Leaders Index 1-8-18

The market put in another encouraging session today, if a little more restrained than last week. The major averages opened higher and worked their way up the rest of the day. The Nasd averages led the way with the COMPQ and the NDX rallying .29% and .35% respectively. The SPX was higher by a still nice .17%. All the major averages made new all-time highs today and closed at the top of their intraday trading ranges. This shows consistent buying throughout the day. Volume was higher across the board as large institutional players were buying today. This is just what you want to see as prices make new highs. Leading stocks did well today also with many high quality stocks showing very positive action. The leaders index was lower by 1.365 today. The reason for this is that two components of the index had large losses. DQ and XOMA fell 13.79% and 4.51% respectively. In a fairly narrow index like the leaders index a big decline or two can make a difference. The index at its lows only touched the short term 9dma and it closed in about the middle of its trading range. Volume was lower and below average, also good. The market acted well again today. It held on to the nice gains of last week and even built on them. It did this on higher volume. In addition high quality growth stocks are doing well and providing attractive buy opportunities. It looks like a good situation now and the market is acting well. Jerry