Technology bulls had a rough ride on Thursday as an early rally attempt was quickly snuffed out, states Jon Markman, editor of Strategic Advantage.
The Nasdaq 100 Index closed at 14,716, a decline of 1.1%. The benchmark has been under severe pressure since bulls were beaten back on Tuesday at the 50-day moving average.
I write frequently that there are no coincidences in the daily trading grind. This is not conspiratorial. There are factions of bullish and bearish investors. They are investing large sums of money based on models for stock prices. They know what levels are important, and which metrics are simply made-up like the threshold for bulls and bear markets. It’s not a stretch to suggest that the debt rating agencies are in the bear camp.
This is why they are releasing bearish outlooks exactly as bulls near critical resistance points. It’s also not out of the question to argue that a lot of sell-side investment firms have come into the bull camp. This is why they are upgrading market leaders such as Nvidia (NVDA) every day.
Bulls and bears are fighting hard, trying to force each other to retreat. Unfortunately for bulls, they are now losing, so stocks are falling back. The low on Thursday for the NDX was 14,698. That is about 10 points off from bulls’ first key support level. I would expect a slight bounce from that level might be a test that comes in the early part of the session.
It’s doubtful that pros will want to take inventory into the weekend. The benchmark is likely to sell off into the close. Key resistance is 15,185. Expect bears to defend that level vigorously.
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