Stocks closed sharply higher and the Nasdaq notched an eighth day of gains on Thursday as improved labor market and retail sales data added to optimism a day before the critical June payrolls report.

Equities have been on a tear recently as improving economic data and a potential resolution to Greece's fiscal issues paved over fears of slowing growth and contagion stemming from the euro zone's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI shot up 93.47 points, or 0.74 percent, to 12,719.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 14 points, or 1.05 percent, to 1,353.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC climbed 38.64 points, or 1.36 percent, to 2,872.66. (commentary & photo courtesy of Reuters)

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The RSI portfolio joined the market rally with a great gain today. A 4.4% gain in the Ultra Semi fund and a 2.4% gain in the B2B Internet fund helped to propel it up. The only holding in the red was our natural gas fund with a –1.6% loss. Eight in the green and only one in the red. Not too shabby. The holding in iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Value Index (IJS) is approaching a +2.0R gain and I’m watching it to initiate a trailing stop. Stay tuned.

There were no RSI picks today. In fact there hasn’t been a buy signal generated by RSI since June 30th when it issued one for Coffee ETN. It has been a while hasn’t it?

Catch you later and hang in there.