Leaders Index 12-19-19

The market put in a strong performance today as all the major averages moved into new high ground. The major averages opened higher and spent the rest of the session working their way up. Late strength saw all the major averages finish at their intraday trading highs, a sign of support. The Nasd averages were stronger with the COMPQ and the NDX gaining .68% and .72% respectively. The SPX rallied .45%. Volume was lower across the board. It fell 7.95% on the New York and 10.17% on the Nasd. Leading stocks were generally higher with the leaders index gaining 1.10% on the day. It closed in the upper half of its trading range and volume was slightly higher. The action of the market today was encouraging . We saw a solid rally into new high ground and the fact that all the major averages closed at the top of their intraday trading ranges shows that there were buyers even as prices rose. The only negative today was the lower volume. You would rather see higher volume as prices move to new highs, but that can come in in the days ahead. Leading stocks have been lagging lately, which is not unusual late cycle action. They have improved in the last few days as can be seen in the relative strength line of the leaders index. The index is very close to new high ground on both a price and a relative strength basis. It would be very positive if both of these new highs were achieved soon. There seems to be a lot of accumulation in recent days, but after the strong recent advance a little pullback would not be unexpected. The direction of the market seems to be higher and we should see prices advance into the new year. Jerry