Jerry Samet
08-09-2017, 06:25 PM
It was a mixed session today. The market spent the entire day in negative territory, although the trading range was pretty tight. The COMPQ led the way down with a loss of .28% while the SPX declined only .04%. All the major averages closed at their intraday trading highs, a sign of support. Volume was higher across the board. This produced a fresh distribution day on the COMPQ while the decline in the SPX was too small to qualify. The distribution was somewhat mitigated by the fact that the major averages finished at their highs. Leading stocks were also mixed but had a positive bias. The leaders index rallied .57% and closed in the upper half of its trading range. Much of the gain was as a result of an 8.98% gain in ATHM, but there was strength on other components of the index. This was another new high for the leaders index as well as its relative strength line. There are a lot of mixed signals right now. The leaders index and many quality growth stocks are rallying or holding up well. On the other hand the market has been struggling a bit lately. The Nasd averages have not recovered from the reversal day on 7/27. Progress has been difficult since then. There are also some market internals I look at, like the A’s minus E’s and the Summation Index that turned negative about a week ago. So far little damage has been done and the overall picture is somewhat positive, but there are some clouds on the horizon. Some degree of caution is warranted. I will be away for a few days, the updates will resume next week. Jerry