Leaders Index 4-4-25

It was kind of like getting hit by a truck, getting up, and then getting hit by another truck. The market opened lower and worked its way down the rest of the day. All the major averages finished near their intraday trading lows. The COMPQ and the NDX fell 5.82% and 6.07% respectively. The SPX lost 5.96%. Volume was higher across the board. Leading stocks were hit hard as well with the leaders index falling 9.66% on the day. The index closed in the lower half of its trading range on much higher volume and well above average. The market continued its strong sell off yesterday as China responded to the tariffs. The losses were severe for the second day in a row. The NASD averages entered official bear market territory. The losses have been severe and very fast. Now that it is no longer in doubt that this is a bear market the next step is trying to see how far it will go. That is difficult when you have the market responding to news stories like it is now. The declines have been fast and there have been almost no rebounds. The weak countertrend rally we had quickly faded in tariff announcements. The second down leg of the bear market is well under way and has consisted of mostly two large gap down days. The market should bounce after a decline like this, but I have said that so many times so far I am not counting on it. At this point just staying out of the way of the decline is the way to go. Jerry