Complete Thursday Game Plan 10/17/13

Markets enjoyed another powerful session Wednesday as the S&P 500 rose for a fifth time in the last 6 days. It is closing in on all time highs. The Nasdaq powered ahead to a multi year high as well. The S&P 500 gained 1.4% outdoing the Nasdaq’s 1.2% move. The smaller S&P 600 hit another all time high today, and that is bullish, because the larger cap stocks tend to follow what the smaller names do. The XLF had a nice day and has enjoyed solid volume up days today, 10/10 and 10/11. It is now closing in on a flat base trigger of 21.03. At first look it resembles a double bottom but the second leg down did not exceed the first so that formation is invalid. On big up days I usually like to see what names did not join in the jubilation. Some retail names fit that bill, including DECK RL DSW. DECK lost 10% last week and has failed to make up any ground this week. RL has also failed to capture any of last weeks 3% plus losses, this week so far. It is quickly approaching its own personal bear market, now down 17% from its recent 52 week high. DSW cracked its 50 day SMA today in big trade. Keep an eye on retail as 2/3rds of GDP comes from consumer spending. FDX hit a new all time high again today, after it bucked yesterdays weakness with a 4% gain Tuesday. That is an important economic bellwether, so perhaps it is forecasting solid growth ahead. After the bell reports from IBM EBAY sent both stock lower by 6 and 4% respectively. Names that reported last night YHOO CSX both did not advance with the robust gains in the benchmarks. Just a thought to ponder.