Leaders Index 1-29-24

After trading with a mild upside bias last week the market began this critical week with very positive action. The major averages opened higher and mostly worked their way up the rest of the day. Late strength saw all the major averages finish near their intraday trading highs. The COMPQ and the NDX gained 1.12% and 1.01% respectively. The SPX was higher by .76%. Volume was higher across the board, showing that large institutional players were buying stocks today. Leading stocks rallied as well with the leaders index gaining .82% on the day. The index closed high in its trading range on higher and above average volume. It also made a new high on both a closing and an intraday basis. Other ETFs of leading growth stocks also did well. The market had a nice rally today on higher volume. This is a bit surprising considering the deluge of earnings and economic news coming over the next four days, but it encouraging that market participants would commit capital just in advance of this news. This is the biggest week of earnings season as multiple important tech companies report earnings in the next three days, any one of which could move the market if it deviates from expectations. Throw in the Fed announcement on Wednesday and the employment report on Friday and you have a lot of news. I think the earnings reports are the most important thing as strong numbers could propel the market higher. The rally began on 11/1/23 and is now approaching three months old. A good intermediate term rally can last longer than this and this one shows few signs of trouble, but we are likely closer to the end of the rally than the beginning. Right now things are looking fine and you should ride the rally. Hopefully good earnings numbers in the next few days will move the market higher. I will be out all day tomorrow so there will be no update. They will resume on Wednesday. Jerry