The markets had another very negative down day, but we got a rollercoaster ride today, as the indices opened on a gap down in the morning and then made lower lows, including new lows for the Nasdaq 100 for 2006, reaching as low as 1480 on the NDX early in the session.  The indices turned around sharply and had a five-wave up move that took the NDX from 1480 to 1507 in a couple hours.  The S&P also bounced but was much weaker for a change, and Nasdaq led the way to the upside, along with the SOX index, which jumped from around 410 to 423, a 13-point run.

However, secondary resistance was the culprit today, as the indices slammed into them and reversed sharply lower around lunch hour and went lower all afternoon.  The S&P and Dow broke to new lows for the day, but the NDX held near the morning lows.

Towards the end of the day, they stabilized, but still closed sharply lower, with the Dow down nearly 167 points, the biggest loss in more than a month.  The S&P 500 lost 16 1/3, and the Nasdaq 100 23.30.  The SOX index, which had rallied all the way up to 423, closed at 411, down 6 points.  So two reversals today, but ending on a negative reversal at the end of the day, near the lows for the session

Technicals were extremely negative, by nearly 26 to 7 1/2 on advance/declines on New York and 24 to 6 negative on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was even worse, better than 7 1/2 to 1 negative on the New York Stock Exchange, on a total of about 1 3/4 billion traded there. Nasdaq traded nearly 2.1 billion, with a nearly 7 to 1 negative ratio on declining volume over advancing.  So a broadly negative day, exacerbated by war-like news from the Middle East.

TheTechTrader.com Board was active and mostly lower, but there were a couple of outstanding stocks to the upside today.  One in particular, Integraph (INGR), which had a strong day the other day, and was sharply lower in the morning, reversed by 3 points and closed up $1.17 on the day , a nice reversal there.  Broadcom (BRCM ) also ended up by 45 cents.  But other than that very few stocks closed on the plus side of my Board.

On the down side, loss leaders were Travelzoo (TZOO ) down nearly 3 points.  IFN, the India Fund ETF, fell 2.17.  Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) was down $1.53, Zevex (ZVXI) $1.20, Micron Infrared (MIKR) $1.10, Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) $1.02, DXPE Enterprises (DXPE) $1.70, Baidu.com  (BIDU) $1.59 and Dynamic Materials (BOOM) $1.53.  So some of the recent market favorites got hit today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, after yesterday's sharp break below key support, around the NDX 1511 area, the indices cascaded lower, finally bouncing off 1480 on the NDX and 1248 on the S&P.  But the afternoon was even worse on the blue chips, and the indices closed on a very negative note.  Theyââ,¬â"¢re probably getting oversold on some of the indices, but may not be quite there yet   We may see a test tomorrow of the key 1238-40 zone on the S&P, which is current short-term support, and we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

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.