Nasdaq Composite Joins The Bearish 'death Cross' Party

The Nasdaq Composite has produced a bearish "death cross" technical pattern on Monday, finally joining its fellow major market indexes. A death cross pattern appears when the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average, which many chart watchers believe marks the spot a shorter-term decline transitions into a longer-term downtrend. The Nasdaq's 50-day MA has slipped to 4,913.44 in morning trade, while the 200-day MA has inched up to 4,917.62. Death crosses appeared in the charts for the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Aug. 11, for the S&P 500 on Aug. 28 and for the Russell 2000 on Sept. 2. Since their appearance, the Dow has lost 6.9%, the S&P 500 has declined 3.6% and the Russell 2000 has fallen 2.7%. The Nasdaq was down 0.8% in morning trade, and has lost 11% from its record close of 5,218.86 on July 20.