The Standard and Poors index (SPX) posted a very bearish day today, closing at 4327, down 33 points or -0.8%. SPX opened the week at 4372 for a weekly loss of 1%, with most of that loss occurring today. SPX set a new all-time high on Monday, but weak trading followed the rest of the week. The trading volume of the S&P companies continued to run below the 50-day moving average (dma).

VIX, the volatility index for the S&P 500 options, teased with a relatively low level of volatility around 16% all week, but spiked up to 18.5% today. That gives us something to think about over the weekend.

The Russell 2000 index has been trading much more weakly over the past four months when compared to the large cap stocks that dominate the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite. The ETF for the Russell 2000, IWM, posted a particularly bearish week, closing today at 214.95, down 1.2% on the day and posted a 4.7% loss for the week. Look out below!

The NASDAQ Composite index posted a very bearish week, similar to the Russell 2000 index. NASDAQ closed at 14427, down 116 points or -0.9% and down 2.2% for the week. Similar to the S&P 500, NASDAQ’s trading volume continued its below average track record and decreased significantly today.

This year has been a story of fits and starts with traders being whipsawed in and out of the markets. The bears took a firm hold on the markets this week and very few stocks could resist the pull. AAPL posted positive gains earlier in the week, including a strong gap opening higher on Wednesday, but finally succumbed today.


I started the week 50% in cash and ended the week at 58%. With a week like this one, I was closing more trades than opening them. This market remains nervous and twitchy. Be very cautious.