Markets were under pressure right from the word go Wednesday as is took the staircase up recently and the elevator down today. The Nasdaq which has been the clear leader fell 2.6%, its largest loss since 4.1% softening on 6/24/16. It did record a nasty bearish engulfing session on 3/21 which slipped 1.8% but the index quickly found its footing near its upward sloping 50 day SMA. Will it do so once again as the benchmark lies roughly 1% above that line presently. Perhaps bears will look at Tuesdays session as a shooting star candle at all time highs and todays downside move confirmed it. The Russell fell even further dropping 2.8% slicing its 50 day SMA for the third time in just 2 months and that is becoming worrisome. That index is comprised of small cap securities which act well for domestic names as many derive substantial portions of their incomes in the United States. The S&P 500 CLOSED just beneath its 50 day SMA but some aspects were healthy as it closed the gap from the 4/21 session, but those double top concerns will persist until the round 2400 number is taken out. Not surprisingly it was the utilities and staples groups that were the only winning sectors on the day and the financials and technology were hit hard with the XLF and XLK lower by 3.1 and 2.7% respectively. The bearish head and shoulders pattern in regards to the XLF is now back in play. On days like today one will find that laggards that underperformed coming into Wednesday were also hard hit. Below is a prime example of a retail name, which will all know the industry been under assault, SBH and how it was profiled in our Monday 5/15 Game Plan. Its lame attempt to climb back above its 50 day SMA and decisively above the very round 20 number never came to fruition. Today it slumped 5%.

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