Leaders Index 2-25-19

The market opened strong today after positive comments over the weekend on China trade. The major averages gapped higher at the open, but made their highs early. The market spent the rest of the session working its way lower. The Nasd averages were again the strongest with the COMPQ and the NDX higher by .36% and .35% respectively. The SPX was higher by .12%. All the major averages finished at the bottom of their intraday trading ranges, a sign that selling came In as prices rose. Volume was mixed, higher on the New York and slightly lower on the Nasd. This was enough to produce a stalling day on the New York averages. Leading stocks did a little better than the overall market with the leaders index rallying .96% on the day and making new highs on both a closing and an intraday basis. The index closed in about the middle of its trading range and volume was higher and well above average. The market started out strong today, but gave up most of the gains by the close. There was stalling distribution on the New York averages and the Nasd averages just avoided it by a small margin. All the major averages are holding above their 200dma support levels and the overall distribution count is still moderate. The action today of the leaders index was encouraging as it broke out of the consolidation range and made new highs. It also did this on very heavy volume, showing that there was heavy buying in quality growth stocks. The rally is still acting well overall and you rarely get an important top when quality growth stocks are leading the market higher. We ran into selling today, but the trend remains higher. Jerry