Leaders Index 3-7-22

The market got pasted pretty hard today. The major averages opened marginally lower and it was all downhill from there. The selling continued into the close and all the major averages finished at their intraday trading lows. The Nasd averages took the worst of it with the COMPQ and the NDX falling 3.62% and 3.75% respectively. The SPX declined 2.95%. Volume was higher across the board. It gained 16.30% on the Nasd and 21.69% on the New York. Leading stocks sold off as well with the leaders index declining 4.18% on the day. The index closed near the bottom of its trading range on higher and about average volume. The market decline continued today with large losses in both the overall market and leading stocks. Volume was much higher today, showing that large institutional players were dumping stocks heavily today, producing distribution in both leading stocks and the major averages. The COMPQ closed today in bear market territory for the first time. Several of the major European markets are already well into bear market ground. I think its pretty clear now that we are in a bear market. The New York averages haven’t gotten there yet that that is likely only a matter of time. The real question now is what kind of bear market will it be. Will it be a more standard bear with a decline of 20% to 25%, or will it be a real bone cruncher that produces a much larger decline that lasts longer. Only time will tell. The CPI report comes out Thursday. If it is higher than expected it could produce another sell off. Jerry