Leaders Index 10-8-14

It was another wild day. The market opened lower and then had weak action for most of the morning. It looked like we would have a weak rally attempt after yesterdays decline. Then the Fed released the minutes from it’s last meeting, which seemed to say that the central bank would not be in a hurry to raise rates. The major averages took off and rallied into the close. The COMPQ led the way with a gain of 1.90% while the SPY was higher by 1.75. They regained all of yesterday’s losses and a little more, while closing at their intraday highs. Volume increased a lot from yesterday and was well above average. This showed that institutional players were buying heavily. Leading stocks had an up day as well, but rose less than the major averages. The leaders index gained 1.12% on higher and well above average volume. The index closed near it’s intraday highs and finished right at it’s 50dma. This important moving average will provide resistance and the index must break above it to improve the picture. Both the COMPQ and the SPY are also close to their 50dma’s. They must both break above this resistance level to show that today’s action was not just a one day wonder. It is a treacherous market and it is easy to cut chewed up by small losses inflicted trying to time the quick changes in direction. The market and quality growth stocks must show more strength to prove we will go higher and not just simply reverse again in a short time. Jerry