I charted SPY before the markets opened after it closed within a few cents of its high of the day yesterday at $104.79.  With a close at its highs yesterday I expected a stronger opening this morning, but the chart shows the S&P 500 ETF is hitting resistance again at the trend line of higher highs.

The top trend line I drew comes from the highs of January and I’m not sure it’ll hold wait, but wanted to note it since it’s dead on where SPY finished yesterday.  The three other lines seem to hold more power in their support and resistance levels.  With SPY trading at the top of the range of those three, lower seems the easiest direction for it to move.  Of course …

I charted GLD, a major gold ETF this morning before the markets opened.  Yesterday GLD closed at $97.43 after topping out at $98.64.  The two parts of the GLD chart that stand out most to me are that GLD couldn’t break above its intraday high from February and that it’s close to the top of its trading channel.  Faltering before getting above the highs of seven months ago shows me that this rally could have done all it can do for now.  Trading near its trend line of higher highs tells me there’s probably more downside risk than upside potential for GLD at these levels.

Even though they aren’t in play right now, I left the 50, 100 and 200 day moving averages on …

In honor of my first day of work at AT&T today, I’m posting a six month stock chart of T before it opens, after closing at $26.21 last week.  The Dow Jones component might have more downside coming in the near term based on this chart, but has a bullish angle worth watching.  The bullish part first – T is trading above its 10, 20 and 50 day moving averages and just saw a bullish crossover in the 10 and 20 day moving averages at the end of last week.  It’s been on a nice run since the first half of July and support seems to be rising from its current level around $25.50.  If support is found there, it could make another …

I charted Boeing (NYSE: BA) a few minutes after 3 pm on Friday, August 28, 2009 when it was trading at $50.75.  I sold naked puts on BA yesterday at the October $50 strike, mainly due to the chart.  I liked seeing it gap up, especially over the trend line of higher highs it has used over the past six months.  For a while it was the line of higher highs and then become support for higher lows.  Now that BA is above it I’m expecting the line to become support again.  That should make my October naked puts fairly safe.

The 10 day moving average will be on a steep ramp up chasing the current price as it drops …

I charted IWM on August 25, 2009 just before 11 am when it was trading at $58.43.  Just as the past two days of trading found resistance, so has today.  The line that keeps holding back the Russell 2000 ETF is the line of higher highs.  I can’t make myself buy into this market when it’s at the high end of its trading range, even if it stands a chance of staying up there for a while. 

I think a better move is to wait for IWM to move back towards its lower trend lines of higher lows, closer to its 50 day moving average.  The potential for a reversion to the mean with the 200 day moving average is always possible which is …

I charted EBAY on August 19, 2009 at 1:10 pm when it was trading at $21.10, off its low of $20.55 earlier in the morning.

I’m debating if I should enter a half order here.  EBAY found support off of the old trend line higher highs it gapped above in July.  If that trend line becomes support this could be a great place to start an EBAY position.  The target I’d feel more comfortable using as an entry point would be back down towards its longer trend line of higher lows.  That’s around $17.50 right now.

The upside has potential resistance at the 10 and 20 day moving averages (dma) which are about to have a bearish cross over as the 10 dma moves below the …

I charted SPY this morning at 10:37 when the S&P 500 ETF was trading at $101.14.  After the better than expected jobs report this morning SPY still couldn’t make it through the line of resistance it’s been bumping against all week.  The trend line of higher highs won’t give, but has allowed very slight intraday high improvements along the way.  That can’t last for long.

What to watch for:

The 10 day moving average has acted as support a couple of times over the past two weeks.  Watch for it to break before getting too bearish.
Williams %R is still overbought for the 14 and 28 day periods.  Once it breaks below this range is the time to sell be more bearish.
SPY has a little room above …

I charted Alcoa (NYSE: AA) this morning when it was trading at $13.02.  Thanks to Qmar who suggested through Twitter I check out AA and the “huge inverse head and shoulders”.  I highlighted what I think he saw.  I drew the chart from the past nine months and noted the head and shoulders on each side of the head.  On Monday AA broke out above the neckline of the previous highs and has inched higher yesterday and this morning.  Those three previous highs that gave a hard neckline were descending slowly starting with $12.57, then $12.44 and finally $12.38 in June.   The breakout this week could mean AA is about to take off like a rocket.

Adding to that likelihood …

I charted the S&P 500 ETF, SPY, this morning at 11:25 when it was trading at 100.33.  To my eyes, this highlights some of the uncertainty in the markets right now.  If you only drew the one month chart you’d see clear support at the trend line of higher lows and could easily make the case to buy, but if you scroll down to the six month chart below it you see clear resistance at the trend line of higher highs.  What’s a trader to do?  I suggest waiting this out at least until the one month chart’s trend line breaks.

I’m expecting SPY to drop some from here.  That’ll break support on the one month chart, but will move into a better position on the six month …

I charted Bank of America (BAC) on August 3, 2009 when it was trading at $15.32.  I see two main lines worth noting.  The lower horizontal line is around $14.00.  It was a high in May and again in June.  Last week BAC blew through it.  Today BAC broke through the previous high just over $15.00.  I’m waiting to see if it retests it tomorrow before jumping in, but have added it to my watch list for now.