Another negative day across the board to end the week.  The indices opened lower, bounced in the morning, and then dropped sharply to the lows for the session.  But just before the lunch hour ended they rallied back up to initial key resistance, and after pulling back from that level tried it again but failed there as well on the Nasdaq 100 just under 1470.  The S&P 500 made a higher high but it was a non-confirmation by the Nasdaq that resulted in an afternoon pullback/retest on a couple occasions.  The market did hold the morning lows and firmed up in the last hour.  A last10-minute pullback brought them back down again. 

Net on the day the Dow was down triple digits again, about 107, the S&P 500 more than 6, and the Nasdaq 100 nearly 16.  The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) dropped a couple points.

The technicals were decidedly negative on advance-declines by a little more than 2 to 1 on both indices.  Up/down volume was 2 Ã,½ to 1 negative on New York on total volume of about 1.7 billion.   Nasdaq traded more than 1.8 billion and had about a  2 to 1 negative plurality of declining volume over advancing volume.

TheTechTrader.com board  was mixed but mostly negative.  Downside leaders were DXP Enterprises (DXPE) down 2.42,  Mikron Infrared (MIKR) down 2.29, Smith Micro (SMSI) 1.74, Dynamic Materials Corp. (BOOM) lost 1.39 and, Apple Computer (AAPL) 1.58.

On the plus side, Baidu.com (BIDU) on positive news was up 4.29 on more than 5 million shares today, an exceptional day for this market environment.  Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) snapped back 1.50 closing not far off the highs.

Other plus notes today were Radio Shack (RSH), up 24 cents on 3 1/3 million, and Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) up 30 cents.  Broadcom (BRCM) advanced 24 cents, but for the most part it was a losing day on Wall Street.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns,  the downtrend thatââ,¬â"¢s been in force since the beginning of the month continued in earnest today with the Nasdaq 100 making new 2006 lows in the morning decline.  The S&P 500 has accelerated lower ,as well,especially over the last couple of days, taking out a few key layers of support, but so far itââ,¬â"¢s held above the 2006 low, reaching as low as 1228 today. 

The oscillators are becoming oversold enough to perhaps trigger a rally, with the NDX oscillator at -75 and the SPX oscillator at -55,  levels that have triggered several rallies over the last year. Downside momentum and world tensions right now are contributing to negative investor sentiment, but my gut feel is we get a strong snapback rally next week.  Whether it comes from a lower level or not remains to be seen.

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.