Art's Charts

XLK Starts Underperforming - TLT Hits Key Retracement

Arthur Hill

Arthur Hill

Chief Technical Strategist, TrendInvestorPro.com

Stocks moved lower on Monday as traders booked some profits from last week's rally. The Nasdaq 100 ETF led the way lower as Apple's big event approaches. Apple investors appear to be getting cold feet as the stock fell over 2% on Monday. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) were down fractionally. All sectors moved lower with technology and finance leading the way down. The losses, however, were modest and selling pressure was not that strong. The Technology SPDR (XLK) stalled on Friday with a small loss and formed a harami on Thursday-Friday last week. Last week's wedge breakout is holding as the broken resistance zone turns into first support in the 30.50-30.75 area. The price relative (XLK:SPY ratio) flattened the last three weeks as XLK stopped outperforming the broader market.

120911xlk


There is no change on the 60-minute SPY chart. After a long consolidation, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) broke free with a big move above 142 late last week. The breakout is clearly bullish and clearly holding. Broken resistance turns into first support in the 142 area. A move back below 141.8 would negate the breakout and call for a reassessment. Such a move would not reverse the uptrend though. The lows extending from early August mark a clear support zone around 140. It would take a break below 139.8 would fully reverse the short-term uptrend. RSI support is set at 40.

120911spyi

120911qqqi

120911iwmi

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This is where it gets tricky for treasuries. The news flow will be heavy from Wednesday to Friday with a Fed policy statement on Thursday. The 20+ Year T-Bond ETF (TLT) broke support last week as the stock market surged on Thursday. This decline retraced 50-61.80% of the late August advance and this area marks a make-or-break zone. I am setting first resistance at 125.5 for TLT and first support at 16 (1.6%) for the 10-year Treasury Yield ($TNX). A break of these two levels would be short-term bullish for treasuries and bearish for stocks.

120911tlti

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No change. The Dollar got squashed again on Friday as the US Dollar Fund (UUP) plunged below 22.10 and stayed down. The short-term downtrend extended and there is not much change on the chart, other than some severe oversold conditions. The late August consolidation marks the first resistance zone around 22.3-22.50. RSI resistance is set in the 50-60 zone.

120911uupi
 
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No change. Oil is all mixed up with no place to go. Even though the Dollar fell sharply and stocks surged, the US Oil Fund (USO) is still bouncing around support in the 35 area. USO should be much higher considering the help it has had from the greenback and stock market. Despite dragging its feet, USO is holding support at 35 and RSI is holding support at 40. A break in both would be short-term bearish.

120911usoi

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No change. Gold is certainly taking advantage of a weak Dollar and the prospects of more quantitative easing. The Gold SPDR (GLD) broke out in mid August, continued higher in late August and surged above 168 at the end of last week. GLD is as overbought as the Dollar is oversold, but shows no signs of weakness.  First support is set in the 161-162 area. Key support remains in the 156-158 area. 

120911gldi

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Key Reports and Events:   
                                                   
Tue – Sep 11 – 09:00 – Troika to Greece
Wed - Sep 12 - 07:00 - MBA Mortgage Index    
Wed – Sep 12 – 09:00 – German Ruling on European Stability Mechanism (ESM)
Wed – Sep 12 – 09:00 – EU Commission Banking Union Proposal
Wed – Sep 12 – 09:00 – Dutch Elections
Wed - Sep 12 - 10:30 - Oil Inventories    
Wed – Sep 12 – 14:15 – FOMC meeting begins
Wed – Sep 12 – 09:00 – Apple Event for iPhone 5, iPad mini, iCar, iWife....
Thu - Sep 13 - 08:30 - Jobless Claims        
Thu - Sep 13 - 08:30 – Producer Price Index (PPI)             
Thu - Sep 13 - 12:30 – FOMC Policy Statement
Fri - Sep 14 - 08:30 - Retail Sales       
Fri - Sep 14 - 08:30 – Consumer Price Index (CPI)        
Fri - Sep 14 - 09:15 - Industrial Production    
Fri - Sep 14 - 09:55 - Michigan Sentiment
Sat – Oct 06 – 09:00 – EU Summit

Charts of Interest: Tuesday and Thursday

This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise). We all need to think for ourselves when it comes to trading our own accounts. First, it is the only way to really learn. Second, we are the only ones responsible for our decisions. Think of these charts as food for further analysis. Before making a trade, it is important to have a plan. Plan the trade and trade the plan. Among other things, this includes setting a trigger level, a target area and a stop-loss level. It is also important to plan for three possible price movements: advance, decline or sideways. Have a plan for all three scenarios BEFORE making the trade. Consider possible holding times. And finally, look at overall market conditions and sector/industry performance.
Arthur Hill
About the author: , CMT, is the Chief Technical Strategist at TrendInvestorPro.com. Focusing predominantly on US equities and ETFs, his systematic approach of identifying trend, finding signals within the trend, and setting key price levels has made him an esteemed market technician. Arthur has written articles for numerous financial publications including Barrons and Stocks & Commodities Magazine. In addition to his Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation, he holds an MBA from the Cass Business School at City University in London. Learn More