Leaders Index 3-20-18

The market staged a mild rebound after yesterday’s decline. The major averages opened slightly higher and pretty much went sideways the rest of the session. The COMPQ ended with a gain of .27% while the SPX was higher by .15%. The Nasd averages closed high in their intraday trading ranges while the New York averages finished in about the middle of their trading ranges. Volume was lower across the board. This is not what you want to see on a bounce after a sell off. Leading stocks continued to outperform with the leaders index gaining 1.67% on the session. The index closed near the top of its trading range and regained its short term 9dma. Volume increased considerably over yesterday’s level and was well above average. In fact it was the highest volume since 2/9. This is positive action. Today’s trading was not that impressive compared to yesterday’s decline. It was much smaller and the volume today was lower than yesterday across the board. You want to see strong volume on the bounce after a sell off. The New York averages are all below their important 50dma’s, while the Nasd averages bounced off their 50dma’s and today rose above them. The real positive is the action of leading stocks. The leaders index bounced off its 17dma and climbed back above its 9dma now support level. The relative strength line of the leaders index moved into new high ground today, also encouraging. There are a lot of mixed signals out there right now and few stocks are producing really meaningful gains. The market could go either way here. In order to really improve the picture the New York averages should regain their 50dma’s and the Nasd averages should move into new high ground. Jerry