Traders are turning more cautious as the market fails to produce sustained gains on good news. While breadth is still 4-3 positive and the indexes are holding onto gains, it has been a very choppy and sloppy session. There are some good reports, but stocks like United Technologies (UTX) have been sold into strength. On the other hand, Coca-Cola (KO) , which has been a laggard for decades, is acting like a momentum name.
Although upside momentum is limited, the bears have not been able to turn the tide. There are some failed breakouts and reversals that are of concern, but it isn't enough of a theme at this point to be a problem for the overall market.
This has been an odd market recently, with very sedate and mixed price action, although important news headlines are landing and so are some big earnings reports. The reaction to news is creating mild, short-term, volatility rather than strong, trending action.
A good example of how tricky the action is right now can be seen in The Trade Desk (TTD) . The stock broke down in June, inched back up, and then bounced around sharply over the last four days. The chart has been generally positive, but if you tried to catch a sustained move you have been whipsawed.
There are plenty of other examples of this sort of inconsistent action that is making individual stock picking difficult. I continue to hunt for some setups that look promising, but continue to find little.
