A mix of a week tested some stocks

Although last week our market did finish on a high note it was not high enough to form a weekly pivot point to the upside.

Tuesday this week saw it fall sharply but it still remained inside the range of the week ending July 09, the week the spike low of the move down from the April high was formed.

On Wednesday the four major banks had big moves to the upside which may be the lead the market needs to move high enough to form the weekly pivot point this week. That will require a close today above 5821.

The tech, healthcare and many resource stocks remain the most likely to be where many trading opportunities will be found when the market does gather pace.

The pattern of Big Un (BIG), the stock I bought a couple of weeks ago, is a good example of the pattern likely to lead to strong moves.

It had moved up to a strong resistance level at $1.00, paused for a couple of days before breaking above the $1.00 mark then spent seven days consolidating either side of $1.15 before moving up again.

It is worth noting that $1.00 will in most cases prove to be a resistance level when any stock moves up. In this case it was not only the psychological level but also a clear spike high formed in 2009.

It will be interesting to watch if BIG continues to move up if the spike highs at around $2.20 and $5.00 formed in 2008 and 2007 also act as resistance. I believe they will, but the price has to move a long way yet to verify that belief.

Meanwhile back to the present, BIG moved up to $1.80 on Monday before having a breather and pulling back to an intraday low of $1.425 on Tuesday, followed by a daily pivot point to the upside on Wednesday. This spike low is now the trailing stop.

Hansen Technologies (HSN) was a disappointment as it closed below its stop on Monday this week and was sold the next day at $3.75 for a total of $5605 after brokerage.

The current move down may prove to be a retest of the pattern it broke out of at the end of June and if so I may look to buy it again.

It was a mixed week, BIG had a significant move up and HSN was stopped out, however Lynas Corporation (LYC) and Pantoro (PNR) continued to consolidate for the week.

The consolation is the longer the consolidation particularly at intermediate support/resistance levels the stronger the move, either up or down is likely to be.

That said, we may see a move on either or both of these stocks very soon.

The two stocks recently stopped out, A2 Milk Company (A2M) and Resmed (RMD) have both moved back down to the support/resistance level they broke above triggering their purchase.

If they now reverse to the upside I will look at buying them again.