Leaders Index 9-11-17

The market staged a strong rally today. After gapping higher at the open the major averages made their highs about half way through the session and held them for the rest of the day. The COMPQ gained 1.13% on the day while the SPX was higher by 1.08%. All the major averages closed at or very near their intraday trading highs, a positive sign. Volume was very close to Friday’s levels. IBD says it was slightly higher on the Nasd and slightly lower on the New York. I will go with their numbers. Leading stocks had a good session as well with the leaders index gaining 1.89% on the day. The index closed in about the middle of its trading range, a little lower than you would like to see. The index broke above a short term trend line and was very close to a new closing high. It bounced nicely off its short term 9dma support level and volume was higher than Friday’s level, showing that large institutional players were buying quality growth stocks. Today was the kind of action we have been looking for. It is being said that much of the rally today is the result of less than expected damage in Florida following the hurricane. The major averages and the leaders index are both close to moving into clear new high ground, just what you want to see. The only real item we didn’t see was higher volume. You want to see real conviction as market and stocks move higher to show that the move has legs, but there were a fairly good number of stocks flashing buy signals today. Hopefully we will see the confirming strong volume soon along with a move into new highs. Jerry