Leaders Index 8-28-14

The market was lower all day today. The futures were down early on reports that Russian troops were in Ukraine. You would have expected to see a pretty large decline based on this news, but the market’s reaction was fairly contained. The major averages rallied off early lows then traded sideways for most of the rest of the session. The COMPQ led the way lower with a loss of .26% while the SPY declined .17%. Both closed in the upper half of their intraday ranges, a sign of support. Volume was lower across the board, which is not unexpected considering the coming holiday, but it shows that institutional players were not selling. The major averages also remain above their short term 10 day moving averages. Leading stocks were also lower on the day with the leaders index off .40%. The index closed near the top of it’s intraday range and volume was almost nonexistent. It also traded below it’s short term 9dma during the day, but managed to rally well above it to hold this important short term moving average. The fact that both the major averages and quality growth stocks could shrug off the news of Russian involvement in Ukraine is a positive sign. The market is acting like it wants to go higher. Jerry