Markets gave back some decent gains from the big gain Wednesday today and on the charts the most hurtful looked to be the Dow which we do not monitor much, but it did record a bearish dark cloud cover candle. I have said many time in the past that the candles have been more accurate calling bottoms than tops and I still stand by that. For me to become a bit more worried I would have to see a big capitulative shooting star or even better yet a multiple candle formation like a bearish evening star. The Dow fell .5%, the S&P 500 by .6% and the Nasdaq by .7% and the Russell 2000 by 1.3%. For the week the benchmarks are still higher with both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 higher by .3 and .6% heading into Friday and if they were to CLOSE near here they both would record bearish weekly shooting stars which have a bigger impact obviously than daily candles. Lets keep in mind the Nasdaq is seeking a 9th consecutive Friday advance. The utilities and staples assumed their leadership position Thursday and the former was the only major S&P sector to advance with the XLU higher by .7% and showing the broad nature of the selloff today. Lagging was the XLF which gave back half of the powerful 3% advance from the day prior. Many will be looking for shorting opportunities among the myriad of names that are now sitting just off recent 52 week or all time highs. A better approach would be to short names already acting weak, may seem counterintuitive but it is the same as buying the strongest names, and a good candidate that fits that bill is YELP. The stock is in bear mode 22% off most recent 52 week highs following a double top in early February. A stocks usual last resort is its 200 day SMA and one can short here with a buy stop and CLOSE above that long term secular line.
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