The stock market indices suffered a nasty spill after a very strong start today. The indices opened with gaps to the upside, they tested after running up quickly, and then they made new 2012 rally highs on Nasdaq 100, reaching 2803 and change, and the S&P 500 jumping to 1426 and change. They then reversed in a very sharp manner with Apple Inc. (AAPL), after reaching new all-time highs just under 675, dropping down near 650, a 25 point reversal. However, they did bounce a couple times in the afternoon, and closed off the lows, but on a nasty session. Apple was down 9.09 at 656.06, 6 points off the low, but 18 points off the high. That was a very nasty spill for Apple. We'll have to see if there are any consequences for that stock and the market going forward.
By midafternoon, they reached their session lows on the NDX, and bounced. When they bounced, the S&P 500 didn't participate. Then they rolled over to retest the lows on the NDX, making new S&P 500 lows slightly below support. Only in the last half hour did they bounce.
Net on the day, the Dow was down 8.95 at 13,203.58, about 127 points off its high. The S&P 500 was down 4.96 at 1413.17, only 13 points off its high. The Nasdaq 100 was down 12.13 at 2772.20, 30 points off its high.
You can see the reversal that the market had today.
Advance-declines were 16 to 13 negative on New York Stock Exchange, and 13 to 10 negative on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 33 to 28 negative on New York, with total volume was 620 million shares. Nasdaq traded over 1.5 billion, and had a 4 to 3 negative plurality.
TheTechTrader.com board was active, mostly lower, but there were a lot of percent-gainers on our board today. The percent-gain leader was AM Castle & Co. (CAS), which exploded in the morning, coiled for several hours, and then came on late in the day, and closed up with a whopping gain of 2.47 to 11.69, or 27%, on 1.4 million shares. Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) was up 5.70 to 36.98, or 18%, on 21.6 million shares, on strong earnings. Daktronics Inc. (DAKT) gained 1.37 to 9.43, or 17%, on nearly 900,000, which is big volume for this stock.
Nordson Corporation (NDSN) jumped 6.07 to 61.07, or 11%, on 2.3 million shares, on strong earnings. OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (OCZ) advanced 43 cents to 5.76, or 8%, on 6 million shares, on rumors of a takeover. Skechers USA Inc. (SKX) gained 1.90 to 21.39, or 10%, on 2.2 million shares. Rex Energy Corporation (REXX) closed up 99 cents to 13.07, or 8%, on 2.4 million shares.
First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) continues its winning ways, up 1.68 to 24.14, on 7 1/2%, on and 14 million shares, reaching 25.06 at one point in the day on profit-taking. EV Energy Partners LP (EVEP) gained 4.49 to 49.03, or 8%, on 1 million shares.
Airlines were strong today. US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC) was up 83 cents to 11.42, or 8%, on 19.8 million shares.
Other gainers of note included H&E Equipment Services Inc. (HEES), up 1.10 to 18.60, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) up 1.50 to 25.84, Questcor Pharmaceutical (QCOR) 2.24 to 40.87, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ONXX) 3.88 to 71.68, REEDS, Inc. (REED) 51cents to 6.75 on late profit-taking, and DSW Inc. (DSW) 3.27 to 64.50 rounded out the gainers for today.
On the downside, Google Inc. (GOOG) dropped 6.03 to 669.51. Ellie Mae, Inc. (ELLI) lost 1.19 to 23.94. VirnetX Holding Corp (VHC), on a court ruling, was down 1.23 to 24.27.
Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices gapped up nicely, and ran early to new highs for the entire move, and then came down hard midday, bounced in the afternoon, and retested the lows. They made lower lows on the S&P 500, managed to snap back a little on the close, but it was a nasty day today. We'll see if it leads to more downside. Right now, it appears that the rally came off the rising, 50-day moving average on the hourly charts. Key support now is around 2760-2 zone on the NDX, and about 1410 for starters, and then 1400 on the S&P 500.
We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
Good Trading!
Harry