Complete Monday Game Plan

Markets finished Friday UNCH as both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 advanced everyday of the holiday shortened week. Volume was strong for the most part this week and that should be noted. For the week the Nasdaq gained 1.9% and the S&P 500 1.3% and on a yearly basis the Nasdaq extended its commanding lead over the S&P 500 ahead 21.2% versus the S&P 500’s 16.1%. The Nasdaq is now less than 1% decade old highs and its daily chart has carved out a flat base with a pivot of 3695. The technical picture for the S&P 500 looks murky as its 50 day SMA has become a tough nut to crack. A recapture of the 50 day SMA would be optimal this week as it is not necessarily a bad thing to be under that key line, but the longer it resides below it the tougher it will be to reclaim, and becomes more failure prone in doing so. Some positive technical signs this week were the 52 week high versus 52 week low list is looking brighter. Friday saw the figures for the Nasdaq at 97 new highs to 12 new lows and the NYSE 106 to 24. The internet group seems to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting of the Nasdaq which is a good sign with names like LNKD FB BLOX all recording excellent weeks. FB came with .39 of an all time high Friday before backing off somewhat. This week brought some mixed economic data with the ISM and revised GDP for Q2 both pointed toward growth. However you would be hard pressed to put a positive spin on the jobs number Friday. The quality of job created was suspect and the participation rate fell to the level it was back in the Carter administration. Retail sales were ambiguous, almost like how the markets feel. The fact that the benchmarks rallied off that less than appealing jobs report Friday morning has to be respected. The markets character could be tested this week as everyone has the time to dissect the jobs number. Something tells me this week is going to tell us a lot about where it wants to go by year end.