It was very bad day for the bulls, as the market opened very strong, but that was about it. The rest of the day was spent moving lower, with only a mid-day respite before they rolled over again in the afternoon and slammed the market hard, especially late in the session when the indices sold off sharply and closed at the low for the day going away.

The Dow was down 146 and change, and that was 288 off the high for the day. A huge reversal session! The S&P 500 similarly went from 1488 to 1454 and change, closing below 1455, down nearly 19 points. The Nasdaq 100 had a 60-point reversal and closed down 42 on the day. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was weak all day, down nearly 12, closing under 500 for the first time in a while.

The technicals reversed to the downside, with a 19 to 14 negative plurality on New York and 3 to 2 negative plurality on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 17 to 5 negative on the NYSE with a total volume of 2.2 billion. Nasdaq had a whopping 2.7 billion traded today, with more than 2 to 1 negative ratio of declining volume over advancing volume.

TheTechTrader.com board as a result of the reversal had most stocks to the negative side, but there were quite a few that remained on the plus side by just small fractions. The shipping stocks were very strong in the morning, but gave back a big chunk of their gains. DryShips (DRYS), which had been up 3 3/4, closed up 70 cents on the day. EXM, one of our Charts of the Week, closed up 94 cents, but that was about 1.75 higher than that earlier in the session.

Portfolio position Research Frontiers (REFR) had an excellent day, up 66 cents. PRG-Schultz International (PRGX) was up 45, portfolio position Spectrum Control (SPEC) up 22 cents, and Taser (TASR) snapped back by a dime. But most other stocks that were up were up just small fractions. Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) was up 38 cents.

On the downside, BOOM gave back another 1.77 and GRRF fell 1.07. Sigma Designs (SIGM) hit a new all-time high at 34 in the morning, but closed at 31.80, down 98 cents, a big reversal there as well.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices plunged, took out yesterday's lows on the NDX but closed right there on the SPX.

It's going to be very interesting to see if we have a sharp follow-through to the downside, but the market sure is set up for a big hit over the next day or two.

With the oscillators as oversold as they were yesterday morning, and even this morning, I imagine they'll be back down to extreme oversold conditions and ripe for setting up another rebound, but from what level?

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.