Markets took a breather Wednesday as the Nasdaq cruelly lost its impressive double digit streak by less than one handle. The tech tone coming in was slightly soft with HPQ missing numbers and falling 10%, but the name does not command the relevance it once did in years past. The Nasdaq chart produced a bearish shooting star pattern Wednesday, but pay attention to the price action. Sure it is due for a rest and perhaps the 5000 number is just a bit to much for the benchmark at the moment. AAPL’s 3% plus drop the last 2 days will be watched very closely as the top component will have a huge saying in the direction of the Nasdaq’s direction in the short term. Utilities were the worst performer and is a good example of weak groups continuing to be so. They were one of the top performing groups until a bearish engulfing candle on 1/28 near the round 50 number put the group in a mild tail spin. The XLU lost 1.6% Wednesday and is off 8.5% in the month since bearish session 1/28. The 2/6 day may have been even more damaging at it lost more than 4% slicing its 50 day SMA in more than double average daily trade. The ETF looks headed for a date with its 200 day SMA which has been supportive numerous times over the last one year period. It has spent the entire month of February below the neutral 50 RSI number. On the bright side it looks like a potential bullish MACD crossover is in the making.
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