Leaders Index 12-20-13

The market had another solid up day yesterday with the COMPQ leading the way with a gain of 1.1% and the SPY followed by gaining .50%. The small and mid cap averages had larger rallies. The major averages all closed near their intraday highs even with a little weakness into the close. They all moved into new high ground for the move or on an all time basis. Volume was much higher across the board. Much of the increase in volume was due to the expiration on Friday, but even without this factor volume would have been strong. This produced another accumulation day for the market. Leading stocks had another good session. The move to new highs in the major averages and the fact that while the leaders index was recovering it had many broken stocks in it. For this reason I put together a new index of leaders. It contains 23 stocks in 19 different industry groups and represents a good cross section of quality stocks. The index rallied strongly last week and it’s RS line is well ahead of the overall market. This weeks action has added to the bull case, and while I am always a little cautious this late in a cycle you don’t argue with a market that clearly wants to go higher. The long side is the place to be. Jerry