Those who have been day trading the index futures know today gave many traders whiplash as stocks bounced around for much of the day’s trading session. Intial jobless claims helped the market at the open, but troubling news from the housing put the brakes on and sent stocks lower. For much of the day stocks simply bounced around in lackluster trade. Stocks found it difficult to sustain a movement in either direction showing the epic battle between the Bulls and Bears. It wasn’t until 2pm EST when the Bulls began to win the struggle and pushed the major indexes higher. Crude Oil prices closed above $65 a barrel helping oil related names push higher into the close. Closing in their upper ranges along with higher volume notched a day of accumulation for the market.

On the downside our IBD indexes lagged the entire market. In addition, Small and Mid-Caps were left behind leaving a few dark clouds lingering over the market. We must be mindful of the NASDAQ’s 5 distribution days and 4 distribution days on the Dow. Although we haven’t had any MAJOR bouts of distribution we still have them piled up here in recent weeks. The market is telling us it might not be ready to move higher and will need to continue to be cautious as sideways action may continue for the coming weeks.

Regardless of the political landscape the market does feel like it is in base building mode. Even though we have yet to see any major distribution day we could still end up rolling over a bit. It is not necessarily bad if we had lower as long as volume doesn’t pick up but subsides. The market simply could be allowing quality growth stocks to build sound, “pretty” bases. Regardless, we simply need our quality growth stocks to setup properly so we can begin to plunge into them and get our much needed MONSTER STOCKS.

First Quarter GDP number is set to be released, preliminary GDP tomorrow morning at 830am EST. There will be a laser focus on this release as it will shed light on whether or not things are as bad as they appear. I am sure CNBC will have a panel discussion on the effects the Treasury and Federal Reserve have taken to rescue this economy and market. They have yet to begin dialogue about the ill effects inflating your money supply a few times over. As I digress, look for the futures to spin around as the numbers are released as traders look to position themselves for the day.

We are certainly finding some decent looking charts here at Big Wave Trading and we are not missing a beat. It is quite nice to be able to normalized the days activity and not trade emotionally. Be nimble and take nothing for granted in this market.

top longs/(shorts) w/ TOTAL returns making money TODAY: ADAT 33% KONG 66% SIGA 32% CAST 29% PALM 21% WGW 26% INOD 27% (CYT 59% DV 20%)

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Last 5 posts by Joshua Hayes

• Following Through on Friday's Gains Stocks Stage Another Rally on Strong Volume - June 2nd, 2009
• Are Items That Fill Up Your House too Expensive? Then Rent Them at Aarons Inc. - May 27th, 2009
• Finally We Have The IBD Indexes Leading The Way As Stocks Rally On Heavier Trade - May 27th, 2009
• Ending in Mixed Fashion Stocks Fail to Close Out With Gains Seen Earlier in the Session; IBD Indexes Take the Lead - May 20th, 2009
• Volume Slides as Stocks Move Higher After Suffering from Wednesday's Price Decline - May 15th, 2009