By Robert W. Colby, Senior Analyst TraderPlanet.com

December Crude Oil Futures plunged 3.34%, breaking a steep 4-day uptrendline.

Technology stock sector made another new 6-year closing price high and Relative Strength made a new 3-year high.

NASDAQ 100 made another new 6-year Price high.

Utilities stock sector: Price and Relative Strength made new 5-month highs.

Gold gave back most of Monday’s gain.

The U.S. dollar sank to another new low.


On Tuesday, major stock price indices moved down in the morning and again in the last hour to close moderately lower and near the lows of the day. The Energy stock sector, which has been strong most of this year, lost 3.40% and was a significant drag on the market. In addition, there was some feeling of uncertainty about what the Fed might say and do when they announce policy at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

Short-term momentum turned downward, but the long-term trend remains upward. Moreover, seasonal tendencies are now Bullish.

Breadth ended 24% net Bearish, with more Declining stocks than Advancing stocks on the NYSE.

Up-Down Volume finished the day 40% net Bearish, with greater Down Volume than Up Volume on the NYSE.

Total volume rose moderately on the NYSE and on the NASDAQ.

New Highs-New Lows on the NYSE ended at 12% net Bullish.

Spotlight on event stocks: Here is a stock screen I designed to pick out potential “event” stocks, both Bullish and Bearish. Sometimes, stocks with large changes in price and volume are revealed to be deal stocks, sooner or later, or are the subject of some other extraordinary events, positive or negative.

Bullish Stocks: Rising Price and Rising Volume
% Price Change, Symbol, Name

4.17% , EOG , EOG RESOURCES
7.56% , GT , GOODYEAR TIRE
6.37% , RRD , RR DONNELLEY SON
3.60% , MU , MICRON TECH
3.23% , FITB , FIFTH THIRD BANC
11.09% , LPX , LOUISIANA PAC
3.98% , MAS , MASCO
3.75% , JBL , JABIL CIRCUIT
2.29% , GOOG , Google
0.57% , HCR , MANOR CARE
3.12% , ADP , AUTOMATIC DATA
2.94% , YUM , YUM BRANDS
4.35% , AVP , AVON
1.35% , CL , COLGATE
3.04% , ERTS , ELECTRONIC ARTS
1.48% , LIZ , LIZ CLAIRBORNE
2.32% , THC , TENET HEALTHCARE
3.12% , SPG , SIMON PROP GRP
1.92% , HSY , HERSHEY FOODS
1.78% , XHB , Homebuilders SPDR, XHB
1.04% , BMS , BEMIS
0.34% , RFV , Value MidCap S&P 400, RFV
0.97% , SNV , SYNOVUS
2.31% , AIV , APT INV MNGMT
0.92% , CPWR , COMPUWARE
1.06% , SPLS , STAPLES
6.02% , SANM , SANMINA
1.27% , EK , EASTMAN KODAK
1.68% , BSX , BOSTON SCIENT
1.03% , AAPL , APPLE COMPUTER
0.38% , IGW , Semiconductor iS GS, IGW
1.45% , MNST , MONSTER WORLDWID
0.41% , PWO , OTC Dynamic PS, PWO
3.15% , GENZ , GENZYME GEN
1.02% , BAX , BAXTER INTL
0.93% , ADI , ANALOG DEVICES
1.30% , PFG , PRINCIPAL FINL
0.79% , CNP , CENTERPNT ENERGY
0.23% , PBJ , Food & Beverage, PBJ
1.62% , NI , NISOURCE
1.38% , VNQ , REIT VIPERs, VNQ
1.94% , IACI , IAC/INTERACTIVCORP
0.15% , PUI , Utilities, PUI
1.28% , FII , FED INVESTORS STK B
0.68% , GM , GENERAL MOTORS
3.37% , KG , KING PHARM
1.08% , FISV , FISERV
0.69% , VC , VISTEON
1.67% , KLAC , KLA TENCOR
0.67% , PCG , PG&E

