Leaders Index 3-11-15

The market tried to put together a weak rebound early. After a decline you look to the quality of the bounce to give a hint if the pullback is over. The major averages couldn’t even hold the slight rally it had earlier and they finished at their intraday lows. The COMPQ was down by .20% while the SPX fell .19%. There was some strength in the small and mid caps with the RUT higher by .60% while the MID gained .73%. Thee was also some strength in semiconductors. Volume was lower across the board so large institutional players did little to support the rally. Leading stocks did better than the overall market with the leaders index rising .73% and finishing in the upper half of it’s intraday range. The index closed just below the important 17dma, so this moving average remains resistance. Volume had a big spike, but this was due to two components of the index having huge volume, SWKS on the upside and VRX on the downside. The relative strength line of the index made a new high today against the SPX. This shows that quality growth stocks are holding up, although gains remain hard to come by. A significant degree of caution is warranted here. Jerry