Leaders Index 12-7-15

The market reversed a big chunk of yesterday’s gains with another nasty decline today. The major averages opened lower and declined for much of the day. A little late strength saw them finish off their lows. The COMPQ led the way down with a loss of .79% while the SPX declined .70%. Small caps took the hardest hit with the RUT off by 1.61%. All the major averages closed in the lower half of their intraday trading ranges, a sign of weakness. Volume was mixed today, up slightly and about average on the Nasd and lower on the New York. This mitigated the negative effects of the sell off somewhat although it added a distribution day to the Nasd averages. Leading stocks took it on the chin as well with the leaders index falling 1.47% on higher and above average volume. This showed distribution in quality growth stocks as well. The index tagged it’s important 50dma for the third day in a row. If the index keeps testing the 50 day it will likely break below it. The index needs to show some strength with higher volume to break above this level and improve the picture. A hard break in oil prices was responsible for most of the decline today, but the major averages have been consolidating for a few weeks now and we must break above this consolidation to really get things moving again. Jerry