Leaders Index 4-9-18

The market got off to a strong start today after soothing comments out of Washington over the weekend about trade with China. The major averages opened higher and put in strong gains, almost erasing Friday’s losses. They topped out a little past mid-session and sold off from there. There was a news story that the FBI raided Trump’s lawyer’s office and the market lost most of the early gains. The COMPQ finished with a gain of .51% while the SPX rallied .33%. All the major averages closed at their intraday trading lows, a negative sign. Volume was lower across the board, not what you want to see on a rally day. In fact the low volume was the only thing that avoided a stall day on the major averages. Leading stocks showed a pattern similar to the overall market with the leaders index giving up early gains. The index finished the day higher by .12% and closed at the lows of the day. Volume was low and well below average. The market continued its news driven gyrations today with a big rally simply on news that maybe the trade situation could be worked out. It is crazy to have the market react like this, not even to actual events but just rumors and comments. The leaders index tried to rally but came back and closed right on its important 50dma support level. The index has been trading on this moving average for eight sessions now and can’t seem to rally above it. The major averages can’t make any progress either. They are trading between the 50dma as resistance and the 200dma as support. The fact that they can’t get anywhere is negative in itself. Early on it looked like there actually be a follow through today, but that died with the selloff. With the market acting like it is making any progress in either direction is almost impossible. The beach is the place to be. Jerry