Leaders Index 7-13-17

The market had a fairly quiet session today with a slight upside bias. After a little early volatility the major averages began to work their way higher before closing with modest gains. The COMPQ led the way with a gain of .21% while the SPX was higher by .19%. All the major averages closed near their intraday trading highs, a good sign, Volume was lower on the New York and really close on the Nasd, but it looked slightly lower. This is good action after yesterday’s rally. Leading stocks had a positive session as well with the leaders index gaining 1.25%, nicely outperforming the overall market. The index closed in the upper half of its trading range and set a new high on both a closing and an intraday basis. Volume was lower than yesterday but still above average. The relative strength line of the index also made a new high. The action of the market today was encouraging. The major averages held on to yesterday’s gains and even built on them a little. The new leaders index is acting well and it is good to see quality growth stocks outperform the market. There is a little conflict over there was an FTD yesterday, but the action has improved in the last few days. Some degree of caution is still warranted, but increasing exposure looks like the thing to do now. Jerry