An excellent follow-up day today as the markets opened strong and stair-stepped higher all day without breaking their intraday moving averages.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) fueled the advance, up 18.43, or more than 4 percent today.  The Nasdaq 100, as a result, closed at the high for the day going away, up 35.63.  The Dow came along for the ride, up nearly 97, and the S&P 500 nearly 10.

So, a significant day on the Street, as the strong thrust we had over the last couple days on positive economic and inflation news spurred traders to pour money back into the market.

The technicals confirmed the advance today, particularly on the NYSE, where advance-declines were 25 to 8 positive, and up/down volume was about 4 Ã,½ to 1 positive with a total of nearly 1.6 billion traded.  Nasdaq traded almost 2 billion today, with about 6 to 1 positive ratio on up/down volume.

TheTechTrader.com board was very strong today and mostly higher, led today by Qualcomm (QCOM) up 2.38, Broadcom (BRCM) 2.47,  Baidu.com (BIDU) 1.48, Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA) 1.37, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) 1.21, and Apple Computer (AAPL) 1.53.

Reviewing our Charts of the Week portfolio holdings, DXP Enterprises (DXPE) gained 71 cents, Fuel Tech (FTEK) 51 cents, U.S. Global Investors (GROW) 72 cents, ATCC up 21 cents, NVE Corp. (NVEC)  up 85 cents, and RSH up 55 cents.

On the downside, there were just small fractional losses on a couple issues, but a stellar day overall on the Street.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the NDX went to a new 6-week high, and the S&P 500 went to a new 3-month high today. Despite the fact that theyââ,¬â"¢re getting overbought short-term, this may be the thrust that initiates a strong intermediate uptrend, and we often see the indices get overbought quickly at the beginning of such a move.  The next few days will obviously determine that.

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.