Negative Divergence Catalyst

The
market numbers summed up the day,
as
the Generals were very light yesterday. Total volume was only 732 million. The
volume ratio was a push at 52 and decliners led advancers by -147. Institutional
blocks dropped off to just 15,107.


The S&P 500 is still
bumping up against the upper boundary of the symmetrical triangle formed on the
weekly chart at about 1500, and as you saw with the Diamonds (DIAs) at the 105
3/4 – 106 level, the move out will be very tradable from both a position and
daytrading standpoint. 
Yesterday,
the morning trend was up as the S&P 500 hit its high of 1502.84 just before
11:30 a.m. 


As you can see on the chart
below, there was a negative divergence by the NYSE Ticks. The
index gave you a 1-2-3 sell signal, trading below 1500 and also the 20-period
EMA, while the negative divergence in NYSE Ticks was a
catalyst for you to have taken the trade, either in the Spiders (SPYs) or a
related market stock with a similar pattern.


The trend was down until
about 3:00 p.m., when the index formed a double bottom just after 3:00 p.m. The
intraday low was 1491.50, just above Friday’s low of 1489.
As
you will see on the chart below, the index rallied back above the 260-period EMA
and above all three EMAs, to close at 1499.50.
The
rally was preceded by a positive divergence in NYSE Ticks.

No one was about to go out short in front
of the FOMC meeting.


I hope you are saving these
charts every day, because you will be writing the best trading book you haven’t
read yet, if you follow my meaning. You will start to acquire a very good market
feel for the various daily trends, and be able to recognize the trends with the
highest probability for a successful trade.


Today, of course, is the
much-heralded FOMC meeting, and judged by the recent rally, there aren’t any
negatives expected.
If it is as
expected, the overreaction could be enough to break the S&P 500 out of the
triangle, and also get market makers and specialists profitably out of any long
positions they maintain coming into today. 


It will also give them
opportunity to get some good shorts off. Don’t you be the ones they short stock
to!














face=”arial, helvetica”>(September Futures)


Fair
Value


size=2>Buy


size=2>Sell


6.20


7.40


5.10


Pattern
Setups


And again, you are looking for
trade-through entries either first or second.


In the sacred cows: Oracle
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, which is in a 12-bar consolidation above the 10-, 50- and 200-day
EMAs, and is also the same triangle as the S&P 500. A breakout could
challenge the 90 high.
Also EMC
(
EMA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
(on its march to 100, buy on a breakout above Thursday’s high of 93
7/8) and Cisco
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
.


In the financials: American
International Group
(
AIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Morgan Stanley
(
MWD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Lehman Brothers
(
LEH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Merrill Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Capital One
(
COF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

and Providian
(
PVN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
.


In the momentum stocks (and let’s hope
they don’t split them): Ariba
(
ARBA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
(ten bar and in consolidation above
the 10-, 50- and 200, looks like it’s ready to go),
Brocade
(
BRCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Broadcom
(
BRCM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Juniper
(
JNPR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, Siebel
(
SEBL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, PMC
Sierra
(
PMCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and PDL
(
PDLI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
.


Have a great trading day.


 



 


Do you have a follow-up question about something in this column or other questions about trading stocks, futures, options or funds? Let our expert contributors provide answers in the TradingMarkets Question & Answer section! E-mail your question to questions@tradingmarkets.com.
For the latest answers to subscriber questions, check out the Q&A section, linked at the bottom-right section of the TradingMarkets.com home page.