Leaders Index 9-18-20

It was another negative session yesterday as the market finished off lower for the third time. The major averages opened lower and traded down for most of the day. Some late buying saw them finish off their lows, but they still suffered meaningful losses. Despite the late buying all the major averages finished in the lower half of their intraday trading ranges and made new lows for the correction. The declines were pretty evenly divided with the COMPQ and the NDX declining 1.07% and 1.30% respectively. The SPX lost 1.12%. Volume was higher across the board, mostly due to Friday being an expiration day. Volume gained 12.81% on the New York and 15.39% on the Nasd. Leading stocks did better than the overall market with the leaders index gaining .76% on the day. The index closed high in its trading range on higher and above average volume. The index still remains just below its important 17dma resistance level. The market continued its recent negative action yesterday. All the major averages took out recent lows yesterday, making new lows for the correction. There were fresh distribution days on all the major averages yesterday. Much of this was due to the quadruple expiration we had yesterday, but it is still distribution. The overall count is now high enough to be a concern. The major averages seem to be working their way lower and are all now below their 50 day moving averages. The COMPQ has now lost and regained this moving average three times. It is now back below this important moving average and the fact that it has broken below it three times is very negative. The uncertainty over the election and a possible disputed outcome adds a lot of potential downside to the market. The recent action would seem to point to lower prices ahead and a defensive posture is called for. Jerry