Stocks had a strong start to the day, but by around lunch those gains started to fade away. It was nothing notable, but still, it was disappointing, as the S&P 500 had been flirting with a breakout, only to fail. Certainly not the significant surge higher I was expecting when I wrote this morning’s column. The S&P finished the day where it ended yesterday around 2888. The level of resistance at 2,891 is proving to be much more challenging than I thought it would be.

Does the big break out occur tomorrow? It would most certainly be nice to finish the week on a positive note, but I’m not sure at this point. A lot will depend on what JPMorgan and Wells Fargo have to say following their quarterly results.

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Technology (XLK)

Maybe I merely thought it was a given that stocks would surge easily above 2,891, perhaps it was an oversight on my part that the technology ETF has stalled out too, around $76.26, which is in all-time high territory.

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Consumer (XLY)

The discretionary stocks are also stalling out right near their all-time highs as well.

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Right there may be your most significant reason why the S&P 500 has been struggling in the last few sessions. The sectors with the most considerable pull have stalled. To me, this isn’t a stall, like we are about to reverse and head lower. The consolidation in these sectors will likely lead to a rip higher in a few days time.

Housing (HGX)

The housing is continuing to rise and is approaching 315, and that may reason enough to remain bullish on stocks. I do hope you remember that it was the sector that led us lower in the fall and the sector that started to drive us higher in the winter.

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Netflix (NFLX)

Netflix had a pretty decent day, rising over 1% to $368.The stock has been in a range of $355 to $378 since the end of February. The good news is that when you look at Netflix, you can’t find any visible bearish patterns going into this set of quarterly results, the trend is higher, and let’s hope it stays that way.

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Tesla (TSLA)

Tesla managed to hold support above $261 today, and that continues to be the critical region one must watch in the stock.

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Merck (MRK)

Healthcare had a rough day today. Merck is now trading through support at $81.30, and one has to wonder if a sharper decline is on the way perhaps to $75.50. A drop below $79 suggests that $75.50 could be coming.

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Qualcomm (QCOM)

Qualcomm is not looking so good. I’m confused by this, as it is not what I was expecting. Breaking the uptrend is not a good sign, and the stock needs to rise back above it and very quickly. Otherwise, we could be talking about $50 again, or at least $53. ouch!

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FedEx (FDX)

FedEx continues to climb and continues to head towards $200.

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Square (SQ)

Square is getting closer to a break out sending the stock back to $83.

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Broadcom (AVGO)

Broadcom is nearing the target of $314 I had a laid out a few weeks back. The stock continues to look strong.

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