5 Big Stocks to Trade for Summer Gains

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- This could be a big week for the bulls. The S&P 500 is bouncing hard off of key support, finally granting a reprieve to anxious investors who've been watching for a trading signal. So are the S&P's "summer doldrums" already over by the start of July?

It's certainly possible. The index has already climbed more than 3% this week, bringing the index much closer to being out of the "danger zone" it's been flirting with for a while now. I've been harping on the S&P's critical technical outlook for the last few weeks, but today I'd like to show you what's going on in the market index -- and how to trade it. More on that in a minute.

It's also time to look at what's going on technically with some of the most popular stocks on Wall Street. Because these high-profile names often trade differently than the broad market, taking a look at their technicals can provide some significant trading opportunities when the market's being less than cooperative.

Related: 5 Breakout Trades for Profits This Week

In case you're not familiar with technical analysis, technical charts are used every day by proprietary trading floors, Wall Street's biggest financial firms and individual investors to get an edge on the market. And by some measures, skilled technical traders can bank gains as much as 90% of the time.

Every week, we take an in-depth look at large-cap stocks that are telling important technical stories. Here's this week's look at the technicals of five big-name stocks.