The indices had what I would call a consolidation day. They started off with a down move that hit new pullback lows, but they rallied rather sharply in the morning only to fail near resistance, pullback and retest.  After the retest was successful the market only managed to meander sideways to slightly higher, forming what looked like bearish coil-type patterns, before coming back a little bit towards the end of the day to close mixed on the session.

Net on the day, the Dow was down about 12 1/2, the S&P 500 down about a Ã,½ point, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 2 1/2.  The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was up nearly 2, helping the NDX stay positive today.

But technicals were negative by 18 to 14 on advance-declines on New York and about 3 to 2 on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was 8 to 7 negative on New York.  Volme was about 1.6 billion traded.  Nasdaq traded more than 1.9 billion, and had a 10 to 9 negative plurality.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed to mostly negative.  There were a couple of outstanding stocks. Plexus(PLXS) had an outstanding day after reporting earnings and getting an upgrade.  The stock advanced 4.28 on 4 million shares.  Flamel Technologies (FLML) gained 1.61 on more than 1.1 million.

Those were the two point-plus gainers on my board.

A couple other gainers of note, the GLD gold tracking stock was up 56 cents today, as gold had another strong session. Chindex (CHDX) advanced 22 cents, and Sigma Designs (SIGM) snapped back 95 cents, closing near 20 on 1 million shares.

On the downside, DXP Enterprises (DXPE) after releasing earnings got slam-dunked hard in the morning, losing as much as 7 points before snapping back, closing down 3.95 on the day.  But still a very decisive loss.

HRT gave back 1.55 from its recent gains, Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) 81 cents, Versant (VSNT) 68 cents, U.S. Global Investors (GROW) 51 cents, and Fuel Tech (FTEK) 43 cents.

Most other stocks were fractionally changed up or down today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, after successfully testing secondary support, reaching just under 1700 this morning, the NDX bounced and formed a bearish consolidation.  There was a similar occurrence in the S&P 500.  It sure looks like head-and-shoulder tops have been completed and the markets are going lower, but the main trendlines have not yet been taken out. 

Still, at this point the odds favor lower levels before they are able to recover.

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.