Leaders Index 2-19-20

The market did a kind of reverse of the last two sessions. The major averages opened higher but topped out early and spent the rest of the day working their way lower. Late selling saw all the major averages finish near their intraday trading lows. The Nasd averages were mixed with the COMPQ higher by only .07% while the NDX fell .42%. The SPX was off by .19%. The real strength was in the small and mid-cap stocks, along with the semiconductors. Volume was mixed. It was higher by 3.42% on the Nasd and lower by 1.45% on the New York. Leading stocks outperformed the overall market with the leaders index gaining .95% on the day. The index closed in about the middle of its trading range on lower and very light volume. The index tried to recover its 17dma but couldn’t hold it. The market rallied early yesterday and it looked like it would be a strong session. Selling came in and all the major averages sold off and closed weak. The leadership continued to be in the small cap stocks as the RUT bounced off support and staged a good rally. The SOX is just below its old high. The market is acting a little sloppy right now with a good number of recent breakouts not working well. We have seen recent weakness that was corrected as the major averages and the leaders index rallied to new highs. We will have to see if that happens again. Right now the rally is still intact, but more caution is called for. Jerry