Whenever old socks start to lose some of their elasticity and won’t stay up anymore, they’re called quitters and looking at a recent chart of the Philadelphia Semiconductors Index, otherwise known as the SOX, it too seems to have come down with a case of the quitters. Ever since initially falling below its 50-day moving average back on May 13th, bulls have made multiple attempts to pull up the SOX, but each time gravity has taken over. This morning’s rally in the semiconductor space, driven by Micron’s (MU) earnings report, marks the 4th attempt by the SOX to retake its 50-DMA in the last six weeks, but that early strength has given way to some modest profit-taking. There’s still a lot of time left in the trading day, though, and breadth for the semis is very strong today. Therefore, there’s still a chance that the group manages to rally back to its earlier highs, but a fourth unsuccessful attempt wouldn’t be very encouraging. 

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