ChartSmarter Thursday Game Plan 8/4/16

Markets showed lukewarm gains Wednesday, but a peak underneath the hood showed some positive developments. The Nasdaq rose .4% and the S&P 500 by .3% and both benchmarks went out on session highs, after a very brief moment in the red this morning. The S&P 500 is now about 2.5% above a double bottom trigger of 2113 and a retest of that line is not out of the question. Its 50 day SMA lies there too, but as we all know the anticipated pullbacks we all desire rarely present themselves. Leadership was clearly shown by the energy and financial groups, and one could rightfully frown the energy led the way today. Crude has found a nice bounce at the round 40 number, and perhaps bears can mention that bottoms are often a long, smooth drawn out process. Not the type of volatility we have been witnessing recently. Looking at the lagging groups they hailed from the most defensive sectors being the staples and utilities. Among the finnies which shined Wednesday CME looked the best as it hit all time highs following a well received earnings report. The stock took out a 272.05 cup base trigger and is looking good to delivering a sixth consecutive weekly gain depending on Fridays CLOSE (it is higher by more than 5% heading into Thursday). Notice coming into this week the stock recorded a 3 week tight pattern which often can lead to explosive moves with the coiling action. The 3 weeks ending between all CLOSED within 1.17 of each other.