 billion traded.  Nasdaq traded more than 1.6 billion, with also nearly a 3 to 2 positive ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was very mixed.  Only a couple stocks were up as much as a point:  Apple Computer (AAPL), up 2 1/2, and Matritech (MATK), recommended by Cramer, up 1.15.

Among stocks in our portfolio, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) advanced 70 cents, Rediff.com India (REDF) 92 cents, Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) 65 cents, Novavax (NVAX) 40 cents, and Sify Ltd. (SIFY) 28 cents.

On the downside, PW Eagle (PWEI) gave back 1.37, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) 64 cents, Eclipsys (ECLP) 38 cents, and Radvision (RVSN) 97 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, today's early rally high touched the 40-day declining moving average on the hourly charts on the Nasdaq 100 and  backed off.  However, the pattern for the rest of the day looked corrective and possibly constructive, and we'll see if they can rally tomorrow and take another leg up here.

Levels to watch are today's high around the 1663-64 zone on the Nasdaq 100 and 1287 S&P.

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.