Bearish Stocks: Falling Price and Rising Volume
% Price Change, Symbol, Name

-13.69% , Q , QWEST COMMUNICAT
-15.02% , PBI , PITNEY BOWES
-8.86% , SIRI , Sirius Satellite
-11.07% , XMSR , XM Satellite R
-0.74% , EWN , Netherlands Index, EWN
-2.97% , IYE , Energy DJ, IYE
-1.55% , VOX , Telecom Services VIPERs, VOX
-3.14% , XME , Metals & Mining SPDR, XME
-2.40% , COL , ROCKWELL COLLINS
-2.64% , VMC , VULCAN MATERIALS
-2.35% , XLB , Materials SPDR, XLB
-2.77% , PXE , Energy Exploration & Prod, PXE
-3.40% , XLE , Energy SPDR, XLE
-4.01% , PG , PROCTER & GAMBLE
-4.74% , MI , MARSHAL & ILSLEY
-1.04% , FDV , Value 40 Large Low P/E FT DB, FDV
-4.09% , OIH , Oil Services H, OIH
-3.62% , IR , INGER RAND
-3.68% , DVN , DEVON ENERGY
-0.87% , VDC , Consumer Staples VIPERs, VDC
-0.44% , RFG , Growth MidCap S&P 400, RFG
-0.95% , PZJ , SmallCap PS Zacks, PZJ
-1.05% , IGN , Networking, IGN
-3.81% , SLB , SCHLUMBERGER
-0.61% , ISI , LargeCap Blend S&P 1500 iS, ISI
-4.10% , HES , AMERADA HESS
-0.73% , IEV , Europe 350 S&P Index, IEV
-5.14% , NE , NOBLE
-2.26% , COP , CONOCOPHILLIPS
-0.28% , RPG , Growth S&P 500, RPG
-4.00% , RIG , TRANSOCEAN
-0.88% , ELV , Value Large Cap DJ, ELV
-0.96% , IJT , Growth BARRA Small Cap 600, IJT
-0.61% , XLG , LargeCap Rydex Rus Top 50, XLG
-7.00% , X , US STEEL CORP
-1.24% , TEVA , Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited
-1.09% , TTH , Telecom H, TTH
-0.60% , IYG , Financial Services DJ, IYG
-1.31% , IXP , Telecommunications Global, IXP
-1.98% , IP , INTL PAPER
-2.06% , IYM , Basic Materials DJ US, IYM
-3.17% , LVLT , LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS
-0.14% , RPV , Value S&P 500, RPV
-1.05% , IJK , Growth MidCap 400 B, IJK
-0.59% , JKD , LargeCap Blend Core iS M, JKD
-0.77% , BDH , Broadband H, BDH
-2.80% , IGE , Natural Resource iS GS, IGE
-1.96% , CHKP , Check Point Software Technologies Ltd
-4.34% , SAF , SAFECO
-0.96% , EWO , Austria Index, EWO

Sectors: among the 9 major U.S. sectors, 2 rose and 7 fell.
Major Sectors Ranked for the Day
% Price Change, Sector

0.18% Technology
0.12% Utilities
-0.11% Health Care
-0.30% Consumer Discretionary
-0.42% Consumer Staples
-0.89% Industrial
-1.54% Financial
-2.35% Materials
-3.40% Energy

Looking beyond the daily fluctuation to the major trends (listed in order of long-term relative strength):

Energy (XLE) Bullish, Overweight. XLE made an all-time closing price high on 10/16/07, and XLE made an all-time high in Relative Strength on 10/18/07. XLE has been strong compared to the S&P since 3/12/03.

Technology (XLK) Bullish, Overweight. XLK made another new 6-year closing price high on 10/30/07, and Relative Strength made a new 3-year high on 10/30/07. Long term, XLK has been relatively strong compared to the S&P since its low on 7/24/06.

Materials (XLB) Bullish, Overweight. Both Price and Relative Strength made new all-time highs on 10/29/07. The long-term Relative Strength trend has strongly outperformed since 9/27/2000.

Utilities (XLU) Bullish, Overweight. Both Price and Relative Strength for this defensive sector made new 5-month highs on 10/30/07. Utilities have improved significantly since their Relative Strength low on 9/28/07.

Industrial (XLI) Neutral, Market Weight. Industrial stock sector price made an all-time price high on 10/10/07, but Relative Strength has been lagging.

Consumer Staples (XLP) Neutral, Market Weight. This defensive sector’s Relative Strength has improved since its low on 10/9/07.

Health Care (XLV) Bearish, Underweight. Relative Strength has been trending down since 10/9/02, and it made a new 5-year low on 7/19/07, thereby confirming a major downtrend.

Consumer Discretionary (XLY) Bearish, Underweight. On 10/29/07, the XLY/SPY Relative Strength ratio fell to its lowest level in 6 years. Relative Strength has been trending down since 1/5/05.

Financial (XLF) Bearish, Underweight. On 10/25/07, the XLF/SPY Relative Strength ratio fell to its lowest level in more than 6 years. Relative Strength has been trending down since 2/20/07.

Foreign stock indices consolidated a day after making new highs. The EFA (the EAFE, international developed country stock markets, ex the U.S. and Canada) made both a new price high and a new relative strength high on 10/29/07. EFA has substantially outperformed long term, since the Bull market started in 2002, and the secular trend is still Bullish. My Top 10 ETF Relative Strength Ranks have been nearly all Foreign for many months.

