Another strong rally took the market to new rally highs on the Nasdaq, with the S&P falling just short of making a new rally high, but the action was solid, particularly on the NYSE.

The day started out with a move up from the get-go that turned into a very strong morning rally.  There was a pullback mid-morning, and then they rallied right into the lunch hour, at which time the market then meandered sideways in a consolidation formation.  In the last hour they moved up again, taking them to nominal new rally highs for the day and for the entire 4-week rally on the Nasdaq 100.

Net on the day the Dow was up more than 60, the S&P was up 8 3/4, the Nasdaq 100 nearly 17, and the SOX Index was up nearly 12, or more than 2 1/2 percent today.

The technicals were solid on New York by 21 1/2 to 11 on advance-declines and about 3 to 2 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was about 2 to 1 positive on New York and 2 1/2 to 1 positive on Nasdaq.  Total volume on Nasdaq was nearly 1 3/4 billion shares today.

TheTechTrader.com board was very active, with some outstanding gainers.  Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) rallied to a new multi-year high, closing at 26.65, up 1.28.  That was the high for the day going away on more than 1 million shares.  Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) was up 1.35 on top of yesterday's gains.

Chart of the Week portfolio position Universal Display Panel (PANL) was up 1.10, breaking out to a new high.  Sirna Therapeutics (RNAI) was up 52 cents on 3.8 million shares.  Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) was up 40 cents on nearly 1 million shares.  Miva Inc. (MIVA) was up 30 cents, and Escalon Medical (ESMC), also a portfolio position, up 87 cents.

The SMH in particular was very strong today, up 1.05, led by Broadcom (BRCM) up 64 cents and Intel (INTC) up 45 cents.

The QQQQ closed over 40 for the first time since the first week of the year, and the market in general had a very strong session.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the NDX hasn't violated its 40-day rising moving average on the hourly charts after testing them repeatedly, as did the S&P, which snapped back repeatedly to new highs.  So despite the fact that the market is extended and has some divergences, it continues to ignore them and move higher.

The trend is your friend and the trend is still up.  And with current patterns as they are, they could still move higher before they see any significant downside.  The levels to watch are 1620 and then 1605 NDX and 1240 and 1234 on the S&P. 

Good trading!

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.