Leaders Index 4-21-15

The market had a mixed session today. After early strength the major averages gave up some ground. The New York averages were the weakest with the SPX losing all it’s early gains and finishing with a loss of .15% on the day. The Nasd averages showed more strength with the COMPQ rising .39% and the NDX up by .42%. The greatest gain on the day was in the semiconductor sector with the SOX gaining .69%. Tech really helped the Nasd stocks, with particular strength in the cyber security stocks. All the major averages closed at their intraday lows. Volume was higher across the board, but there was no distribution as the decline in the SPX was to small to qualify. Leading stocks again outperformed the overall market as the leaders index gained .99% on higher and slightly below average volume. The index closed in about the middle of it’s intraday range and set new highs on both a price and a relative strength basis. This is encouraging action. There are a number of attractive stocks that have recently broken out or flashed early buy signals. There are also more that are setting up. Given the way the market has struggled recently it is a little surprising that quality growth stocks are acting this well. While few are really taking off the number of stocks that are producing 10% to 15% gains is increasing. The market doesn’t usually get into to much trouble when leading stocks are acting well, but in an event driven market you never know. For now there are opportunities out there that should be taken advantage of. Jerry