- Technical Commentary -

August 21, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Frank Kollar) — Only three days after both the S&P 500 SPYDRS (NYSE: SPY) and Powershares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQQ) were punished with two days of heavy selling, the stock market has bounced back and is again on the verge of breaking out.

Only three days ago it looked like a correction was at hand. In fact online articles wrote about potentially severe selling in coming days. Yet here we are, again knocking at new 2009 highs.

The SPY is well above its 50% retracement resistance level for the August 2008 to March 2009 final leg down of the bear market. The target for this advance is at SPX 106.22, 5.2% above current levels.

The QQQ is above its 61.8% retracement resistance level for the August 2008 to March 2009 leg down of the bear market. The target for this advance is at reaching QQQQ $43.53, 9.5% above current levels.

If we do move lower, initial strong support should be found around SPX 848 which is the 50-day moving average for this big cap index (for the SPY the 50-day moving is at about $85.00).

(The http://www.fibtimer.com ETF Strategy has a position in the S&P 500 SPYDRS and the Powershares QQQ.)

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Existing Home Sales for July (10 a.m.), Fed Chairman Bernanke Speaks (10 a.m.).

The FirstAlert(tm) Events Calendar showcases no events today.

The FirstAlert(tm) “Money Index” is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX 25 Most Actives and NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX greatest Percentage Losers and Percentage Winners (weighted against pure monetary loss/gain) indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing, as well as the general focus of the market. Of the Most Actives, last session’s trading showed 16 advancers versus 9 decliners. Volume leaders were led by Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) trading 135,215,400 shares closing at $4.48 (up 8.5%), the SPDRS Trust ETF (NYSE: SPY) trading 38,525,661 shares closing at $100.99 (up 1.0%) and the PowerShares QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ: QQQQ) trading 31,694,332 shares closing at $39.76 (up 1.2%). Of last session’s Greatest Percentage Losers, stocks taking the greatest monetary losses were led by ING Groep NV (NYSE: IND) trading on volume of 198,000 shares (losing $104.8 million), Citi Trends (NASDAQ: CTRN) trading on volume of 585,955 shares (losing $78.0 million) and TechTarget, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTGT) trading on volume of 39,897 shares (losing $61.3 million). Of last session’s Greatest Percentage Winners, stocks making the greatest monetary gains were led by Anika Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIK) trading on volume of 882,500 shares (gaining $23.9 million), World Heart Corp. (NASDAQ: WHRT) trading on volume of 56,406 shares (gaining $23.9 million) and Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) trading on volume of 234,966 shares (gaining $18.0 million). The statistical source for deriving each day’s The FirstAlert(tm) Money Index is StockSmart.com (http://infoescrow.net/f/?u=http://www.stocksmart.com/ri/mostactive.staticdoc).

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.puebloindian.com/

Quote of the Day: “Will it not be wise to allow the friendship between nations to rest upon deep and permanent things? Irritations of the cuticle must not be confounded with heart failure.” Benjamin Harrison

Today is: Senior Citizen’s Day.

Happy Birthday: William “Count” Basie, Chris Schenkel, Wilt Chamberlain, Kenny Rogers, Jackie DeShannon, Archie Griffin, Kim Cattrall, Carrie-Anne Moss.

Today in History: Pueblo Indians captured Santa Fe from the Spanish in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolt. James Cook formally claimed eastern Australia for Great Britain in 1770, naming it New South Wales. The Venetian blind was first patented in 1841 in the United States by John Hampson. The American Bar Association was founded in 1878. The first successful adding machine in the United States was patented by William Seward Burroughs in 1888. President Eisenhower signed an executive order in 1959 proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union.

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