Gap Up and Hold. Choppy Action

Richard Moglen
Richard Moglen

Stock Trader & Student of the Markets. I help traders improve their systems & performance at TraderLion & Deepvue

December 18, 2025
14 min read
Market Trend Status
Trend: 3 of 4 DOWN
✗ 10 EMA ✗ 21 EMA ✗ 50 SMA ✓ 200 SMA

Market Action

Sell it off, gap it up. Continue to see choppy action. I like how overall we held today but we need to see follow through, as well as moving average & level reclaims.

Keep monitoring for RS Themes and Stocks.

We are back at a key level on the QQQ.

Bulls want to see us power through there as individual names wake up.
Bears want to see a large reversal off that level.

QQQ
Snap back higher with a positive expectation breaker. Back under the key level
QQQ chart
IWM
Weaker close but back above the 21ema
IWM chart
IBIT
Gap up but close down near lows
IBIT chart

Trends 2/4 Up – based on the QQQ

Shortest – 10 Day EMA –   Below
Short-term – 21 ema – Below
Intermediate term – 50 sma – Above
Longterm – 200 sma – Up – Above Rising

Current View: Correction (if we push above the key level on the QQQ we would be back in a developing uptrend.

Groups/Sectors

DEEPVUE THEME TRACKER
Despite the gap up, most themes down from the open
DEEPVUE THEME TRACKER
DV Leaders Heatmap
Semis down from the open
DV Leaders Heatmap
S&P
S&P

Leadership Stocks & Analysis

TSLA
Positive expectation breaker as we snap back above the pivot and continue to form a range
TSLA chart
GOOG
Pos ex breaker and tight day. Below the 21ema
GOOG chart
AAPL
Big Shake below the 50sma but strong close near highs
AAPL chart
META
Push higher up against the 200sma
META chart
AMZN
Positive Expectation breaker. Testing the 21 and 50
AMZN chart
INTC
Not a strong close despite the gap up
INTC chart
PLTR
Positive expectation breaker and setting up in this handle. Watching for a breakout
PLTR chart
NVDA
Pos ex breaker, below the mas
NVDA chart
MU
Gap up to highs on strong earnings. But then reversed lower. See it it can hold and build a range
MU chart
BE
Gap up and inside day. Below the MAs
BE chart
LLY
Tried to push from the recent range. Fade off highs
LLY chart
AVGO
Consolidation day. At the base lows
AVGO chart
FSLR
Choppy but held above the 50 and reclaimed the 21
FSLR chart
MSFT
Holding the 200day as it forms out a bottoming pattern. testing the 21ema
MSFT chart

Key Moves

RIVN
Strong expansion, continues to show RS. Analyst upgrade
RIVN chart
RKLB
Pop higher and holding above the 21 as it builds a base
RKLB chart

Setups and Watchlist

NTRA
Watching for a 21ema reclaim
NTRA chart
PAAS
Many miners coiled. Watching for range breakouts. This is later in the daily cycle
PAAS chart
REGN
Watching for a range breakout
REGN chart
SCCO
Watching for a range breakout. Copper miner
SCCO chart
WRBY
Watching for a range breakout
WRBY chart
SN
Watching for a range breakout.
SN chart
WVE
Watching for a reclaim of the range and bounce off the 10ema
WVE chart
TTAN
Watching for a consolidation breakout. Ideally tightens more
TTAN chart
PL
Watching for a push higher from the HVC. ideally tightens
PL chart
CRS
Watching for a consolidation breakout
CRS chart
TER
Watching for a range breakout. Best acting of the semis
TER chart

Watchlist & Themes

Larger Watchlist

NTRA PAAS REGN SCCO WRBY SN WVE TTAN PL CRS TER TSLA GOOG PLTR MU

Other RS Names

RIVN LMND

Daily Focus

TSLA WRBY PLTR SN

Universe List

AAPL ALAB AMD AMZN APLD ARM BABA BE BKKT CCJ CLSK CRDO CRS DELL FIX FLS FSLR GGAL GOOG GOOGL GRAL HOOD HUT INSM INTC LEU LMND MELI META MSFT MU NBIS NET NIO NVDA OPEN PATH PLTR QCOM RGTI RKLB RMBS SHOP SNDK SNOW SOUN STNG STRL STUB TAC TEM TER TWLO VRT MDGL RIVN SEDG TDC VCYT U QLYS NXT DDOG METC TXG ASTS CRWD FLY CSIQ RDDT ANF BTU FROG LRCX LUMN REAL UPWK VICR SANM INOD GSAT JAZZ APPN COLL ESTA SMTC DOCN TSLA DY GEV WGS AMTM EGO KSS FLNC CIFR AEIS BKV LSCC EOSE PL TVTX PARR SEI LLY HCC CLS TTAN HOUS RGEN MDB GEMI YOU HNGE TARS COCO GH NTRA

Recent Gaps

AKAM AMD AMGN AMZN ANF APPN BBAI BE CAH COHR CRS DDOG DOCN DY EXPE FLS FROG GCT GGAL GH GTX HAE HCC ILMN INTC ISRG LC LMND MEDP NET OPEN PAM PBF PEGA PGNY PLNT QCOM QLYS RDDT RIVN ROK SANM SITM SLDP TDC TWLO TXG U VCYT VIAV VICR VIST XMTR YPF AEO FROG CRDO MDB CRDO AEO PATH PL PLAB MSOS TLRY PL MU

Additional Thoughts

Mining theme coiled again. Biotech, Space. EV & AI. Semis continue to act weak. How MU acts over the next few days should give a good tell there.

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