Leaders Index 12-18-19

The market bounced around today without deviating much from unchanged. There was a slightly positive bias but the major averages finished little changed. There were modest gains until late selling saw them vanish. All the major averages finished low in their intraday trading ranges. The COMPQ and the NDX were higher by .05% and .06% respectively while the SPX declined by .04%. Volume was higher across the board. It was up by 2.30% on the New York and 16.09% on the Nasd. This combined with the late selling and weak closes was enough to produce stalling days on all the major averages. Leading stocks did slightly better the overall market with the leaders index gaining .18% on the session. The index closed in the upper half of its trading range and volume was a bit lower but still above average. The market continues to act in a fairly constructive manner. The major averages are acting well and holding recent gains. Their charts are looking good. Leading stocks have started to act a bit better than the overall market as can be seen in the relative strength line of the leaders index. The index has moved higher in the last three sessions on strong volume, this is encouraging. The late weakness that caused a stalling day was unfortunate, but not too much damage was done. The overall picture still looks positive and we are likely to see higher prices ahead. Jerry