Leaders Index 11-1-19

The market staged a solid rally yesterday after a well-received employment report. The major averages opened strong and held the gains for the rest of the session. Late buying saw all the major averages finish at their intraday trading highs, an encouraging sign. The Nasd averages were the strongest with the COMPQ and the NDX gaining 1.13% and .96% respectively. The SPX rallied .97%. Volume was mixed. It was higher by 5.75% on the New York and lower by 5.54% on the Nasd, according to Esignal. Leading stocks were higher as well with the leaders index gaining .55% on the day. This is again an underperformance compared to the overall market. The index closed in the upper half of its trading range but well below the highs. Volume was lower but above average. The market staged a good rally on an encouraging employment report. The gains in the major averages were good and all the major averages made new all-time highs. Quality growth stocks continue to have a rocky time and are lagging the overall market. Few are producing really worthwhile gains. There was a weekly Coppock buy signal on the COMPQ this last week. It turned up the week before but the increase was too small to give a confirmed signal. We got that this past week. We are also in the seasonally most positive time of the year for stocks. The November through January time period usually produces higher prices. For this reason it looks like the market will head higher in at least the near term. It may not be an explosive rally, but the weight of the evidence seems to suggest higher prices ahead. With leading stocks lagging the overall market recently, it might be a good idea to look to index ETFs for gains. Jerry