Leaders Index 3-15-19

The market staged another nice advance today. After opening higher the major averages rallied nicely for most of the session until some late selling saw them close off their highs. The Nasd averages were again the strongest with the COMPQ and the NDX higher by .76% and .88% respectively. The SPX rallied .50%. The semiconductor stocks showed unusual strength with the SOX gaining 2.90%. All the major averages closed in the upper half of their intraday trading ranges, a good sign. Volume was higher and above average across the board. Much of that was due to today being an expiration day , but it was still higher prices on higher volume. Leading stocks were higher as well with the leaders index gaining .42% on the day. It closed in the lower half of its trading range as some late selling came in. Volume was higher and above average, again largely due to expiration. The market continues to work its way higher in a pretty orderly fashion. All the major averages made new highs for the move on both a closing and an intraday basis. This is positive. There is not a lot of resistance in the charts of the major averages between where they are now and the highs put in late last year. The big question now is can they make it to those old highs and even overcome them. Jerry