Leaders Index 3-31-14

The market had the first rally day today that could be considered positive action. The major averages opened higher then accelerated to the upside after Yellen effectively lowered the unemployment thresh hold that would trigger the Fed to tighten policy. After closing off their highs the major averages finished in the upper half of their trading ranges with solid gains. The COMPQ led the way with a gain of 1.04% while the SPY gained .79%. The real action was in the small and mid cap stocks with the RUT rising 1.84%. The real story was volume. For the first time higher volume confirmed positive price action. This is good, but the market has a ways to go before it looks buyable again. Leading stocks were up also with the leaders index climbing 1.65% and closing in about the middle of it’s intraday range. Volume did not confirm and was much lower than Friday. We may well go on to new highs in the major averages and start to rally again but it is hard to see how it could be very successful. This is a very difficult market to make any real progress in and unless you are a very short term trader the side lines are probably the best place to be. Jerry