Stretched Markets Meet Real Resistance | May 7, 2026
Jadid Herrera9 min read·Just now--
The market was under pressure today. Software stocks had a strong move at first, mainly Datadog Inc. (DDOG) and Fortinet Inc. (FTNT), because of earnings. But sellers stepped in during the day and pulled the broader market lower. CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV) reported earnings after the close, and the stock was already getting hit hard after hours. So the software bounce may have only lasted one day. The key now is whether CoreWeave can hold up overnight and into tomorrow.
The jobs report comes out at 8:30 AM. That will be important because any big surprise could move the market. Reports have been coming down, but that may also be because some people have used up their two years of unemployment benefits and can no longer apply.
The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 0.31%. On the 10-minute chart, it gapped up, filled the gap, bounced, made a high, and then sold off. From 11:00 AM onward, sellers stayed in control. The market also formed a bear flag near the end of the day. After hours, it was only moving up slightly.
For now, this is just one down day. There is no major long upper wick or clear signal saying the market must keep falling tomorrow. But the bear flag is worth watching. The daily long upper wick from Friday was beaten and canceled out by yesterday’s move, so the market should have had a better chance to keep pushing higher. The next few sessions will show whether buyers return or whether this was the start of more profit-taking.
The upside target for the S&P 500 is still the inclining trend line near 7460 points. The downside level is near the top of the parallel, around 716.30.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gives a cleaner view than the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) right now because IXIC is already above its parallel channel. QQQ has had a strong move from the April 2025 lows. After breaking that trend, it made a low in March of this year and then moved sharply higher. Now it is getting close to the bottom of the parallel channel that has been in place since April of last year.
That key level is $708 today and $708.90 tomorrow. This matters because QQQ is overbought on the daily and weekly charts, but it has still kept moving higher. This trend line is now the key test. Either QQQ gets back into the parallel and keeps the bullish setup alive, or it gets rejected.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) looked weaker. IWM fell 1.58% and printed a full engulfing reversal candle against yesterday’s move. That is not a good near-term signal. The first support level is the inclining trend line at $278.34. That line comes from a November 2024 pivot and connects to a January 2026 pivot high. If that breaks, the next level is the 50% area of the parallel channel at $271, which also lines up with the January 2026 high.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 1.76%, doing worse than IWM. SMH gapped lower, sold off, briefly turned green, and then faded again. For now, the chart is still mostly sideways chop. It does not have the same engulfing reversal candle as IWM, but it is starting to show pressure after a strong run. Once SMH breaks out of the current pattern, the next move will be easier to judge.
Gold had a good move, but silver was stronger. Gold is currently up 4.63% from its recent low and has moved through minor resistance at $4,588. That level has not been confirmed as support yet. If gold closes above today’s candle tomorrow or later today, then $4,588 can become support.
The major level for gold is $4,800. Gold needs a daily close above $4,800 and then separation from that trend line for bulls to regain control. That would give gold a chance to reach the bottom of the parallel. Until then, gold is still moving sideways in a bearish way, which keeps the odds tilted toward more downside.
Silver is up around 12% from its recent lows, so it has been stronger than gold. The old resistance area has now been flipped into support because silver looks ready to close above the candle that broke that level yesterday. Near-term support is $75.33. The next upside test requires silver to get through $84.18. Even with that move, silver is not fully safe yet. Like gold, it is still in a larger sideways consolidation that remains bearish overall. Downside support is the inclining trend line near $68.81.
West Texas Intermediate oil (WTI) is showing two daily candles with lower wicks. That usually means buyers are stepping in and supporting price each time it sells off. If that happens again tomorrow for a third day, the odds would shift more strongly toward oil moving back up to test prior resistance at $107.48. For now, the close matters most. The wicks are starting to matter, but three in a row would give a stronger upside signal.
Natural gas (NG) is still chopping around its trend line. It closed below the line yesterday, so that is still the level to beat. With 30 minutes left in the trading day, that level was $2.90. A close above $2.90 would be near-term positive, but natural gas still needs follow-through the next day. Without that, it remains sideways chop.
Datadog Inc. (DDOG) jumped more than 37% after earnings. EPS beat by 18.15%, and revenue beat by 4.82%. Before the close, the stock was still up more than 30%, with a 31% gain, although it pulled back after hours as CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV) came under pressure.
The move was strong, but it was also stretched. A one-day move that large often brings profit-taking. Resistance is at $202, based on the previous two pivot tops. That creates a possible triple top, which could reject the price, especially after such a big intraday move and the strong rally from the low made at the beginning of April.
The first support level is $175.52, but that is aggressive. A more conservative level is $161.24. That lines up with prior consolidation and a previous pivot top from December 2024. That area should have more buyers. The higher support can be used only as an early entry area, while the lower area gives a more patient setup for a possible move back toward the declining trend line.
