CLOSE > Open:
There are two words we always capitalize in our daily writings. They are PRICE and CLOSE. PRICE is how we are paid and judged upon, and the CLOSE is much more important than the open. Remember the phrase, “amateurs open the market and pros CLOSE it.” This week the Nasdaq did that every session rising 2.8% to an all-time CLOSING high Friday. Even more positive is the fact that 7 of the last 9 weeks that the Nasdaq rose, the WEEKLY chart CLOSED at highs for the range all 7 times. It may be easy to say the easy money has been made within tech, but remember trends tend to extend much longer than we think, and they are much more likely to persist than they are to reverse. This past week technology was aided by some strong earnings reactions most notably in SNAP and TWTR Thursday after the close. To be fair IBM and NFLX reversed Wednesday after early advances, and INTC imploded Friday losing 5%, its FIFTH consecutive negative reaction. Next week beginning with Tuesday after the close we see results from AAPL AMD MSFT and GOOGL and more in the days following. Next week’s CLOSE will be very telling, and a lot can happen in the meantime.