The markets had a down day, though just marginally so, and we did get the snapback rally I was looking for. But it came after the market was lower in the morning. 

The day started out with a down move.  They made a double-bottom and slightly lower lows just before lunch, rallied through the lunch hour and into early afternoon, but on 2-3 occasions failed to take out the highs by more than just a nominal amount before pulling back again at the end of the day.

Net on the day the Dow was down 11, the S&P 500 3.17, the Nasdaq 100 2.58, and the SOX was off 3.62.

The technicals were lower today, with advance-declines were 3 to 2 negative on New York and nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was about 2 to 1 negative, with about 1 1/2 billion traded on the NYSE.  Nasdaq traded right at 2 billion and about a nearly 2 to 1 negative plurality of advancing volume over declining volume.

TheTechTrader.com board was very mixed, with some outstanding issues to the plus side.  Travelzoo (TZOO)  continued its monstrous move from last week with another 6-point gain on nearly 10 million today, closing at 50.35.  Rambus (RMBS) on a positive judgment in a court case, was up 5.90 on 23.6 million.  Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) on positive news of a Bill Gates investment advanced another 2.88, closing at 33 on 6.2 million.  Low-priced IDSA soared by more than 4 points, closing at 9 on 1.7 million, which is nearly half their float.  And Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) advanced 1.33 on 1.6 million today.

The only other point-plus gainer was Dynamic Materials Corp. (BOOM), which was up 1.13 and at its high today hit  a new all-time high.   Other gainers of note, portfolio position Universal Display (PANL) closed at 16, up 62 cents to a new multi-year high.  STKL gained 64 cents, and Ionatron (IOTN) 49 cents.

On the downside, the only point-plus loser was Optelecom-NKF (OPTC), down 1.15 to 27 on light volume.  Broadcom (BRCM) gave back 2.08, Sify Ltd. (SIFY) was down 85 cents, PW Eagle (PWEI) 59 cents, and Rediff.com India (REDF) 56 cents.  Most other stocks that were down were just fractionally lower.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices bounced back from a deep sell-off by mid-morning, but the overall pattern appeared to more consolidative than  corrective in nature and could lead to lower prices or at least a retest of the lows before we can get a more substantial rally.

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.