The evidence is seen in some of the daily charts of leading semiconductors that we have reported on several times since the late March market low. Note the gap-down break in Micron Technology (MU) on Thursday and the sharp reversal off the highs of Tuesday in Nvidia (NVDA). NVDA triggered a short entry at the 10-dma and 20-dema on Friday as it broke lower to test 50-dma support by the close. Semiconductors have been the strongest area of the market by a wide margin, and by Friday the rest of these names were breaking below 10-dma support. In one other case, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) triggered a second short-sale entry as it broke below 20-dema support.
Broadcom (AVGO), which broke out two Fridays ago topped near the $500 Century Mark on Wednesday after reaching a peak of 495.00, about 1% away from the $500 level. Software names we reported on the week prior, Salesforce.com (CRM) and Microsoft (MSFT) started the week off by gapping and streaking to higher highs, but quickly began to fail on Tuesday. MSFT in fact triggered a short entry on Tuesday as it gapped through the 200-dma. CRM is now testing 20-dema support which, if broken, could represent a potential short-sale entry trigger point. Meta Platforms (META) has failed to follow-through on the pocket pivot of eight days ago on the chart and triggered a short entry as it broke back below the 10-dma, 20-dema and 50-dma on Friday. Rumors are swirling that the company is exploring a large equity raise of “tens of billions” of dollars to help fund aggressive AI infrastructure spending.
Among other names we have reported on over the past two months, Bloom Energy (BE), supposedly a beneficiary of AI Data Center power demand, failed at the $300 Century Mark again early in the week before triggering a short-sale entry at the 20-dema on Friday. Other AI Data Center related names Cipher Digital (CIFR) and IREN Ltd. (IREN) both started showing signs of weakness earlier in the week before CIFR busted 10-dma and 20-dema support on Friday and IREN triggered a double-top short-sale entry on Thursday as it broke 10-dma support then a short-sale entry at the 20-dema on Friday. Lumentum Holdings (LITE) reversed at the $1,000 Tenth Century Mark on Wednesday before failing at the 10-dma and 20-dema and then closing below 50-dma support on Friday.
Big-stock cybersecurity names, which we first reported on early in May as they began their recent sharp uptrends, both ran into Century Mark Resistance on Monday, CrowdStrike (CRWD) at the $800 level and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) at the $300 level, before selling off for the rest of the week. Both companies gapped down after reporting earnings on Wednesday and Tuesday, respectively, and then closed below 10-dma support on Friday
Quantum Computing names were on fire two weeks ago but suddenly froze this past week as D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) and Rigetti Computing (RGTI) both began to sell through 10-dma support on Wednesday. A brief pause on Thursday was followed by slashing moves lower as QBTS broke through 20-dema support but managed to hold at 200-dma support by the close. RGTI was not so lucky as it triggered a short-sale entry when it busted the 200-dma and then the 20-dema early in the day on Friday. GlobalFoundries (GFS) posted a VDU pullback into 10-dma support on Thursday before suddenly falling out of bed on Friday and triggering short entries at 10-dma and 20-dema support.
Non-techs also had a rough ending to the week, as steel leader ArcelorMittal (MT) gapped down through 10-dma support before going nose down into the 20-dema. Small modular nuclear reactor makers Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE) and NuScale Power (SMR) both started breaking down on Wednesday as they broke 10-dma and then 20-dema support before triggering more short-sale entries as they busted 50-dma support. Precious metals and industrial metals miners were also hit hard, as big-stock silver Pan-American Silver (PAAS) and copper leader Teck Resources (TECK) illustrate.
We could go on and on, since there is no shortage of busted charts to be found currently. Bottom line: the market has quickly undergone a serious change of character, and it is likely that anyone long this market saw their trailing stops hit on Thursday or Friday given the magnitude of the declines. Most investors should be holding at least some cash as we look to see whether Friday's selling expands into the new trading week. Thus, members still long any positions should review selling guides and trailing stops and be prepared to take defensive action as necessary.The Market Direction Model (MDM) remains on a BUY signal.