The major stock indexes opened higher today, only for sellers to step forward once again to push the indexes back from their opening rally push highs, with sideways churn the remainder of the day delivering very modest gains going into the close run on decreasing volume.
Officially, the Dow industrials advanced 0.7% on NYSE volume of 4.6 billion shares, while the NASDAQ rose 0.3% on 1.9 billion. The leadership profile remains positive, with 327 stocks making new highs versus 68 making new lows.
The short term momentum oscillators remain negative, non-confirming the bullish stance of the AlphaKing Trading Indicator for the NASDAQ (while the Russell 2000 AK Trading Indicator remains negative.) We have no new trades at this time.
The splintered market got even more splintered today, as the Russell 2000 small caps, semis, and financial stocks, all closed down on the day, while other major stock indexes and sectors landed modest closes in the green. Volume continues to contract on rally pushes, which continues to bolster the bear case.
An end of year rally could land despite all this blah technical action, though so far there is very little to suggest the bulls are about land such a significant breakout. When those technical facts change then we will change, till then we continue to call recent gyrations the stumbling actions of a market in trouble, with stumbling having a long history of landing before the fall.
401K investors should be invested in a money market fund.
Kevin Wilde, Chief Trading Strategist AlphaKing.com.