Leaders Index 2-21-23

The market was hit hard today. After opening lower the major averages spent the rest of the session working its way down. All the major averages finished near their intraday trading lows. The COMPQ and the NDX lost 2.50% and 2.41% respectively. The SPX declined 2.00%. Volume was mixed. It was higher on the New York and fractionally lower on the Nasd. This produced a distribution day on the New York averages. Leading stocks sold off as well. The leaders index declined 2.62% on the day. The index closed low in its trading range on lower and below average volume. There was real damage done today, perhaps for the first time in this pullback. Some bad earnings and economic news combined with a big increase in interest rates caused stocks to sell off hard. Geopolitical issues also contributed to the selling today. The major averages took significant losses on partially higher volume. There was also important support broken today. There is clearly a significant amount of stress in the rally right now and we need it to rally back quickly or the picture will darken. Jerry