Markets had a soft session Wednesday as the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 lagged each falling by .4 and .6% respectively. The S&P 500 continues its very taut sideways action with the last 3 sessions recording two doji candles and a bullish hammer today. Energy and financials were the clear winners today as the XLF rose .7% and the XLE by .4% and energy being a big laggard recently, the action was not welcome by the bulls. Big earnings continue to come in an AAPL which registered its own doji candle at all time highs on Tuesday, reacted to earnings Wednesday and CLOSED the day nearly UNCH but today completed a bearish evening star pattern. Other tech plays which slumped after earnings were AKAM and IPHI former best of breed plays. AKAM today recorded its second straight double digit drop after reporting lower by 15.5% today and 10.6% on 2/8. One can often be forgiven, but back to back begins to raise some eyebrows. IPHI is looking at a very likely 5 week losing streak and is now 30% off its recent all time highs which came after encountering trouble at the very round 50 figure between the weeks ending 2/10-24 and is a good reminder thats stocks below their 200 day SMA should be avoided. MTCH demonstrated that perhaps there is no “love in the air” and this is a good example of waiting for PRICE confirmation on CLOSING above valid patterns. This name was displayed a potential cup base trigger of 19.84, but once again the very round 20 number said not so fast and the chart has some repair work to do as it now looks like a double top is in place for the time being with highs of 19.74 and 19.83 made during the weeks ending 10/28/16 and this week. Speaking of tech laggards below is the chart of MANH, and how it appeared in this Mondays Game Plan, once one of the most respected software names out there and today it broke below a bear flag formation and looks ready to travel toward the round 40 number in the near term.
This article requires a Chartsmarter membership. Please click here to join.