Leaders Index 2-5-20

We saw a bit of a split market today. The overall market had a good session. There were several major averages making new highs. The New York averages were the leaders today with the SPX higher by 1.13%. The Nasd averages lagged with the COMPQ and the NDX gaining .43% and .36% respectively. The New York averages finished high in their trading ranges while the Nasd averages lost much of their early gains and closed low in their trading ranges. Volume was higher across the board. It gained 1.24% on the Nasd and 4.39% on the New York. His increase in volume combined with higher prices is positive action. Leading stocks didn’t produce the same gains that the major averages did. The leaders index was lower by 1.39% on the day and closed in about the middle of its trading range. There were two components, BOOT which dropped 9.84% and PCTY declined 8.67%, which contributed to much of the decline but there were lower prices in many other components of the index. The action of the market was overall positive today. The major averages made new highs on both a closing and an intraday basis on higher volume. This is good. The leading stocks lagged today. In addition to the leaders index declining the FFTY was off by .92%. This shows weakness in quality growth stocks. One day’s action doesn’t mean that much but it would be very encouraging to see these stocks make new highs on stronger volume. The Nasd averages lost much of their early gains but the action of the market today was net positive. We should see the market work itself higher in the near term. Jerry