Market Commentary: Averages Melt Down Wiping Out All Of Yesterday’s Gains

Closing Market Commentary For 04-23-2014

As expected and predicted, the markets closed down. The DOW was in the red, but closed flat at -0.08%. The NASDAQ fared a lot worse closing off at -0.83%, SP500 off -0.22% and the volume sucked at being anemic.

By 4 pm the averages had sea-sawed all day in a linear regression line downward matched by volume. The averages just erased all the gains from yesterday and were no better or worse as we lie in wait for Mr. Market to make his move.

The last 60 seconds was a sell-off of minor proportions with heavy volume to match. Minutes following the close showed a VERY volatile positive aftermarket as Facebook beats by $0.10 on revenue. Citrix beats by $0.05, Ingram Micro misses by $0.05 and Safeway misses by $0.12. Be prepared for a pump-n-dump session tomorrow.

Today’s close could be the start of a head and shoulder formation. It needs to fall below ~1837 (est. May 5^th.) of an upwards sloping neck to trigger a sell, be alert.

The short term indicators are leaning towards the hold side at the close. The all important signs of reversal, up or down, have not been observed so we are mostly, at best, neutral and conservatively holding. The important DMA’s, volume and a host of other studies have not turned, only a past 6% correction (and recovery) and that is not enough for me to start shorting. The SP500 MACD has turned up, but remains above zero at 3.23. The NASDAQ bounced off the 100 DMA around 2:30 this afternoon reaffirming a bullish stance for tomorrow – we will see if it was just a failed bear test.

I would advise caution in taking any position during this volatile transition period although Barchart.com shows a 48 % buy. (Remember this has been negative for weeks.) Investing.com members’ sentiments are 65% bearish.

If you would like to get advanced buy/sell tweets, sign-up in the column to the right of this post by clicking on the ‘Follow‘ button. Write me with suggestions and I promise not to bite.

The DOW at 4:00 is at 16502 down 13 or -0.08%.

The SP500 is at 1875 down 4 or -0.22%.

SPY is at 187.67 down 0.44 or -0.23%.

The $RUT is at 1147 down 8.53 or -0.74%.

NASDAQ is at 4127 down 34 or -0.83%.

NASDAQ 100 is at 3557 down 32 or -0.88%.

$VIX ‘Fear Index’ is at 13.32 up 0.13 or 0.99%. Neutral Movement

(Follow Real Time Market Averages at end of this article)

The longer trend is up, the past months trend is sideways, the past 5 sessions have been positive and the current bias is negative.

Oil slips further below $102 a barrel as reports shows big increase in US supplies

WTI oil is trading between 102.05 (resistance) and 101.20 (support) today. The session bias is negative and is currently trading down at 101.43.

Brent Crude is trading between 109.52 (resistance) and 108.60 (support) today. The session bias is sideways and is currently trading down at 109.13.

Tension between Russia and Ukraine help nudge gold prices up for the first time in a week

Gold fell from 1288.94 earlier to 1281.00 and is currently trading up at 1284.90. The current intra-session trend is sideways.

Analysts forecast a corrosive year for copper prices

Dr. Copper is at 3.058 rising from 3.031 earlier.

The US dollar is trading between 80.00 and 79.77 and is currently trading down at 79.95, the bias is currently positive.

Real Time Market Numbers<p><iframe src=”http://eqrates.investing.com/index.php?pairs_ids=277;347;6408;243;282;346;396;238;284;247;240;260;241;271;316;352;6974;7888;26490;8193;308;6369;280;301;251;8082;267;8177;287;272;252;334;8115;409;402;305;651;295;474;469;333;667;7997;7992;&amp;header-text-color=%23FFFFFF&amp;curr-name-color=%230059b0&amp;inner-text-color=%23000000&amp;green-text-color=%232A8215&amp;green-background=%23B7F4C2&amp;red-text-color=%23DC0001&amp;red-background=%23FFE2E2&amp;inner-border-color=%23CBCBCB&amp;border-color=%23cbcbcb&amp;bg1=%23F6F6F6&amp;bg2=%23ffffff&amp;last_update=hide” width=”600″ height=”960″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”></iframe></p>

<div style=”width: 559px;”><span><span style=”font-size: 11px;color: #333333;text-decoration: none;”>Leading Stock Quotes powered by <a class=”underline_link” style=”font-size: 11px;color: #06529D; font-weight: bold;” href=”http://www.investing.com/” target=”_blank”>Investing.com</a></span></span></div></p>

To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated:

[email protected]

<p><strong><span style=”font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;”><span style=”font-size: medium;”>Written by <a rel=””author”” href=”/files/gary.htm”>Gary</a></span></span></strong></p>