Good morning! Even though the indices moved in similar waves on Thursday, the Nasdaq significantly outperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. It not only opened higher, but was the only one of the three to manage a positive close, gaining 6.52 points (+0.3%) on the day while the S&P 500 fell 1.25 points (-0.1%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 52.39 points (-0.4%). Semiconductors, internet issues and oil were among the top gainers, while banks, pharmaceuticals, and consumer stocks all displayed weakness.

After gapping higher into the prior daily highs from January, the Nasdaq Composite pushed through that resistance and into new highs on the year. The S&P 500 held second place, also moving higher in the first 30 minutes or so. It also made a slightly higher high on the year, but essentially held the zone of the highs that was made on Tuesday into the close. The Dow had the hardest time. It couldn't shake the 15 minute 20 sma and 5 minute 20 and 200 sma prices. It was soon breaking through the opening lows as both the Nasdaq and S&P also began to pull in.

The selling increased after forming a congestion zone along intraday lows from 10:30 to 11:15 ET. Volume and momentum picked up and the Nasdaq even made it's way back into the trading range from the prior two days. The Dow broke to new lows on the week and the S&P 500 fell into the weekly lows where it found support from Tuesday and Wednesday lows. At that point the market rounded off at the lows. The remainder of the day was spent locked in a more narrow range, but still had a couple of decent moves on the smaller time frames.







The market is still mixed into Friday. The Nasdaq and S&Ps look more bullish, while the Dow can very easily form another 60 minute bear flag and pull back into the lower end of the trend channel and the 40 and 50 day simple moving averages. Since we're also heading into the weekend, it's going to be easier to continue with the choppier trading that has permeated the week thus far.

Economic Reports and Events This Week
Monday: -
Tuesday: -
Wednesday: CPI and Core CPI for Jan. (8:30 am), Leading Indicators for Jan. (10:00 am), Crude Inventories 2/16 (10:30 am), FOMC Minutes - Jan. 31 (2:00 pm)
Thursday: Initial Claims 2/17 (8:30 am), Help-Wanted Index for Jan. (10:00 am)
Friday: -

Key Earnings Announcements This Week
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: ANF, AEM, EFD, EEFT, FRP, GPI, HSIC, IHP, JBX, LEXG, LOJN, MT, NTBK, NICE, ORB, PAAS, PDLI, PRFT, POSS, TRK, STXS, TASR, TWB, ZLC
Thursday: AZ, AGIX, ABX, BEAS, CHK, DNR, BOOM, HLTH, ENDP, ESV, FBR, HRB, HMA, HPT, IMH, INWK, INPC, INTU, SFI, JCP, KSE, LAMR, MEMY, MDG, MOVE, NXL, NAM, NBL, OMX, PKD, PDCO, PTEN, PCG, PXP, PGI, QLTI, PWR, RTI, SWY, SRE, SM, TELK, TOL, LNUX, WMB
Friday: AVR, CCU, CTV, LOW, SWC, WRI
Note: All economic numbers and earnings reports are in lines with those compiled by Yahoo Finance and Briefing.com. Occasionally changes will occur that are made after the posting of this column. This list is not a complete list of earnings, so always double check your positions!

Toni Hansen is President and Co-founder of the Bastiat Group, Inc., and runs the popular Trading From Main Street. She can be reached at Toni@tradingfrommainstreet.com.