Leaders Index 1-18-17

The market traded in a fairly listless manor today. The action was generally higher, but the gains were small. The Nasd averages were the leaders today with the COMPQ up .31% and the NDX higher by .22. The New York averages lagged as the SPX rallied .18%. The semiconductor stocks were the strongest as the SOX was higher by 1.42%. All the major averages closed high in their intraday trading ranges, a sign of support. Volume was lower across the board, so large institutional players were not heavily involved today. Leading stocks did much better than the overall market. The leaders index rallied 1.89% on the session and is now back above its short term moving averages. The index hit the 50dma at its lows, but bounced nicely at this support level. Volume improved a lot and was well above average. This is positive as prices went higher. The relative strength line of the index bounced off its 50dma for the third time. The charts of the major averages and the leaders index look ok, but there doesn’t seem to be much power in the market. Few stocks are setting up and providing really worthwhile gains. The market seems to be consolidating the gains made since the election and we will have to see which way it will go from here. Jerry