By Jim Brown | The Russell rebalance on Friday will generate the most volume of the year.

By Jim Brown | The Russell will be the focus for the market for the next two days with the rebalance at the close on Friday.

By Jim Brown | The Russell lost 15 points or -1.06% with the largest decline of any of the major indexes.

By Jim Brown | The Russell gained 11 points to pull within 7 points of a new high.

By Jim Brown | Without the FAANG stocks leading the market higher we have seen three days of choppy trading.

By Jim Brown | The major tech indexes retested the lows in a slower version of the Friday flash crash.

By Jim Brown | All the major indexes except the Dow posted losses today.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 Small Cap Index posted a decent gain to close at a new high.

By Jim Brown | The small caps did not sell off on Friday but they caught up today as traders were forced to sell to cover margin calls.

By Jim Brown | The markets diverged significantly as classic rotation upset the indexes.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 roared off to a 19-point gain with the big cap indexes weak.

By Jim Brown | The markets moved slowly sideways as they waited patiently for Thursday's testimony.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 rebounded 8 points from its intraday low to close nearly flat.

By Jim Brown | The major indexes paused on Monday to reconsider their path ahead of some important events.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 high close in April was 1,419 and it ended the day on Friday at 1,408.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 rebounded 41 points, more than 3% from Wednesday's 1,355 low.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 fell -17 points at the open but recovered to close flat. That is encouraging.

By Jim Brown | The big cap indexes declined slightly but the Russell 2000 fell nearly 1%.

By Jim Brown | The big cap stocks, the generals in this war, are setting new highs but the rank and file troops are retreating.

By Jim Brown | The S&P and Nasdaq closed at new highs and the Dow is close. The Russell closed barely positive.

By Jim Brown | The S&P inched higher to close at a new high but the Russell 2000 is only moving tick by tick.

By Jim Brown | The markets posted a minor gain but there was no excitement to push them higher.

By Jim Brown | The markets posted a decent rebound on Monday but the apparent terrorist attack in the UK has sent futures sharply lower.

By Jim Brown | The intraday rebound was respectful but the indexes rolled over in the afternoon to post only a lackluster gain.

By Jim Brown | The rebound after the major market crash was uninspiring and suggests Friday could be volatile.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes imploded with the Russell falling -39 and the S&P-600 losing 22.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes were flat, big cap indexes negative and the Nasdaq was soaring.

By Jim Brown | Resistance was untouched on the Russell and S&P-600 as small caps lagged again.

By Jim Brown | We are approaching the annual Russell rebalance and Friday was ranking day.

By Jim Brown | The Dow rebounded from a -150 point drop and the Nasdaq from -53 but it was still a bearish day.

By Jim Brown | Ignoring the Dow's 90 point intraday decline, it was a good day for small caps.

By Jim Brown | All the indexes except the Nasdaq remain stuck in neutral.

By Jim Brown | The big cap averages managed to close in the green thanks to Apple but the small caps are back in their losing trend.

By Jim Brown | The markets traded barely positive all day until 1:30 when buyers began appearing in Apple and other big caps.

By Jim Brown | The intraday dip was bought with just enough energy to return the indexes to the flat line.

By Jim Brown | The markets sold off as expected and the rebound was lackluster.

By Jim Brown | Unfortunately, the small cap indexes are leading us lower rather than higher.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 rebounded 7 points but that was after a 17-point decline on Friday.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 and S&P-600 small cap indexes collapsed with 1.2% declines when the other indexes were barely negative.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 and S&P-600 small cap indexes both held their gains after new highs on Wednesday.

By Jim Brown | Don't look now but the Russell 2000 and S&P-600 small cap indexes both closed at new highs today.

By Jim Brown | The markets continue to be surprised with another 200+ point spike on the Dow thanks to Q1 earnings.

By Jim Brown | The markets rocketed higher on the end of French event risk but there was no follow through buying.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 fell -15 points at the open but recovered to close the day with only a 4 point loss ahead of weekend event risk.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 broke through downtrend and midrange resistance to close within 4 points of a 7-week high.

By Jim Brown | The big Dow loss distracted from the gains in the small caps and the tech sector

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes posted gains while the big cap indexes sank.

By Jim Brown | Many readers might not be old enough to remember the Memorex ads on TV where a singer breaks a glass with her voice.

By Jim Brown | Two days made a world of difference with the small caps going from consecutive days of gains to a crash back to support.

By Jim Brown | The accelerating gains in the small cap stocks came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday.

By Jim Brown | A new trend is developing and it should be positive for the market.

By Jim Brown | It was not much but the small cap indexes posted larger percentage gains than the big caps.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes closed only a few cents away from zero but that was better than the big cap indexes.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes posted 1% gains and closed at the highs for the day.

By Jim Brown | We were looking for a headline to boost stocks and the ADP was great but the FOMC was not.

By Jim Brown | The market traded flat at the close after some early morning weakness.

By Jim Brown | Monday was a textbook example of window undressing in the small cap indexes.

By Jim Brown | The first quarter is over and next week we will see if the small cap rotation was real or temporary.

By Jim Brown | The rotation away from big caps and into small cap stocks is in full swing.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes have risen for three days and the Russell is approaching resistance.

