Leaders Index 12-16-15

The market had a strong open today following gains in the European markets. The major averages started out higher and then lost most of the gains prior to the Fed announcement. After the expected rate hike there was some momentary weakness before the market turned higher and rallied into the close. The COMPQ led the way with a gain of 1.52% while the SPX rallied 1.45%. Both finished at their intraday highs. Volume was mixed on the day, lower on the Nasd and higher on the New York. This caused IBD to call a rare third day follow through on the SPX. The weekly Coppock continues to climb from it’s buy signal the week of 10/5 while there was no Eureka signal today. The %E’s were 19.2% today, a bit above the range to confirm a follow through. It was a positive session all around and both major averages reclaimed important moving averages. Leading stocks had a good day as well with the leaders index rising 1.58% on lower and slightly below average volume. The index remains below it’s 50dma but tagged it’s declining 9dma. There is no question it was a good session for the market, but there is usually a lot of volatility surrounding a Fed announcement. We will have to see if the market can hold and even build on these gains in the next few days. There are some set ups out there and the market may well rally into the end of the year, but I would be careful about getting to heavily invested. Jerry