Leaders Index 8-9-21

The market put in a pretty quiet session today with mixed results. There were small gains in the Nasd averages while the New York averages had small declines. The COMPQ and the NDX were higher by .16% each. The SPX declined by .09%. All the major averages finished in the upper half of their intraday trading ranges. Volume was slightly lower across the board. It declined 1.68% on the Nasd and 3.35% on the New York. Leading stocks had a good session as the leaders index gained 2.94% on the day. The index made a new closing and intraday high. The relative strength line of the index also made a new high, showing that leading stocks are outperforming the overall market. The index closed high in its trading range and volume was much higher and above average. The market had a quiet session today with little change in the major averages. Leading stocks did better, although a good deal of the gains in the leaders index were due to two vaccine stocks in the index. But the fact that quality growth stocks are leading the market is a good sign and points to the likely hood that the market will move higher, in at least the short term. The charts of the major averages have been going mostly side ways for several weeks and are in consolidation patterns. There have been new highs in the averages, but overall there has been little change in recent weeks. There will be a break in one direction or the other to signal the near term trend of the market. Right now there is more evidence to suggest the break will be to the upside. Jerry