We certainly have a case of split personality in the major equity market ETF's, don't we? The Nasdaq indices look relatively buoyant, while the S&P closed the shortened week on a relatively sour note. Monday and Tuesday should prove to be important sessions.
Looking at the Nasdaq 100 Index through its QQQQ ETF, as of Fridayââ,¬â"¢s close it appeared that the bears missed another golden opportunity to put some hurt on the uptrend. Instead, my micro work argues that the decline to 43.48 off of Thursdayââ,¬â"¢s high at 44.21 likely ended a minor correction within a new upleg that is heading for a test of the Nov-Dec high at 44.84/86.

Looking at the S&P 500 via its SPY ETF, the last minute swoon in the SPY from 141 to 140.60 managed to close the session and the week in a very precarious position ââ,¬â€œ at the low of the entire corrective process off of the 12/14 high at 143.24 and beneath the lower Bollinger Band line (140.66). Typically, after the price structure traverses the Band from high to lowââ,¬â€�within a bull moveââ,¬â€�the market finds support and rallies back towards the mid-point at the 20 DMA (141.77).
However, if a trend change (reversal) is in progress, the breaking of the lower BB can be a signal of downside acceleration. We will know more on Monday morning, especially if the SPY declines, breaks, and sustains below 140, which will argue strongly that a much larger corrective process is emerging that projects to 137.50 and then to 135.
With the Nasdaq and technology sectors acting considerably more buoyant than the S&P, for the time being we should give the benefit of the doubt to containment and upside recovery on Monday morning.

Mike Paulenoff is a 26-year veteran of the financial markets and author of MPTrader.com, a real-time diary of his technical chart analysis and trading alerts on all major markets. For more of Mike Paulenoff, sign up for a free 15-Day trial to his MPTrader Diary by clicking here.