The indices had a follow-up down session to yesterdayââ,¬â"¢s poor performance.  They opened lower, went down all morning, stabilized around lunch hour, and in the afternoon backed and filled.  With about an hour to go they tried another rally that slightly broke out on the SPX, but failed to confirm on the NDX and backed off into the close.

Net on the session, the Dow was down 25, the S&P 3 1/4 and the NDX 12 Ã,½.  The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) dropped 2 Ã,¾, and technicals confirmed the decline today.

Advance-declines on New York were 5 to 3 negative and a little more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was a little less than 2 to 1 negative and about 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. Total volume on New York was more than 1.4 billion and Nasdaq traded more than 1.6 billion.

The vast majority of stocks were lower on TheTechTrader.com board.  U.S. Global Investors (GROW) got hit by 2.92 on more than 2 million shares, taking it through key short-term support.  CTCI was down 1.92, Apple Computer (AAPL) 1.65, Dynamic Materials Corp. (BOOM) 1.56, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) 1.47, Hansen Natural Corp. (HANS) 1.57, PW Eagle (PWEI) 1.18, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 1.26.

On the plus side, there were only fractional gains.  Simple Tech (STEC)had a very strong session, up 45 cents on nearly Ã,½ million, setting a new multi-year high.

ViroPharma (VPHM) was up 22 cents, Versant (VSNT) 21 cents, and Radio Shack (RSH) up 21 cents, along with Interphase (INPH), closing at 12, up 30 cents to a new multi-year high as well.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the decline off of yesterdayââ,¬â"¢s morningââ,¬â"¢s highs and 2-month rally highs continued to the downside today, with short-term support being taken out and not able to be overcome for the rest of the session.

The odds are pretty good now for an extension of the decline to test the 2-month rising trendline, which comes in around the 1600-05 area on the NDX and around the 1306-7 zone on the S&P.  Those are the levels weââ,¬â"¢ll be watching.

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.