ChartSmarter Monday Game Plan 1/9/17

Markets finished out a productive week Friday. The Nasdaq was higher everyday this week, advancing .6% today, and jumped 2.6% for the second consecutive holiday shortened week. It achieved all time highs, clearing the bull flag at the round 5500 figure, and the last 3 sessions all CLOSED at or in the upper half of their daily ranges, a bullish sign. The S&P 500 rose .3% Friday and for the week gained 1.7% and in the process negated the prior weeks bearish engulfing pattern. It is now just below the 3 week tight pattern pivot of 2278 coming from the weeks ending 12/9-23 which all finished within less than 6 handles of each other. With technology seemingly joining the fray a bit more on a daily basis, market participants are feeling optimistic. At the expense of rotation into tech, other groups continue to falter, most notably the retail space. All ten of the major S&P sectors gained ground Friday and it was tech via the XLK that led, higher by .7%. On a weekly basis all ten sectors also moved northward and it was healthcare that led the way added 2.9%. The XLV cleared its 200 day SMA and its 50 day SMA is now sloping upward for the first time in 4 months. Rounding out the cellar two of the three worst performing sectors this week were defensive in nature with the staples and utilities up by .8 and .5% respectively. If technology does keep assuming a leadership role, the software group could be a good spot to mine for potential longs. Below is the chart of BOX and how it appeared in our Friday Game Plan this week. It jumped 3.4% today and now the double bottom pattern is taking shape. Getting back to consumer discretionary it is not surprising to see laggards such as ANF, EXPR and GES falter (all down 64, 53 and 48% from recent 52 week highs), but it looks like some best of breed names in the space could be starting to wobble. PLCE for one is now down 3 of the last 4 weeks and the last 3 have all CLOSED taut within just .25 of each other. It is temporarily holding the very round par number but a move below 99.25 could accelerate selling.