ChartSmarter Thursday Game Plan 3/13/14

Markets rose modestly Wednesday with the Nasdaq leading the way with a .4% advance. The utility sector led the way with a 1% advance. Not a group that inspires confidence in the bulls. In fact just the sectors you would like to see try and act bulky were the laggards, putting a glass half empty feel on the day. They included energy, financials and industrials. Some energy names like PXD did bounce right off precise 50 day SMA support after briefly touching the bear market threshold of lower by 20% from their most recent 52 week high intraday. Benchmarks just have a feel like the past to least resistance is lower. It almost feels like the bears have gone away into a quiet hibernation resting comfortably knowing that honey laced profits are soon on the way. They are not out pounding the table and screaming. They have confidence for the first time in awhile. Remember the adage, as goes January as goes the year, and benchmarks were down 5%. The S&P 500 for example lost ground 4 of the first 5 weeks in 2014. Compare that to how the S&P 500 opened up 2013 on a 7 week winning streak and 10 of the first 11. Other ominous signs are the strength in gold. The GLD is glittering and sizzling in 2014 up 10 of the 11 weeks this year so far. This type of action indicates some risk will be coming off further going forward in our humble opinion.