Monday, March 9, 2009

Stocks Continue Slide Downward

U.S. Stocks chopped around for most of the session, before late in the day they once again decided that the path of least resistance was to the downside. Except for the $41 billion merger between Merck and Schering Plough, there was no other news able to support the market.

One disturbing trend I have noticed in recent trading sessions is that the Nasdaq stocks are selling off harder than the Dow and S&P 500. I guess this just could be due to the fact that the financials have gone about as low as they can go. The big bellweather tech stocks, ie, GOOG, AAPL and RIMM are leading the way down, especially Google.

As I mentioned yesterday, I think we are due for a solid bounce, or at least a couple months where the averages trend sideways. With today's down market, the readings on the ADX climbed again, and it will continue to do so, even if the market heads a little higher from here over the next few days. Furthermore, the sentiment is overwhelmingly negative, as another pundit suggested that 600 is the next target level for the S&P 500 and beyond that, 500. 500? Wow, I can remember the first time it broke above that level in 1995! Well, we have quite a ways to go to get down there, although at the rate we are going, and with the continued blundering in Washington, maybe it won't be long until we get down there.

Still, even though we are over due for a bounce, don't run out and buy any stocks yet! You don't have to pick tops and bottoms to make good money. It is the meat in the middle of a trend that will line your pockets, and the trend remains down until further notice.

As for daytraders, since we are due for an upside move, be a little cautious. Today was a topsy turvy day that resolved itself to the downside, but the choppiness was brutal for daytraders looking to capitalize on big directional moves. These may be coming to the upside soon.

Scott Cole
www.bestdaytradingstocks.com

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