During a week of back-and-forth trading, both bulls and bears had the advantage at one time. But at week’s end, neither was able to capitalize on it. However, one remains in control of the overall trend.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq charts have the following common features:

1. Falling bullish flags dominate the short-term trend, which is positive.
2. Friday’s close fell between the 20-day and 50-day moving averages.
3. Stochastic has turned from a buy signal to neutral.
4. The March support line has held, though the S&P 500 closed under the March high.
5. Intermediate-term and long-term trends are up.
6. Short-term trend is down.

In short, the week ended without a resolution of the short-term downtrend. A break above the resistance line of the flags and their respective 20-day moving averages would be bullish. But a close below the 50-day moving average of each would be bearish.

The direction of the U.S. dollar has inversely dominated the path of commodities and stocks for months. Now the dollar is challenging its resistance as illustrated on the chart of the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSE: UUP) at $21.75. It closed above its 50-day moving average in five of the last six sessions, and if it is successful at the dotted black resistance line ($21.75), an attack on the major bearish resistance (red dashed line) now at $22 is almost certain.

A close above that line would turn the dollar to a long-term bullish trend. But the chances of this occurring are minimized by the overbought status of its internal indicators. One of these, the slow stochastic, is shown on this chart and is very overbought. Meanwhile, volume is falling, which indicates that momentum, too, is falling, thus reducing the chances of a turnaround.

Conclusion: In spite of losing some momentum, the bulls remain in control. The intermediate-term and long-term trends for stocks are still up, so weakness should be used as a buying opportunity. However, short-term investors and traders should exercise caution since continued strength in the dollar could continue to put near-term pressure on stocks.

For one gold ETF about to make a new all-time high, see the Trade of the Day.

Today’s Trading Landscape

To see a list of the companies reporting earnings today, click here.

For a list of this week’s economic reports due out, click here.

If you have questions or comments for Sam Collins, please e-mail him at asksam@investorplace.com.