Leaders Index 2-26-24

The market was mostly moderately lower today. The major averages opened mixed and worked their way sideways to lower the rest of the session. All the major averages finished low in their intraday trading ranges. The COMPQ and the NDX fell .13% and .02% respectively. The SPX lost .38%. Volume was slightly higher across the board. This produced a distribution day on the New York averages. Leading stocks had a solid session and outperformed the overall market. The leaders index gained 1.00% on the day, although some ETFs of leading growth stocks did even better. The index closed in about the middle of its trading range on lower but slightly above average volume. The market was slightly lower today, but again held recent gains. The Nasd averages are both battling with major even numbers and have been going sideways for several days. The New York averages have been a little stronger. The fact that leading growth stocks did better than the overall market is encouraging because the market rarely puts in important tops when leading growth stocks are doing well. We are very late in the rally and as of the end of this week it will be four months old. It isn’t showing signs of real trouble yet, but at this point we must be very vigilant. Jerry