ChartSmarter Tuesday Game Plan 7/1/14

Markets began the holiday shortened week with a yawn Monday. The Nasdaq led the way with a gain of .2%, while the S&P 500 was flat. The benchmarks continue to trade in a very tight fashion and the Nasdaq has the look of a very uniform staircase up scenario. The elevator down finish seems a way off. The small cap names perked up today as the S&P 600 shined up .7%. That is a sign that risk is still being taken, and the march higher can proceed. The Nasdaq did take out the round 4400 figure, a level that the index reversed off during last Tuesdays ugly outside day. Once again and at the expense of sounding like a broken record the utilities led the way higher today. In the first half of the year they were the best performing sector higher by 15.7%, and one of only two that recorded double digit gains. The other was energy up 12.6% (healthcare just missed advancing 9.99%). The largest component in the XLU, DUK has been behaving just like you want to see a recent breakout act. It took out a 72.04 double bottom trigger on 6/18 and keeps “buzzing” higher, pun intended. Its 7.5% YTD is outpacing both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 and sports a very sweet 4.2% dividend yield. Investors looking to start a new position in the name can do so with a move above 75.23 cup base trigger in powerful volume.