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) also had a strong earnings move. EPS beat by 32%, and revenue beat by 6.72%. The stock surged but did not quite reach the double top at $114.82. That remains the key level to beat. Price pierced that double top area, then pulled back into the range before the close.
Like Datadog, the first support level is aggressive. The more patient level is below the psychological $100 area. This setup is mostly about whether the stock can make another run at the double top. It may not get there because gaps often get filled, and there is a large gap near $90. Still, the move was big enough to attract attention, so buyers may show up near support, especially below $100.
MongoDB Inc. (MDB) moved higher without earnings. The stock pushed away from bearish consolidation and separated from a somewhat sloppy inverse head and shoulders pattern near the recent lows. It gapped up but has not confirmed the move yet. It tagged near-term resistance at $302.90 and then pulled back.
For MongoDB bulls, the price needs to stay above $279.83. That keeps it out of bearish consolidation. If price pulls back to that level and holds, it can try to attack $302.90 again and eventually move toward $329.84. If momentum keeps building, the bigger target is the longer-term declining trend line near $416.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) did not make a major move, but it is important because it is getting closer to Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) in market cap. Alphabet’s market cap was $4.81 trillion, while Nvidia’s was $5.14 trillion. That is still a $300 billion gap, but Alphabet’s move from the $348 area toward $400 keeps the market leadership race in focus.
Alphabet is overbought in the near term and has broken above the top of its parallel without retesting it. To keep the bullish momentum going, it likely needs to come back and test the top of that parallel near $381 and hold.
Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) had a strong bounce from its trend line and longer-term inclining trend line. After the price got back inside the trend line, it moved away from it, came back to test it, and bounced again.
Nvidia is now near $211.50. To get back into the parallel, it needs to move above $216.50 tomorrow. Even if it does, it still has another resistance line just above it. That resistance comes from the previous all-time high and the most recent all-time high. That level is $217.37. Nvidia now has two resistance areas close together. It may need to push up, consolidate, and build momentum before it can get back into the parallel.
Cloudflare Inc. (NET) followed the software move but reversed after earnings. It formed a 10-minute-long upper wick premarket and sold off for the rest of the day. After breaking its inclining parallel channel over the prior two sessions, it moved back down to the top of its earlier consolidation.
Near-term support is around $220. Below that is a gap fill at $205, followed by the $200 psychological level, where previous pivots have also been tested. That area is important tomorrow because it sits just below the $205 gap fill.
CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV) chopped sideways after earnings. It popped, sold off, and was basically flat after hours. The stock had already broken out strongly and did not pull all the way back to its trend line. Instead, it only pulled back to the top pivot from an earlier consolidation area before ripping higher after earnings.
CoreWeave is overbought, so a pullback is more likely than more upside in the near term. Upside resistance is $143.01, followed by $153.20.
Axon Enterprise Inc. (AXON) moved more than 10% after earnings. The earnings beat was not huge, but it was enough to push the stock higher. The chart had already been setting up well, with a V-shaped recovery followed by consolidation around the 50% area of the parallel. During that consolidation, RSI was building momentum before earnings pushed the price above the range.
For Axon bulls, the key level is the prior consolidation top around $414.53. If the stock follows through tomorrow above today’s candle, any pullback toward the trend line could be a buying opportunity for a move toward the top of the parallel at $471. A later break above that area could open the door to retesting the $493.12 consolidation zone.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.55%, which makes sense after a strong rally. For near term bulls, the key is whether the prior pivot highs hold. Today’s low was near $79,523, making that the main level for the next leg higher. Bitcoin moved up, consolidated, got rejected, fought for a day or two, and then ripped higher. Now it is pulling back into those pivot levels. Bulls want to see a close above $79,523. The current trend line also marks the break point for the upward move.
Bitcoin still has room to move below that trend line, touch the inclining support trend line, and bounce back quickly. A one-day move below, followed by a move right back up, is still possible. For now, $79,523 is the level that needs to be held.
Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) reported earnings after the bell. Crypto sentiment has not been very strong over the past three months. Bitcoin has pushed higher recently, but the previous quarter was not very active. Coinbase dropped to $184.
Coinbase is testing an inclining trend line that has already been hit three times. If price moves into that area tomorrow, it lines up with a gap fill just under $175, with the actual gap fill at $174.53. If that breaks, there is not much support until the next gap fill near $161. The fourth hit gives the setup a 50% chance of holding or failing. Longer term support is the yellow inclining trend line, which has only been tagged twice, below $150 at $148.45.
Outlook
The market is not broken, but the tone got weaker. The S&P 500 (SPX) had only one down day, but it ended with a bear flag. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) gave a bigger warning with an engulfing reversal candle. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) also started to show pressure after a strong run. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) is getting close to a major test near the bottom of its long-running parallel channel, while still being overbought.
Stocks are mixed. The next few sessions are important. This may only be normal profit taking inside a larger uptrend, or it may be the first sign that stretched charts are starting to cool off.