Stock Market Today With IBD Investor's Business Daily

As Nvidia earnings loom large next week, the stock market is on the verge of delivering a powerful signal. Mike Webster and Alissa Coram walk through this week’s technical action and stocks to watch in the Friday extended version of Stock Market Today.

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly crossed the 40,000 level but backed off highs by the close along with the Nasdaq and S&P 500. Decliners beat advancers on both exchanges by a small margin after the Nasdaq confirmed the latest uptrend Thursday with a follow-through day. First Solar is approaching an alternate entry; Hartford Financial gave an early buy signal as it forms a flat base; MercadoLibre is trying to clear a new entry.

Weaker-than-expected retail sales and a palatable reading on consumer prices fueled a fresh round of buying. The 10-year Treasury yield and U.S. dollar fell sharply. Breadth wasn’t great on the Nasdaq at less than 2-to-1 positive. Winners beat losers on the NYSE by just over 2-to-1. Lennar rallied with other homebuilders, while Azek moved bullishly above its 50-day line. Broadcom rose to the top of an 11-week consolidation.

The Nasdaq is nearing a record high, while leading stocks continue to act well. On Holding gapped out of a base on strong earnings. Embraer raced back above a buy point a few days after its quarterly results. CrowdStrike is holding in range of an aggressive entry within a base.

Indexes were mostly flat on Monday and after a strong showing last week, that’s constructive. We still have stocks setting up including Pure Storage forming a shallow double bottom, Costco potentially ready for a handle and PulteGroup with a shallow cup with handle.

As the market starts to trend above a key level, now is the time to take a more bullish stance. Mike Webster and Alissa Coram walk through this week’s technical action and stocks to watch in the Friday extended version of Stock Market Today.