Leaders Index 1-10-18

The market opened lower today, mostly on news that China might reduce or eliminate its purchases of Treasury debt. The major averages opened lower and had some meaningful losses in the first half hour of trading. They then started to rally and after making a good effort to finish in positive territory the major averages closed with small losses. The COMPQ was lower by only .14% while the SPX declined .11%. The only real decline was in the semiconductor stocks with the SOX lower by 1.24%. Volume was mixed, slightly lower on the Nasd and slightly higher on the New York. With the declines lower than the threshold there was no distribution recorded today. Leading stocks mirrored the overall market with the leaders index lower by just .10% today. The index closed in about the middle of its trading range and continues to consolidate its recent gains in an orderly manner. Volume on the index was slightly lower, just what you want to see when an index or stock is digesting gains. The action of the market today was again encouraging. Negative news was out before the open and after selling off early the market recovered most of the losses and closed with only a small decline. The fact that all the major averages closed at the top of their trading ranges shows that there was buying support that came in as prices fell. The market again reacted well in the face of news that could have caused a meaningful decline. This is positive. It is to be expected that there would be a consolidation after a good advance. So far this consolidation has been orderly and the positive outlook for the market in at least the short term is unchanged. Jerry