Playing the Same Notes

One main reason why I ditched my equity short exposure into the bell yesterday (individual shorts, mind you, not index shorts or long volatility), was because the small caps are playing the same tune.

Specifically, to update that IWM (ETF for the Russell 2000 Index) hourly chart, below, we can see the initial breakdown from the highlighted (in light blue) consolidation pattern stopped in its track and yielded another in a long line of "bear traps" this bull market has seen.

The sets of arrows I have drawn show the false breakdown and lurch back up to now threaten an upside breakout.

Of course, a wrinkle to this pattern of late has been bulls' inability to sustain these bear traps much higher. And thus we have had a choppy trading environment in many respects. 

In addition, we are seeing a resurgence in some names which have been lagging of late, namely CMG GE today (and lawsuit-driven name VHC, too).