candle patterns

Ran across some text book candle patterns, take a look:
A Bullish Piercing Line pattern in TSL:
OK, this isn't exactly a Bearish Meeting Lines pattern in BA, but comes within a few cents:
Nice example of Support-turned-Resistance looking at the weekly chart:A Bearish Hanging Man in GS:Not very glamorous, but a Bearish Engulfing pattern on the XLI:Bearish Dark Cloud Cover IYT:

IWM

Going to be watching IWM tomorrow for a possible Cup-n-Handle breakout...

watching

PBW is a clean energy ETF with solar holdings that we all have on our watchlists.SLX is a steel ETF that might be a good play this week as we saw some big moves today in AKS, RS, MTL (bullish hammer after capitulation?), X, MT, et al..

U.S. Dollar; Effed in the A?

With CPI numbers coming in larger than expected and inflation fears hinging with the Fed., concerns over the U.S. Dollar are prevalent.
Typically you see Head and Shoulders patterns at the top of bullish trends, but that doesn't mean they can't appear during consolidation of a bearish move. In this particular case in the U.S. Dollar index the short-term trend was up from the period between late April and mid-June before falling through it's trend line, pulling back and forming the right shoulder. Currently the index is struggling to stay above it's neckline, which we should expect it to do being that it's at a major level of support. A measured move from this point below the neckline would put this index at fresh lows in the $69.55 area. Check out patternsite.com for determining patterns and the measurement guidelines. Also, check out etftrends for ways to hedge against a bearish dollar through ETF's and ETN's. Particularly; FXE, ERO, DBV (Ascending Triangle on this one).

Broadening Wedge

It appears Biotech is attracting attention currently. Here is a Broadening Wedge pattern that's taken shape in BMRN. If for nothing else, it will be interesting to watch and see how it reacts. From patternsite.com a measured move would put a break-out/-down at +/- 12%, while keeping in mind the possibility of a partial decline (explained in the patternsite.com) before the breaking move.

Is Apple Finished?

Apple stock is languishing, along with many big tech names. With three successive lower momentum highs, the stock looks like it could be gearing up to roll over and test the 200EMA back at the $156 level. Perhaps much will depend on what happens in the broad market in the short-term.
The weekly chart demonstrates a steep cup w. handle pattern which could portend higher prices in the weeks/months to come. While on the same weekly chart we see the MACD fast and slow lengths converging. A crossing of these lengths = short bias, should the lengths diverge there could be some bullish optimism.The daily chart seems to have an extended cup w. handle pattern drawn out as well. The negative aspect of it being that the handle has become over-extended which could allude to the stock price rolling over. Looking at an intra-day (30-min) chart we have a MACD about to cross down, along with a triangle/wedge pattern taking shape and resting on support. Perhaps the near-term price of Apple stock will correlate with the Nasdaq and whether we see more selling. But, it's not looking to bullish for Apple at this point.

CRR Cup

CRR (Energy, Oil & Gas Operations); Over the past 6 months it traced out a rounded bottom/cup w. handle pattern. More recently the 50EMA crossed above its 200EMA. Buying a break of $50 with a stop around $46.50-$47 a target should be around $65.

thursday

The day started off messy, but there were some nice moves once everything settled down.
CLF; sold off early on, ascended into a narrowing range triangle before pushing up further.
FSLR; similar situation as CLF. AAPL; Up, Down, Sideways leading to a range breakout.

triangles

gotta love 'em...
AAPL; 5-min chart of Apple breaking down from a narrowing range consolidation triangle. FSLR: over the last few days FSLR gapped up & trended down before breaking down today.
Here's a closer look at the 5-min chart of FSLR's triangle break-down.

Follow the Leader

Apple and RIMM following the same pattern. If you were alert (I was distracting myself at the time) you could have caught the same set-up within the intra-day time frame today. The profit targets are pretty dramatic (going up to all-time, or nearly all-time, highs) and being that we're in an overall bearish environment it should be interesting to see these two play out.
AAPL daily chart:AAPL 5-min chart:RIMM daily chart:RIMM 5-min chart:

Notable Cups

In lieu of Apple's recent set-up of a cup-with-handle technical pattern, here are a few others I have come across. Buyers of the dip (higher lows) leading us to a bullish run perhaps?
NYX looks sloppy, and hasn't confirmed a move by breaking the rim, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
PCP closed above the cups rim. Looks like some over-head resistance with the 200EMA.PCU presents a cup within a cup. If confirmed (finding support above $120), this stock could run to last year's highs.RIMM; this cup (like Apple's) has been a long time in the making. Again, if confirmed (by finding support above $124) RIMM could go to all-time highs.{update} I have also noticed what could be perceived as C-w.-H patterns in DRYS, ICE, ESI, SPG, & SPWR. If you check 'em out let me know what you think.

patterns

There were a number of obvious patterns jumping out on charts today, looking at a few....
There was the bearish pennant of GS:
There was a bullish pennant with SKF:
And there was a bear flag on SPWR:

broad perspective

I was checking out the Nasdaq from a longer perspective. Starting with the monthly chart we saw a divergence in the upward trending price and the dive-bombing stochastic showing the selling pressure that piled into that index starting in November of last year.
Also of note was the Oversold conditions that lasted for nearly two years between '00 and '02.
Taking a closer look, we go to the weekly chart. We were trending along nicely this past decade, right up until the beginning of '08.And finally we zoom in a little closer to the Nasdaq weekly chart, where a tight bearish pennant has developed. Not a pretty picture when all is said and done.

Late Day Rally

The last half-hour in today's market saw a recovery of the Nasdaq to bring it from the lows of the day to just shy from closing the opening gap. So, where does that leave us in the broad picture? As far as Japanese Candlestick methodology teaches us, today's candle has a number of meanings. First of all, it can be perceived as a Hammer. A hammer candlestick has three criteria: (1) The real body is at the upper end of its trading range (the color of the real body is not important). (2) It has a long lower shadow that should be at least twice the height of the real body. (3) It should have no, or a very short, upper shadow. Also of importance for Hammer candlesticks is that it come after a decline (even if the decline is short-term).
Today's candlestick can also be considered a bullish Harami Pattern. A harami is a small real body (either red or green) contained within "an unusually long" green or red real body candle. From Steve Nisson's Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques: "For harami all that is required is that the second real body be within the first real body, even if the shadow of the second day is above or below the prior day's high and low."
So, perhaps we have some reason to be slightly bullish-leaning? Who am I kidding? The market did one of two things today; sold off or chopped around narrow ranges. It's obvious the last half-hour brought in the short-sellers covering their positions. Today's hammer pattern was a weak one (nearly a doji, which would tell us there's plenty of indecision in the market and a trend reversal is suspect).