Friday's close was the lowest since October 2006. The NASDAQ has been carving a symmetrical triangle for 5 weeks. Symmetrical triangles are generally continuation patterns, so Friday's action was no surprise, and probably a welcome relief after all the narrow range trade as price moved closer to the apex. Prices gapped some 20 points lower and continued lower on higher volume in afternoon to end the session off by 60 pts. or 2.6%. All major sectors participated in the drubbing.The Feb. low is less than 20 pts. away, followed by a retest of the January lows.

The TRIN, a measure of selling pressure, closed at 2.54. According to Briefing.com a close above 2.00 suggests potential for a rebound the following session (17 out of the last 20 ended higher). But this does not preclude a downside extension.

Broad market volatility moved higher this past week with the VIX up 9.5% from last Friday's close now at 26.34, and the tech-focused VXN (Nasdaq Volatility Index) higher by 7.6% on the week at 28.31. The "fear gauges" declined early in the week as the stock market rallied, but they are moving sharply higher Friday as equities came under heavy pressure, trading at their lows for the week (SPX -1.6% on the week, Dow -1.0% and Nasdaq -1.2%). The CBOE put/call ratio, closed at 1.27, indicating higher put trading than call trading.

Stocks over $5 posting the largest percentage gain over the last five sessions include: TTWO +50%, OME +48%, MNTA +36%, COINZ +32%, GYI +31%, BRKR +30%, HURC +29%, CGPI +29%, COINW +28%, GTLS +27%, CISG +27%, JRJC +26%, VIT +26%, OVTI +26%, GTXI +26%, SHZ +25%, OCNW +24%, MTEX +24%, CHNR +23%, PAR +23%, SYNP +23%, NZ +22%, ASGN +22%, ANV +22%, ERES +21%, SONE +20%, PRGX +19%, CRME +19%, LEAP +19%, TESO +19%, OHB +19%, HSII +18%, EOG +18%, SAPE +18%, KGN +18%, MEMS +18%, ASTE +18%, AMSC +17%, DNN +17%, OMCL +17%, MINI +17%, KONG +17%, IHP +16%

Stocks over $5 posting the largest percentage loss over the last five sessions: RHD -59%, FMT- -50%, ENOC -44%, BZ -39%, TSRA -39%, MF -38%, ABH -36%, DUCK -31%, CRDN -30%, USU -28%, PDGI -28%, CRI -27%, SEED -26%, PBKS -24%, COMV -24%, BGFV -22%, HWAY -22%, WPCS -21%, IMA -21%, CAVM -21%, PMII -21%, SMSI -20%, NT -20%, DY -20%, LHCG -20%, BKR -19%, DIVX -19%, ADSK -19%, ODP -19%, IRIS -19%, S -18%, GFG -18%, URS -17%, CLWR -17%, TYM -17%, DAL -17%, CMED -17%, NWA -16%, TMA -15%

Companies reporting earnings the week of March 3rd -7th include: Monday: FVE, GEHL, HBC, JOBS, ABM, BEXP, CMOS, LF, MWY, SUPG, and OVEN... Tuesday: CLWR, JRCC, PRFT, PMI, SPLS, TSL, RMIX, WRES, CHS, DIET, GOLF, HLYS, IDSY, and SMTC... Wednesday: BJ, BWS, CSIQ, COST, FTEK, SKS, TRMP, FCEL, MATK, HRB, PETM, TIVO, UDRL, and CHIP... Thursday: BBI, FLE, JOYG, KFY, OMRI, RIO, DEPO, BOOM, HRAY, MRVL, PSPT, and WIND... Friday: CIEN, EBS, and HEES