NASDAQ 100 made another new 6-year Price high. NASDAQ Composite index price made a new 6-year high on 10/11/07, and Relative strength made a new 17-month high on 10/23/07. Longer term, NASDAQ has outperformed since 8/8/06.

Growth Stock/Value Stock Relative Strength ratio consolidated after rising to a new 20-month high last week. Growth price made a new 6-year high on 10/11/07. Growth stocks outperformed Value stocks since 8/8/06. The main trend for the Growth/Value ratio (IWF/IWD) is confirmed Bullish.

Small Caps substantially underperformed Large Caps since 4/19/06, and the main long-term trend is Bearish for Small Caps.

December Crude Oil Futures fell sharply and broke a steep 4-day uptrendline. Yesterday I wrote, “The chart is looking extended, even though all trends remain Bullish.” Support appears at previous resistance at 84.10 and at previous minor lows in the 78.25-78.35 zone. Note that the U.S. OIL FUND ETF (AMEX: USO) is not a pure play on Crude Oil.

The Energy stock sector outperformed the USO and underperformed the SPY. Longer term, since 3/12/03, the stocks in the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) have significantly outperformed crude oil as a commodity, as well as the S&P 500. So, the Relative Strength major trend is Bullish for the energy stocks.

December Gold Futures gave back most of Monday’s gain. Gold and the Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: GLD) both set a new 28-year highs on 10/29/07. These major trends remain Bullish.

Silver’s main trend is relatively Bearish. Compared to Gold, the iShares Silver Trust (AMEX: SLV) has been relatively weak since 12/7/06.

The Gold Miners ETF (GDX) underperformed the Gold metal.

Inflation expectations fell steeply. This is based on the behavior of the ratio of two ETFs, TIP/IEF.

U.S. Treasury Bonds consolidated. The short-term trend looks uncertain. Long-term, it seems possible that the iShares Lehman 20+ Year U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (AMEX: TLT) ended a normal oversold bounce in a Bearish trend on 9/10/07. Bonds remain reactive to news about the credit crisis: the worse the credit crisis, the higher the Bond prices; the better the credit crisis, the lower the Bond prices.

U.S. dollar sank to another new low. The main trend has been confirmed Bearish—again and again. Longer term, the dollar fell 16% over the past 23 months, and the main tidal force remains very Bearish.

Daily Rankings of Major Global Markets, Ranked from Strongest to Weakest of the Day:

2.72% Airlines
0.89% REITs
0.78% Computer Tech
0.35% Swiss Franc
0.27% Hardware
0.27% British Pound
0.24% Hospitals
0.19% Nasdaq 100
0.18% Technology
0.17% Semiconductors
0.12% Utilities
0.09% Spain
0.03% Drugs
0.01% Dow Utilities
0.01% Euro Index
-0.03% Nasdaq Composite
-0.05% Dow Transports
-0.05% Canadian Dollar
-0.06% Health Care
-0.08% 30Y T-Bond
-0.11% Health Care
-0.11% Italy
-0.12% US Dollar Index
-0.15% DOT
-0.16% Health Care Products
-0.16% Japanese Yen
-0.23% Malaysia
-0.25% Banks
-0.26% Australian Dollar
-0.27% Retailers
-0.29% Dow Composite
-0.30% Consumer Discretionary
-0.33% Insurance
-0.42% Consumer Staples
-0.49% Japan
-0.53% Value Line
-0.55% Switzerland
-0.56% Dow Industrial
-0.56% Sweden
-0.57% S&P Small Caps
-0.58% S&P Mid Caps
-0.58% Germany
-0.59% S&P 100
-0.61% Internet
-0.64% Wilshire 5000
-0.65% S&P 500
-0.65% Russell 1000
-0.65% Russell 3000
-0.68% Russell 2000
-0.74% Netherlands
-0.78% United Kingdom
-0.80% Disk Drives
-0.86% Biotechs
-0.87% Natural Gas
-0.88% Belgium
-0.88% France
-0.89% NYSE Composite
-0.89% Industrial
-0.96% Austria
-0.97% Canada
-1.03% AMEX Composite
-1.12% Broker Dealers
-1.13% Network
-1.40% Australia
-1.53% Brazil
-1.54% Financial
-1.57% Chemicals
-1.77% Mexico
-1.89% Paper
-1.92% Singapore
-2.03% Taiwan
-2.16% Hong Kong
-2.35% Materials
-2.57% Gold Mining
-2.58% Commodity Related
-2.58% South Korea
-2.86% Oil
-3.40% Energy
-4.30% Oil Services