ChartSmarter Monday Game Plan 5/22/17

Markets displayed some muscle the last 2 sessions of the week after a tumultuous Wednesday. Friday saw decent gains with the S&P 500 higher by .7% and the Nasdaq by .5%, finishing slightly off highs after a mild late day selloff . For the week it was the S&P 500 which “outperformed” lower by .4% compared to the Nasdaq losing .6%. This week ended the Nasdaq’s four week winning streak and its four week streak outshining the S&P 500 as it recorded a weekly spinning top candle at all time highs which could suggest a softening of the current trend. One week does not make a trend and on a YTD basis it still commands a heavy lead higher by 13% while the S&P 500 has risen 6.4%. A positive one can take from the S&P 500 is its recapture of its 50 day SMA so rapidly, a feat it also achieved in April. One has to still give the Nasdaq the benefit of the doubt although perhaps so chinks in the armor are evolving. At least with some “old tech” names which have been flourishing as of late. We maintain our bullish overall stance, but one must always remain cautious and the action in some former best of breed names in that category should be watched. SYMC one of our favorites fell 4% the week ending 5/12 recorded a bearish engulfing week at nearly 13 year highs and this week fell another 6.4% in double average weekly trade. It was a name that traded very taut and has suddenly become very loose, a bearish trait. Another name that has been soft for the last couple months FFIV now 15% off recent 52 week highs and down 7 of the last 9 weeks is comfortably below its 200 day SMA, a danger sign. And of course we have CSCO which lost 6.7% in weekly volume not seen in the last 15 months. Looking back its failure to take out such a tight 4 week CLOSING period between weeks ending 2/24-3/17 which all finished remarkably within just 9 pennies of each other was a warning sign. One “old tech” player perhaps a grandfather, is YHOO which has without much attention put together a current 8 week winning streak and up 19 of the last 22. It recorded its first weekly CLOSE above the very round 50 number since the week ending 1/2/15 and is now a few percentage points away from a big weekly cup base breakout trigger. Below is the weekly chart we examined in our Tuesday 5/16 Game Plan.