Leaders INdex 2-20

It was a pretty ugly day today. The major averages opened weaker and after the release of the Fed’s minutes showing discord in the committee over how long QE should last the sell off gathered speed. The major averages lost between 1.24% on the SPX and 1.53% on the COMPQ and finished at the lows of the day. Volume was higher across the board which produced distribution everywhere. Leading stocks got hit a lot harder than the overall market as the leaders index fell 2.04% on much heavier and well above average volume. The index tagged it’s 50dma and closed barley above it. More quality stocks broke down and several, like LNKD and CELG, had pretty nasty reversals. IBD went to rally under pressure. We are at a real tipping point here. If the market doesn’t snap back quickly and with real conviction the rally will be in serious trouble. Jerry