The markets had another positive session on Wednesday prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, as itââ,¬â"¢s generally 80% higher on this day and the trailing Friday, so we may expect some more of this. 

There was volatility in the morning.  The day started out with a sharp gap-up.  They ran to new highs, then came down very sharply, but held the 4-day rising trendlines.  The NDX bounced just as sharply, but did not have participation from the S&P 500.  At mid-day they went into a sideways narrow funk for a couple hours, and then broke out with about an hour and a half to go with the NDX making more new highs.  The S&P 500 still did not confirm that, but they did manage to close near the high end of the range for the day, especially on the Nasdaq 100.

The NDX was up nearly 11 points today.  The Dow was up just 5.36, the S&P up 3.28, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) up 6.01.  That was the chief reason why the Nasdaq was so strong today.

The technicals did not confirm the advance on Nasdaq, where advance-declines were negative by about 9 issues, nearly flat on the session.  However, up/down volume there was very strong by 11 to 3.  Total volume on Nasdaq was just under 1.5 billion.  New York had a 2 to 1 positive ratio on up/down volume and 3 to 2 positive ratio on advance-declines, on total volume of about 1 1/3 billion.

TheTechTrader.com board  as mixed but mostly higher with some outstanding issues.  E-Future Information (EFUT) advanced 2.30, CRAY up 1.70, YHOO 1.35, and low-priced ZVUE up 1.95 on 10 million shares, exploding in the afternoon and leading Nasdaq gainers today, with a gain of about 36%.

Other stocks of note, CLWT advanced sharply this morning, gaining as much as 1.75 before giving more than half of it back, closing up 87 cents on the day on 8.3 million.  Gmarket (GMKT), one of our Charts of the Week last Sunday, gained 1.21 today.  Fuel Tech (FTEK) was up 97 cents.  The solar energy stocks were strong today, with Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) 1.05 and Evergreen Solar (ESLR) 43 cents.

Sigma Designs (SIGM) advanced 69 cents, and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) broke out to a 6-month high, advancing 91 cents on 8.7 million.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices continued their move higher without interruption and without any break of moving averages or trendlines.  Friday could be another positive session, but it is an abbreviated one and TheTechTrader.com will be closed.

So weââ,¬â"¢ll see you on Monday, and have a safe and happy holiday.

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.