Leaders Index 7-16-21

It was another negative session yesterday. The market opened higher and it was all downhill from there. All the major averages finished at or very near their intraday trading lows as selling continued to the end of the session. The losses were pretty evenly divided with the COMPQ and the NDX falling .80% and .77% respectively. The SPX was off by .75%. There was more weakness in the small and mid-cap stocks. The semiconductors got hit very hard with a decline in the SOX of 2.25%. Volume was lower across the board. It fell 11.14% on the Nasd and 5.10% on the New York. Leading stocks were lower as well with the leaders index declining .65%. The index closed in the lower half of its trading range on very high volume, showing distribution in quality growth stocks. The market continued to weaken yesterday. The volume on the major averages was lower and that avoided distribution in the major averages, but that is about the only good thing you can say about yesterday’s action. Most of the averages, except the SPX and the COMPQ are below their 50dma’s as the market continues to get softer under the surface. It looks like the rally has topped out and there are lower prices ahead. The question is how far the decline will go and how long it will last. It is to early to know this but now is the time to worry about preserving capital and not making gains. Jerry