Futures Now

As tech earnings tidal wave approaches, technician Louise Yamada tackles whether you should brace your portfolio for rough surf

Key Points
  • Louise Yamada, a top chart watcher, told CNBC she's "worried" about tech stocks ahead of a mother lode of earnings.
  • The sector just recently recovered from a "speed bump" that may presage more declines.
This chart may uncover the most about the tech rally’s stamina
VIDEO1:5801:58
This chart may uncover the most about the tech rally’s stamina

There's a trend lurking that could disrupt technology's historic winning streak ahead of this week's earnings burst.

Longtime technician Louise Yamada recently made the observation based on a special chart of the Nasdaq.

"You've got the event decline line for both the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange at new highs. Yes, there are some diverging indicators under the surface across the board," the managing director of Louise Yamada Technical Research Advisors recently told CNBC's "Futures Now."

Despite Yamada's thesis that the Nasdaq's uptrend is intact right now, she notes there's a chance that could change.

"It had this 4 percent decline which we've dubbed a speed bump. We don't know if it's the first shot across the bow or not. But that would take time to determine as to whether some of these extended patterns really aren't going to be able to hold," added Yamada. "The earnings could affect them either way."

When Yamada speaks, Wall Street generally listens. She has been crowned as the top-ranked market technician multiple times in her career by Institutional Investor. She also was head of technical research at Smith Barney for 25 years.

"At the moment you have to take it stock by stock, recognizing that the trend remains up, the moving averages are rising and remain up, so we'd have to continue to move with it," she said. "I think you just go with the flow."

Based on market technicals, she said the Nasdaq still has a solid shot of reaching 6,500 — a 1.8 percent gain from current levels.

Her latest call comes as Wall Street braces for a tidal wave of earnings beginning Monday. This week, 3 out of the 4 FANG stocks are reporting: Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon. They've had a significant role in the rally's latest gains.

Yamada acknowledges it's concerning only a few names have had such a big role in tech's runup. So could this disrupt the sector's historic run?

"It does worry us. Of course it does. There's no question about it," Yamada said. "Any kind of consolidation can take place as long as it happens above 6,000 for the Nasdaq — it is fine."