ChartSmarter Monday Game Plan 3/20/17

So much for the volatility associated with options expiration and S&P rebalancing. Markets barely budged although the Nasdaq did make it 11 straight winning Fridays, albeit less than one point Friday (the last 3 sessions of the week all CLOSED amazingly less than one handle from each other). For the week the Nasdaq added .67% and the S&P 500 rose .24%. The Russell 2000 finished above its 50 day SMA for the third straight day and it outperformed gaining 1.92%. Groups that continue to soften and are concerning would be the transports as the IYT is lower 9 of the last 12 days, but still off a relatively mild 5% from recent 52 week highs. The ETF lost 1.5% this week after descending 2.1% the previous week, pun intended. It is currently testing Wednesdays bullish engulfing candle but did meet precise resistance at its 50 day SMA Thursday. This group was instrumental in the beginning phases of the overall rally and their weakness may be some foreshadowing. Peeking at some individual names we all know the airlines have been fragile but the rails have been off as well. NSC lost value every day this week slipping more than 4% this week in the second heaviest volume of the last year slicing its 50 day SMA in the process. Looking at weekly returns was a bit suspect regarding leadership as the utilities led with the XLU rising 1.5% although it did shy away from the 52.10 cup with handle trigger that began last July. Some consumer plays are beginning to perk and below is the chart of IFF and how it appeared in our Wednesday 3/15 Game Plan. It displayed fantastic relative strength this week up 5.4% and is on a 5 week winning streak and the right side of the cup base has room to run after a break above a bullish inverse head and shoulders formation.