ChartSmarter Friday Game Plan 5/22/15

Markets eked out small gains Thursday as the Nasdaq rose .4% and the S&P 500 by .2%. For the week heading into Friday the Nasdaq is higher by .85% and the S&P 500 by .4%. The S&P 500 is looking to CLOSE for a fifth consecutive week at highs for the intraweek range, a bullish sign. It has also traded in a very tight range Monday through Thursday with all closes within 11 handles of each other. Sectors that were among the best today included risk on groups like energy and industrials. Both are important to a healthy economy. Looking at some energy ETFs the XOP looks intriguing here as it has made higher highs and higher lows since the beginning of January. This week it has also received support at the very round 50 handle. The fund has been up just 5 sessions in all of May and seems like the masses are betting against a crude advance. Markets have and always will look to confound the most and it will be interesting to see how this particular scenario plays out going forward. More earnings reports continue to come in to feel the enthusiasm of the consumer and they are mixed. Two of the more dynamic moves Thursday came from KIRK and BKE. KIRK which we profiled in our Tuesday 4/21 Game Plan (chart below) took out a 26.89 cup base trigger with a third consecutive powerful beat. It rose 9.1% today and 8.3 and 24.5% on 2/5 and 11/20. BKE demonstrated capitulation like move today as it mounted a serious reversal near the round 40 handle which has been pivotal area of both support and resistance dating back to May 2011.