Leaders Index 7-13-18

The market pretty much went sideways yesterday and closed little changed. After opening a little higher the major averages simply treaded water the rest of the session. The COMPQ finished higher by .03% while the SPX advanced .11%. All the major averages closed in the upper half of their intraday trading ranges with the New York averages finishing near their highs. This is a good sign. Volume was lower across the board, which is good during a consolidation session and pretty common on a Friday in the summer. Leading stocks pretty much mirrored the overall market and closed with small gains. The current leaders index is three months old now and with the Nasd averages in new high ground I decided to make a few changes. Some of the stocks have broken down so I replaced four names with new ones. JOBS, CTRN, FND and SEDG are out and have been replaced with MED, NTAP, USAT and ACXM. I have included a text file with the new list and charts of both. I will include both charts for a few days for comparison purposes. The leaders index was higher by .03% on lower volume. The index closed in the upper half of its trading range and made a new closing and intraday high. It was a quiet session yesterday with the market consolidating in a fairly constructive manner. We saw new highs on the Nasd averages while the New York averages broke above some resistance. We are coming into the thick of earnings season and that will likely determine the future direction of the market. Expectations are for strong numbers. The market looks like it remains in rally mode. It shrugged off bad trade news last week and traded well. It looks like we are still in a rally mode and higher prices, in at least the short term, are likely. Jerry