ChartSmarter Friday Game Plan 8/12/16

Markets behaved well Thursday as both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose .5%. After tomorrow the month of August will be half done and the volatility many were expecting has yet to come. It still has plenty of time to have drawdown and take the elevator down, as it has seemingly taken the staircase up. The Nasdaq heading into Friday is higher marginally by 2% and trying to continue its powerful 6 week winning streak, and all have CLOSED the week at the highs for their weekly range, a very bullish sign. The S&P 500 is also fractionally higher for the week with one session left up .2% as well. Oil led the way higher today and is that a function of a laggard group taking charge which would be bearish, or is it a former leader from earlier in the year well rested and ready to assume leadership again. All 9 major S&P sectors rose Thursday but at the bottom of the pile were the defensive staples and utilities. Below is the chart of CPE and how it appeared in this Thursdays Game Plan, which is now on an 8 session winning streak, yet the last 6 have somewhat long upper wicks which indicates sellers liquidating into strength. Best in breed PXD gave the group “permission” to advance as it held its 50 day SMA on 8/1-2 and is now comfortably above a double bottom trigger of 169.56.