By Jim Brown | The small caps are suddenly recovering nicely with a close at a six-day high

By Jim Brown | The bears missed out on another opportunity to push the markets lower when the dip buyers outnumbered the sellers.

By Jim Brown | The major indexes traded both positive and negative on Friday as headlines from Washington caused uncertainty.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes actually posted solid gains despite the weak market.

By Jim Brown | The S&P-600 closed at a four-month low again and the Russell 2000 posted a small loss.

By Jim Brown | The S&P-600 closed at a four-month low after a -2.6% decline.

By Jim Brown | The small cap winning streak ended at three days with better than half percent losses on the indexes.

By Jim Brown | The big cap indexes all lost ground but the small cap indexes were big winners.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes continued to post minor gains while the large cap indexes declined.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes exploded higher with 1.5% gains as buyers flooded the market.

By Jim Brown | The major indexes all tested critical support at the open and were saved by the dip buyers.

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes have posted two consecutive days of small gains.

By Jim Brown | The S&P-600 rebounded from the intraday low at 825.42 but only managed a gain of 3 points.

By Jim Brown | The S&P-600 declined to within 1 point of critical support at 825. Friday will be a key day

By Jim Brown | The small cap indexes posted big declines and closed at the lows for the day.

By Jim Brown | The S&P-600 and the Russell 2000 both had big losses and closed at the low for the day.

By Jim Brown | The S&P-600 and the Russell 2000 both closed below critical support.

By Jim Brown | The Russell and the S&P-600 continue to show weakness as big caps battle back to positive territory.

By Jim Brown | The Russell has had alternating gains and losses of 1% or more in five of the last six days.

By Jim Brown | The Russell has had alternating gains and losses of 1% or more in four of the last five days.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 gained 1% on Monday and investors cheered. The index lost -1.5% on Tuesday.

By Jim Brown | The big cap indexes posted minimal gains but the Dow and S&P did close at new record highs.

By Jim Brown | The major indexes recovered from a sharp drop at the open to post minor gains for the day.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 has declined -16 points over the last two days from its closing high on Tuesday.

By Jim Brown | Worries over the FOMC minutes and increased chatter about a market top held the indexes back.

By Jim Brown | The small cap index finally found some traction with a 10-point gain.

By Jim Brown | Investors had found a trend they can repeat over and over.

By Jim Brown | The small cap stocks continue to struggle despite the overall bullish market

By Jim Brown | The Russell finally caught fire to breakout over 1,400 after trading negative much of the morning.

By Jim Brown | The market rally actually picked up some speed today and the Russell farther over resistance.

By Jim Brown | There are three factors that are likely to determine market direction on Tuesday.

By Jim Brown | There are probably heel drag markets across the floor of the NYSE where the Russell 2000 was dragged back to a new high.

By Jim Brown | All four major indexes broke out to new highs and hopefully it is the start of a new trend.

By Jim Brown | The Nasdaq made a new high, the Dow floundered, S&P was flat and Russell declined.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 fell -0.4% to be the biggest loser again on Tuesday.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 fell -0.8% to be the biggest loser among the broad market indexes.

By Jim Brown | The major indexes gapped higher at the open due to monster gains in financial stocks

By Jim Brown | Once again, the Russell 2000 was the weakest of all the major indexes.

By Jim Brown | A late day surge by the biotech sector lifted the Russell almost out of negative territory.

By Jim Brown | The biotech sector rebounded +3.7% today and helped lift the Russell and Nasdaq into positive territory

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 lost -1.3% for the day and bounced off critical support at 1,340.

By Jim Brown | After two days of low volume and minimal ranges we have to decide if this is consolidation or preparation.

By Jim Brown | The small caps barely participated in the rally over the prior two days and were weakest on Thursday.

By Jim Brown | After two days of a short squeeze, it appears the market has picked a direction.

By Jim Brown | All the major indexes moved significantly higher in morning trading but lost traction in the afternoon.

By Jim Brown | The indexes rebounded from their opening lows but failed to return to positive territory.

By Jim Brown | The successful removal of the event risk lifted the markets at the close.

By Jim Brown | The Dow and Russell both closed at new five-week lows.

By Jim Brown | The Dow was negative and the Nasdaq positive but the numbers were very small.

By Jim Brown | The Russell closed at a five-week low after losing 20 points.

By Jim Brown | For five weeks now, the Dow and S&P have been stuck in a sideways trend.

By Jim Brown | Sellers are lowering the resistance levels with each passing day but buyers are still active.

By Jim Brown | The major indexes survived a major hit intraday and still finished positive.

By Jim Brown | The biotech sector rallied for the sixth consecutive day thanks to the JP Morgan conference

By Jim Brown | Small cap stocks always lead the market up and down and the Russell 2000 is at critical support.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 declined again despite the new highs on the Nasdaq and S&P.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 exploded higher by 31 points on Wednesday and lost -16 today.

By Jim Brown | The Russell 2000 exploded higher by 31 points to close right at the prior resistance high.

By Jim Brown | The market detoured from the end of week declines after better than expected numbers from China sparked a rally.

By Jim Brown | The market avoided a sharp decline as buyers paired with sellers on the pension fund rebalance.