ChartSmarter Friday Game Plan 2/10/17

Markets showed a bit of life Thursday, perhaps coming out of hibernation and recent doldrums. Indexes started strong early on and then digested those gains later in the session refusing to give much back, a bullish sign. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 added .6% and it was the Russell 2000 that shined higher by 1.5% and has been resting upon its 50 day SMA and perhaps ready to resume its lofty uptrend. For the week the Nasdaq is higher by .9% heading into Friday and the S&P 500 has gained .5%. If the Nasdaq rises Friday it will mark the fourth week in the last 6 registering a 1% advance and the S&P 500 cleared the round 2300 number which has been resistance the last couple weeks. It was a positive sign the see the banks lead the way today with the XLF rising 1.4%, and one can remember this group did most of the heavy lifting the last 2 months of ’16. Stinking up the joint was the utilities who decided to take a well deserved day off after acting powerfully recently. One should keep a close eye if any rotation out of that defensive group persists. The XLU seems to be struggling with a breakout above a bullish ascending triangle trigger of 49 here, and as many know the best trades tend to work right away, so its indecision here could be telling. Or of course it could just be a reaction to the interest rate sensitive finnies Thursday. Speaking of rotation some lagging groups have been putting on a nice show as of late with the healthcare and retail names making a comeback. Will they be treated as dead cat bounces or is this the start of something new. Below is the chart of NKE and how it was presented in our Wednesday 1/18 Game Plan. Today it stormed above its 200 day SMA and is up nearly 6% for the week and has been trading between the round 50 and 60 numbers since late last August. Not to long ago many were announcing a new star in the athletic footwear space in Adidas. Currently YTD thus far NKE is higher by 9% and ADDYY is UNCH and we all know what UAA is up to.