ChartSmarter Friday Game Plan 8/5/16

Markets were little changed Thursday as the Nasdaq rose .1% and the S&P 500 was flat. The Nasdaq is looking for a sixth consecutive weekly gain higher by .1% heading into Friday and the S&P 500 is lower by .4% with one day left this week. The previous 2 weeks on the S&P 500 CLOSED extremely tight and with a finish in the lows 2170s tomorrow would be a good looking 3 week tight pattern near all time highs. That type of tight consolidation often leads to powerful moves and the direction of the breakout normally resumes in the prior trend. Of course tomorrow we have a jobs report to digest and sectors that led the way Thursday continue to be technology. The XLK is now well above the 44.46 double bottom trigger taken out on 7/12 in firm volume. The ETF lost ground just 5 sessions in all of July and is looking for a sixth consecutive weekly gain (it rose 7 weeks in a row ending between 2/19-4/1 gaining more than 13% in the process). Materials were the second best performing major S&P sector as the XLB eked out an advance of .4%. Talking about tight weekly CLOSES, this ETF has done so in a very taut fashion with the last 3 weeks all finishing within just .12 of each other. This week is continuing the coiled action as well. Below is the chart of BLL from our Monday 7/24 Game Plan and although the stock gapped through the pivot and rendered the trigger useless, it does demonstrate the vigor of the group. Today it jumped more than 12% after a well received earnings report. The packaging play could speak to some strength down the road in the very soft economic recovery. IP and UFS are 2 others names to keep on your watch list in that group.