The S&P 500 is nearly 99% above its March 2020 low. These 3 big-tech charts will tell you if things are about to unravel – MarketWatch

After back-to-back-to-back record closes for the Dow DJIA, +0.04% and S&P 500 SPX, +0.16%, investors might be asking whats next?

Anyone suffering from triskaidekaphobia the fear of the number 13 or friggatriskaidekaphobia, fear of actual Friday 13th, might want to start their weekends early as were cruising through the first one since November 2020.

But in fact, the last two such Fridays in March and November 2020 produced 9.3% and 1.4% respective gains for the S&P 500, notes LPL Financials chief market strategist Ryan Detrick in a blog post. Black cats and broken mirrors might be scary on this day, but stocks shouldnt be, he said.

That said, August and September are historically dicey months for investors, Detrick adds.

Its also shaping up to be a bull market for the ages, possibly the fastest to double off the lows since the 1940s, Detrick said. As of Thursdays close, the S&P 500 was 98.79% above its 2020 bear market low of 2,237.40 hit Monday, March 23, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

All that bullishness does worry some. That brings us to our call of the day from John Kosar, chief market strategist at Asbury Research, who said whether or not the S&P 500 gets an overdue correction depends on large tech.

The traditional market leaders during a normal, healthy bull market semiconductors, technology and small cap have for the most part been inconsistent leaders in 2021. And the only two that have actually led at times semis and tech have been passing that mantel back and forth like they dont want it, Kosar told clients in a post.

He lays things out in a series of charts looking at the performance of the Nasdaq-100 NDX, +0.32%. The first shows how the index has been tested and thus far rebounding from its 21-day moving average (DMA), for the fourth time since rising above it on May 24.

His next chart (lower panel) shows daily total net assests invested in the Invesco QQQ exchange traded fund QQQ, +0.35%, which tracks the Nasdaq-100, testing their 21-DMA from above. As the chart shows, those assets have been above that DMA since May 24, which points to monthly expansion, a trend that has driven a 12% rise in techs.

In his last chart, the strategist shows that since Aug. 10, the QQQ has moved to a trend of monthly relative underperformance versus the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF SPY, +0.18%. The red highlights on the left point to a similar trend for QQQ versus the S&P 500 ETF between April 26 and May 24, which coincided with an 8% fall in QQQ and 8% decline in the Nasdaq-100.

In summary, his first two charts are bullish, showing an advance for big tech is intact, but Chart 3 warns of downside to come.

A decline below NDX 14,974, and/or a new trend of monthly contraction in the total net assets invested in QQQ, would confirm this and suggest that a Tactical correction has begun in this market-leading index, said Kosar.

Opinion:The ultimate bull case for the stock market: It keeps making new highs

Data revealed import prices cooled off in July, with the University of Michigans preliminary consumer sentiment index for August still to come.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Thursday authorized an extra COVID-19 shot for those with compromised immune systems, adding to the emergency-use authorizations for the Pfizer PFE, +2.62% and Moderna MRNA, -0.42% COVID-19 vaccines.

Asia stocks came under pressure Friday, with some fingers pointing at a potential blow to supply chains after China shut down the Meishan Terminal of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port over a COVID-19 case. Its the worlds biggest by tonnage shipped. Import prices also surged in South Korea.

Disney DIS, +1.00% reported its strongest sales and profit since before the pandemic late Thursday, as theme park business boomed and 116 million new subscribers were added to its streaming service. Shares are up.

ContextLogic WISH shares are slumping after the parent of e-commerce site Wish reported slowing demand for products and less activity on its platforms. Airbnb shares ABNB are down after the lodging-booking company reported blowout earnings, but didnt give specific guidance. DoorDash DASH, +3.50% is taking a hit after record orders and order volume from the online food-ordering group, but a weak forward outlook.

Teslas TSLA, -0.70% chief executive officer Elon Musk will on Friday host a leading candidate to replace German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the electric car makers work-in-progress car and battery factory.

Amazon Studios AMZN, -0.29% will move filming of its Lord of the Rings TV series to the U.K., despite New Zealand offering up extra subsidies.

U.S. stocks opened mostly higher, with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting intraday records near Fridays open, and the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.21% looking at its 10th straight win. But oil CL00, -1.53% BRN00, -0.48% was slipping after COVID-19-related demand warnings from the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Return to old-fashioned farming proves a runaway success for vinyards and olive groves in Spains Andalusia region.

The White Sox outslugged the Yankees in Iowas Field of Dreams baseball game that seemed cheesy at times, but maybe what we didnt even know we needed.

What happens when a woman mourning her mothers death reaches out on Twitter:

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The S&P 500 is nearly 99% above its March 2020 low. These 3 big-tech charts will tell you if things are about to unravel - MarketWatch