The S&P 500 moved up 0.9% to register a new multi-year closing high as it moves steadily closer to the 1527 level that was achieved in March 2000.

We have included a fibonacci retracement grid over the entire move from the late February high to the March 5th low close and as can be seen Friday's close represents a 127% retracement of that swing move. While some would consider that a significant retracement level the proximity to the all time high suggests that we should see further upside, at least to an intraday tagging of the historic high, before index traders decide to test the susceptibility for "profit taking".

Clive Corcoran will be taking part in another live webinar in witch he will discuss some of the trading strategies from his new book Long/Short Market Dynamics. This free, online event takes place on Thursday, April 26, at 1:00 Eastern Time (10:00 Pacific Time). Further details can be found by clicking here.



The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) recorded a rather striking doji candlestick on Friday where the closing level was an almost exact match for the February 22nd high which was also a very similarly shaped candlestick. The Nasdaq continues to behave a little more erratically than the other broader indices.



We usually look at the exchange traded semiconductor sector fund, SMH, but this time decided to show the iShares fund IGW. Unlike the SMH counterpart which on Friday rallied to a level not seen since last May the IGW fund shows that the very pronounced range bound characteristics that have been in place for the sector since last September still kept a lid on the recent bullish behavior.



TRADE OPPORTUNITIES/SETUPS FOR MONDAY APRIL 23, 2007

The patterns identified below should be considered as indicative of eventual price direction in forthcoming trading sessions. None of these setups should be seen as specifically opportune for the current trading session.

Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) gapped down following the inside day registered in Thursday's trading and came to rest at almost exactly the level of the 200-day EMA. A double top appears to be in place and it would not be surprising to see further price erosion in the intermediate term



Stryker (SYK) could be vulnerable to further downside pressure following last Thursday's abrupt sell-off on heavy volume.



Marathon Oil (MRO) is showing negative money flow and momentum divergences, although another attempt to break through the top of the recent range cannot be discounted.



The chart for Schlumberger (SLB) suggests that a corrective move may be starting to develop.



The Shaw Group (SGR) is poised for a possible break through of resistance just above $32 following an extended basing pattern.



Clive Corcoran is the publisher of TradeWithForm.com, which provides daily analysis and commentary on the US stock market. He specializes in market neutral investing and and is currently working on a book about the benefits of trading with long/short strategies, which is scheduled for publication later this year.

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