The markets were up on the session and closed near the highs for the day.  But the route it took was different.  The day started out with a gap-up, a consolidation and then a strong morning rally that essentially that took us to the highs for the session.

For the next five hours the market meandered sideways in a narrow range in what looked like a consolidation.  But with about 90 minutes to go the indices started to drop when they couldn't break out to the upside.  They took out intraday support, but just when it looked like they were going to fall apart, late in the session with about 40 minutes to go the market turned around and rallied strongly back into the close and ended up near the highs for the session.

The Dow was up 85 today, the S&P 10, the NDX 13 and the Composite 18 1/2.  The SOX Index, which had given back all of its earlier 5-point gain, turned around and closed up 2 on the day.

The technicals were positive by about 23 to 10 on advance-declines on New York and about 3 to 2 positive on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was nearly 4 to 1 positive on New York on a light total of under 1.1 billion traded.  Nasdaq traded a similar amount, but the up/down volume there was about 3 1/2 to 1 positive.

TheTechtrader.com board was active today.  There were several outstanding gainers.  One of our recently highlighted Charts of the Week this week, JAMDAT Mobile (JMDT), closed near the highs for the day, up 1.55.  Allscripts Healthcare (MDKI) came back strong, up 1, and the Nasdaq Stock Market tracking stock (NDAQ) was up 1.05.  Those were the leading gainers.

Other stocks of note, Dynamic Materials (BOOM) advanced 89 cents, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) up 96, and Forward Industries (FORD) 48 cents.

In the larger cap sector, Broadcom (BRCM) was up 40 cents, Juniper Networks (JNPR)36 cents, and QLogic (QLGC) 38 cents.  Taser (TASR) had a strong afternoon rally, taking it back from losses, up 39 cents on the day.

On the downside, energy stocks Georesources (GEOI) and Able Energy (ABLE) were both down about 44 and 48 cents respectively.  Arrhythmia Research (HRT) got hammered late in the session and dropped 1.33 on the day.  Air T (AIRT) gave back 33 cents, along with CryptoLogic (CRYP), 24 cents.  Those were the only losers on my board today.

Stepping back and reviewing the overall patterns, the indices, particularly on the S&P and Dow, have now moved up and out of their mini base patterns and spent most of the day flagging today.

The late pullback and snapback successfully tested support, and we have a possibility of a solid up-week this week and we'll see if we can follow-through tomorrow.

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.