A solid Friday sealed a good week for Semiconductors. After a four-month decline, there was a clear breakout that took out the October swing high. Strength in the Semiconductors has, and will likely, continue to feed into the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
Strength in the Semiconductors led to key breakouts for both the Nasdaq and S&P 500, negating what had been picture-perfect short trades for these indices at resistance. It will be interesting to see if there is any upside follow-through off the back of this reversal driven by short covering.
Technicals are net positive for both the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed with a bullish harami, a solid reversal pattern; a short-term 'buy' with a stop below Friday's low offers itself as a short-term trade. Technicals remain mixed with stochastaics particularly favoring the bearish side of the story. It will take a number of days of buying to reverse this bearish momentum.
For the coming week, we have the Nasdaq and S&P in the process of building a right-hand side of a base kicked off from the July swing high. It's an easier path for these indices than the Russell 2000. The latter index needs a solid advance to take it back to the 50-day MA at a minimum, and really, should take out the 200-day MA too.