Markets surrendered early gains Monday as the Nasdaq higher by 1% early on gave it back all and closed lower to the tune of .4%. The tech heavy benchmark for the third consecutive session went out on lows of the day after promising starts and continues to play tug of war between bulls and bears at the 200 day SMA. It did record a bearish MACD crossover last week but does remain in the bullish zone above a 50 RSI number and today was its third consecutive loss to open a week, albeit just marginally (the Nasdaq fell .4 and .1% on 4/4 and 3/28). The S&P 500 continues to act better and after the 5 week winning streak ending between 2/19-3/18 where it rose 9.5% now it looks like it is consolidating that move at the movement. With earnings season upon us starting tonight with AA, it was fitting that the materials sector was the best performer higher by 1.9%. The only other major S&P groups to end higher were energy, financials and technology. In the energy arena I found it a bit concerning that many of the very low quality penny names acted strongly with the likes of BCEI and LGCY up double digits percentage wise. That type of frothiness has to be considered bearish, although oil did finish above the round 40 number today, but the markets ignored the enthusiasm. Consumer names continue to struggle as investor seem to be hoarding cash, with that theme highlighted today by the action in UA, LULU, COST and FL. Below is the chart of FL and how it was presented in last Wednesdays Game Plan.

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