Shares of the small cap ETF iShares Russell 2000 Fund (NYSE: IWM) broke out to new 2012 highs on Monday, March 19. After two months of underperformance, small caps outperformed all the major indexes gaining close to 1.5%.
The breakout was a long time in coming, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite breaking out to new highs as much as two months earlier.
IWM hit a ceiling at $83.00 a share back in early February and that ceiling held prices in check for six weeks while other major indexes soared.
How high can IWM run?
When a major break above resistance is made, we look to the next resistance level as the likely target for the advance. In this case, there was a previous high on July 7, 2011 at $85.65 and another high on April 29, 2011 at $86.39.
We are looking for IWM to reach and test $86.39 in short order. A break above this level would put IWM at highs not seen since 2000.
Disclosure:Frank Kollar has been timing the financial markets since 1982, with online service since 1996. He is a dedicated trend timer and his strategies exited the markets before the crash in 1987 as well as the bear market in 2000 through 2002. During the 2000-2002 bear market and the 2008-2009 bear market his bearish positions resulted in substantial gains, all achieved by trading trends.