Okay
Not a bad session
for the Naz, given last week’s
heroic tape and the need to pull back.
The Index could still come down
another 8% or so to the 2400 level and be within the realm of normalcy for what
a bottoming process should look like.
The plus is that, over the past three
weeks, institutions have not been blatant sellers.
The general market also acted well,
what with early-cycle segments like the financials and retailers walking away
with gains.
The negative for the day was the
semis, however few chips actually were distributed.
In other words, the losses came on
lighter volume.
For example, among liquid semi
equipments, just ASM Lithography
(
ASML |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Credence
(
CMOS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and Novellus
(
NVLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) experienced distribution.
Elsewhere, it is encouraging to see
the brokers hold up and outperform, moving past the midpoint of their four-month
base.
Being
a member of the financial sector, and given its sensitivity to trading volume
and interest rates, this is a group that tends to lead the general market.
Among
liquid brokers, Lehman [LEH| is at the top of the charts, literally and
figuratively.
Merrill
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is another, though it was unable to break out of its four-month base
Tuesday for the second time in two weeks.
Meanwhile,
Ultratech Stepper
(
UTEK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), a semi equipment, is forming a two-week
symmetrical triangle that looks mature.
Autozone
(
AZO |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed in on the
top of its nine-month base.
Cabot Micro
(
CCMP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) began building
a handle to go with its five-month base.
Eclipsys
(
ECLP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) hurdled its wide,
eight-week base before going out below the lip on heavy volume.
Gymboree
(
GYMB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was a bright
spot, following through on Friday’s breakout of a five-week pattern.