Stock market remains range bound after seven sessions

Stock index, chart, technical analysis

Market Snapshot for session ending 08-14-12

Market Overview – What We Know:

• Major indexes closed mixed again Tuesday with S&P 500 still unable to better first resistance (1407.14) put in place via intraday high August 7.
• NYSE trading volume rose 17% compared to Monday’s levels, but was still sub normal and holding below 10-Day moving average.
• Short-term trend remains positive until lower edge of 10-Day Price Channel (1380.21 through Wednesday). Intermediate Cycle would require weakness below lower edge of 10-Week Price Channel (1313.24 through August 17) to turn negative.
• Short-term Momentum and our proprietary Trading Oscillators remain positive, but “Overbought.”
• Daily MAAD was negative Tuesday by 6 to 14 and continues to hold below resistance high made July 3. Daily MAAD Ratio was last toward “Neutral” at 1.12.
• CPFL was positive Tuesday by 1.40 to 1. While indicator has shown marginal improvement over past month, it is nowhere near overcoming major resistance at February 2011 resistance high.

Market Overview – What We Think:

• It remains to be seen if S&P 500 will be able to overcome resistance high (1422.38) put in place April 2 to re-assert major advance begun in March 2009.
• Given notable failure of Daily MAAD since July 3, and despite market strength since then, we continue to wonder if price gains since June 4 lows could prove to be end game prior to more serious decline on larger Intermediate Cycle.
• Lingering negative divergence by Daily MAAD is ongoing suggestion Smart Money has been doing more selling into strength over past several weeks than buying.
• If market fails short of March/April highs (1422.38--S&P 500), turns negative on Minor Cycle, and then threatens reversal of Intermediate Cycle positive, long-term uptrend stretching back to March 2009 lows would almost immediately become an issue since that trendline is now approximately coincident with June lows (1266.74—S&P 500).
• Ongoing failure of NASDAQ, Value Line index, and Russell 2000, to confirm recent gains in S&P 500 and Dow 30, is indication market breadth has been limited to bluer chips.
• If recent rally is legitimate and has more room to go on upside, where’s indicator corroboration? We cannot remember instance where market powered higher on long term indefinitely without confirmation from key indicators.

Note: Stop levels, a function of the extant trend, are based on the trailing moving average price channels for the Highs or the Lows of an index. Whether or not a specific index is suggesting a “Buy” or Sell” is determined by whether or not index prices are above or below the current channel Stop levels. Stop levels should only be used as an entry or exit guide and in conjunction with other market entry and exit strategies.

Next page: Indicator review