Leaders Index 6-24-19

The market continued its breather today with the major averages making modest declines. The major averages saw their highs in the first few minutes and then spent the rest of the session working their way lower. The COMPQ and the NDX were off by .32% and .07% while the SPX lost .17%. Modest declines. All the major averages closed at their intraday trading lows, a sign of weakness. Volume was lower across the board, as you would expect after an expiration day. Leading stocks were again hit harder than the overall market. The leaders index was lower by 1.18%. The index finished in the upper half of its intraday trading range and tagged its important 17dma during trading, but finished above it. It did however break below its short term 9dma. Volume was huge, not what you want to see when prices are declining, although ERI was responsible for much of the increase. The market continued to digest recent gains in a fairly constructive manner. The losses today were modest and there was no distribution. The major averages are holding up well and a rest after the recent advance is not unexpected. There has however been more weakness in quality growth stocks. The leaders index has seen two days in a row of pretty heavy selling on very heavy volume. It looks like there is some distribution in leading stocks. They have been underperforming the overall market as can be seen in the recent weakness in the relative strength line of the leaders index. There have been few stocks producing large gains since the recent follow through. This is something that must be watched, but for now the rally attempt in effect. Jerry