The indices had a mixed session today with the blue chips slightly higher and the Nasdaq down with pressure from the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) today. The day started out with a move lower, they bounced but couldnââ,¬â"¢t get through initial resistance, and then stair-stepped lower until just after lunch, at which point they hit their lows for the day. The NDX made lower lows all morning, but the S&P held the morning lows. In the afternoon they staged a recovery rally that took the S&P to slightly new 6-month highs, but at that point the NDX was trailing badly and in last 10-minutes or so they backed off again.
Net on the day, the Dow was up 11 and the S&P 500 up 0.35, but the NDX was down 12 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) down 5.
The technicals were mixed, higher on New York, lower on Nasdaq. Advance-declines were 18 to 14 positive on New York and 17 Ã,½ to 12 Ã,½ negative on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was about 3 to 2 positive on New York and little more than 2 to 1 negative on Nasdaq. Total volume on New York was a little less than 1 2/3 billion, and Nasdaq traded about 1.85 billion.
TheTechTrader.com board was mixed. The star today by far was Travelzoo (TZOO) , up 6.22 on 5.3 million after better than expected earnings were released. DXP Enterprises (DXPE) jumped 1.72, and Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) snapped back 1.32 to lead our board.
Other stocks of note, Fuel Tech (FTEK) hit a new all-time high just under 20 today, closing at 19.83, up 77 cents. It continues to set new highs almost daily. Amex-listed American Oriental Bioengineering (AOB) closed near 7, up 34 cents on 1.2 million, pushing an 11-month high. Biotech Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) advanced 56 cents on 4.9 million shares today, but that was about 1.75 off the earlier high when the stock exploded right after the opening. Lumera (LMRA) continued its recent advance, rising 29 cents on 8 million shares.
On the downside, NVE Corp. (NVEC), after tagging a new high at 43.19, closed at 39.19, 4 points off the high, down 3.14 on the day. PW Eagle (PWEI) was down 1.82, Qualcomm (QCOM) 1.37, the SMH 50 cents, Broadcom (BRCM) 58 cents, Apple Computer (AAPL) 41 cents, and GigaMedia (GIGM) 58 cents in the low-priced sector.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the multi-month trend is intact, although we did some testing today. Nasdaq had much more pressure than the blue chips. The S&P 500 reached nominal 6-month highs, and the Dow hit another new all-time high at 12,133.
So we have different patterns developing on both exchanges, with the blue chips doing much better. Tomorrow the FOMC announces their decision on rates, and I expect a quiet market in the morning until the announcement.
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.