ChartSmarter Monday Game Plan 2/9/15

Markets rebounded on the week although Friday suffered a small reversal Friday afternoon. For the week the Nasdaq rose 2.4% stopping just shy of the round 4800 handle which acts as the resistance line in a bullish ascending triangle. The tech heavy benchmark is now positive for the year by the slimmest or margins by .2%. The S&P 500 briefly rose above a double bottom trigger we spoke of earlier in the week Friday and reversed to CLOSE beneath it. Not the best of technical signs but it can be recaptured next week of course. For the week it rose 3%, missing a bullish outside week by 2 handles and is down .2% YTD. Energy was easily the best performer this week as the XOP advanced 12.6% on the second best weekly volume in the last 5 years (below is the chart that we profiled in Tuesdays Game Plan). The XLE reclaimed its 50 day SMA on Tuesday and has spent the last 4 sessions north of it. That line was briefly recovered for just 2 sessions in late November before receding back below it and the nasty downtrend gained steam. It is dealing with the round 80 handle currently but it is a good sign that it remains above that key 50 day SMA which is had been underneath since late July last year. Of course the ETF was aided by XOM’s earnings bump earlier in the week. The stock comprises more than 16% of the fund. Interesting to see both XOM and CVX slashing share buybacks. Better ways to allocate capital? Speaking of ETFs the greenback UUP on the weekly chart is sporting an almost FIVE year cup with handle pattern with a trigger of 25.31.