ChartSmarter Tuesday Game Plan 5/10/16

Tech raised its hand Monday and bulls welcomed the gesture somewhat. It has been to few and far between instances recently, but if the Nasdaq can begin to take charge on a more consistent basis perhaps this rally off 4200 still has some legs. The Nasdaq rose .3% today, off intraday highs, benefitting from nice moves in AMZN, GOOGL and biotechs gave the benchmarks some nice tailwinds. Small caps cooperated too with the same gain posted by the Russell 2000, and the S&P 500 was higher by .1%. Indexes are trying to shed off the crude “training wheels” and thrive on their own. Today was a very good start. Oil was firm premarket but reversed hard recording a bearish engulfing candle, but individual names in the sector acted well. Healthcare and retail groups led the charge today. Healthcare names still have a lot to prove as many charts have been hurt. Even a leader like FPRX (chart below) had a recent breakout unravel and we know the best breakouts tend to work out right away. Investors still seem to be concerned about land mines that are popping up with some regularity. FLR was looking solid until an earnings shortfall last Friday dropping more than 5%, but did bounce just above the very round 50 figure. Former best of breed security play PANW is still 30% off its most recent 52 week high, its 200 day SMA is still sloping lower and it lost almost 10% last week. In the retail arena former general GIII is more than 40% off its recent 52 week highs and on a current 3 week losing streak. It is approaching the round 40 number for the third time since last November and looks like a bearish descending triangle is maturing rapidly. I can go on (GPS after the CLOSE) but I think you get the picture. Despite many potholes, for now the market has a magnificent navigating system and seems determined to leave many behind as it slowly climbs the proverbial wall of worry.