Leaders Index 7-23

The market had a generally weaker session. The COMPQ took the biggest hit, declining .59%, while the New York averages were pretty flat on the day. Volume was higher across the board, which produced another distribution day on the COMPQ. Leading stocks underperformed the overall market as the leaders index fell 1.78% on lower and well below average volume. The index has been consolidating for the last six trading sessions but is still holding up well. It gave up the 9dma today but remains well above the critical 17dma. The look of the index has gotten worse in the last week or so as the intraday trading range of each day has gotten much wider. This is in contrast to the tight ranges we say during the recent advance. The rally is still intact, but today’s distribution day was the fourth in the last six sessions for the COMPQ. This qualifies as a distribution cluster and is a big negative sign. The long side is still the place to be, bit any more distribution could change that. Jerry