NASDAQ Technical Picture - Tipping Point or Anniversary Anxiety

Was Friday's sell-off the tipping point leading to a larger correction, or was it just Black Monday anniversary anxiety? As has been well documented for weeks now, the 20th anniversary of the October'87 crash was a reminder that things can turn very ugly, very quickly. Was it coincidence or psychological, or is it real. According to those who remember, the Friday preceding the October' 87 Black Monday had many similarities to this past Friday.

What were the catalysts to Friday's drubbing - poor earnings from WB and poor guidance from industrials like SLB, and CAT. It was a given that the Financial sector would underperform and that Tech would outperform, but investors seem to be surprised that industrials are not optimisitc going into Q4.

Asian markets are tanking as I write this post. The USD continues to fall against overseas currencies. What's in store for tomorrow? We'll soon find out.

Friday's sharp sell-off has sent the "fear gauges" to their highest levels seen since the 9/18 rate cut. The steady weakness in equities has come as a mixed start to earnings season has cast doubt on the mkt's ability to push to new highs after the impressive bounce off the 8/16 lows. The Dow and S&P 500 are down ~4% on the week (~2.5% today), while the Nasdaq has lost around 2.8% this week (2.6% today). The NDX 100, however, bucks the trend by holding tight within its recent trading range. The VIX is currently +4.23 (+24%) on the week, while the more tech-focused VXN is up 4.51 (+21%) to 25.71 on the week... The CBOE put/call ratio is currently at 1.09, indicating slightly more active put trading than call trading.

Of the hundreds of companies reporting earnings the week of Oct 22nd -26th some of the bigger names include: Monday: AUO, CRNT, CHKP, HAL, MRK, AAPL, EXP, NFLX, TXN, and WCN... Tuesday: AKS, EAT, BIIB, COH, JBLU, LVLT, LMT, SII, AMTD, AMAZN, BRCM, FLEX, HOKU, PNRA, RJET, RFMD, TRMB, and XL... Wednesday: APD, ABI, BA, CME, COP, LM, MER, NDAQ, NSC, NOC, RAI, BUD, AKAM, CDNS, FFIV, MNST, PHM, and TSCO... Thursday: EYE, BMY, CELG, CNCSA, DOW, ELNK, SSP, FLIR, IMCL, ICE, LLL, MATR, LCC, XMSR, AMGN, BIDU, CNET, DRIV, ESLR, IM, KLAC, MFE, WFR, MSFT, NTGR, OSIP, RACK, TRID, and WEN... Friday: BHI, BC, CFC, CVH, IR, LZ, TDW, THI, and WMI.

Stocks over $5 posting the largest percentage gain over the last five sessions include: ASTIZ 40.4%, TEK 33.4%, GSB 32.3%, LCRY 27.2%, LULU 27.1%, SHOO 25.7%, PTT 24.5%, SQNM 24.5%, RIMG 23.7%, FTEK 23.2%, SKP 20.9%, TBSI 20.2%, PLCM 19.6%, FONR 18.7%, KAZ 18.7%, ASTI 17.7%, RBN 17.3%, CNTY 17.2%, LOGI 17.1%, NTCT 16.6%, BIIB 16.0%, JAG 15.9%, SKF 15.7%, DSX 15.5%, HYTM 15.3%, PKTR 14.9%, CYBS 14.3%, VGZ 13.8%, SRS 13.8%, QMAR 13.7%, ASPV 13.6%, ALTU 13.4%, HMIN 12.2%, PALM 11.7%, STP 11.3%, FCS 11.3%, ANET 11.3%, PRGN 11.2%, WINN 11.2%, ANH 11.1%, ANW 11.1%, SHLM 11.1%, ANV 10.8%, ASX 10.7%, SONS 10.6%, ASMLD 10.6%, HNSN 10.3%.

Stocks over $5 posting the largest percentage loss over the last five sessions include: TGIC -58%, RDN -42.1%, NFI -39.2%, HSWI -36.4%, PMI -31.9%, MTG -30.6%, KUN -29.4%, FFHL -29.2%, ERIC -28.9%, RCH -28.8%, PRM -28.5%, WBMD -24.4%, IMB -23.6%, CBAK -23.5%. NKTR -22.7%, STV -22.5%, MGI -22%, CBON -21.5%, WPL -21.2%, CTEL -20.9%, RX -20.6%, ETFC -20.5%, PBKS -20.2%, PIR -20.2%, RSF -20%, CCRT -20.1%, ELOS -20%, RAMR -19.8%, BKUNA -19.6%, CFC -19.5%, RMH -19.4%, CSUN -19.3%, MHJ -19.3%, AOS -19.1%, RHY -18.8%, CSIQ -18.8%, FCFS -18.7%, QXM -18.5%, BHS -18.3%, TRGL -18.1%, PJC -18.1%, DSL -18.1%, NANX -18%, RMA -17.9%, PFBC -17.8%, RRR -18%, TMA -17.8%, WM -17.7%, SAFM -17.7%, CDS -17.7%, QRCP -17.4%.