Leaders Index 1-23-20

The market put in a pretty good showing today. After opening lower the major averages quickly found a bottom and worked their way higher for the rest of the session. All the major averages finished at their intraday trading highs, a sign of support. The Nasd averages were stronger with the COMPQ and the NDX gaining .23% and .32% respectively. The SPX gained .11%. Volume was mixed. It was higher by 2.32% on the New York lower by .73% on the Nasd. The change in the Nasd volume was so small that different data feeds could come up with different results. Leading stocks were generally higher on the day as well. The leaders index gained .44% on the day and closed in the upper half of its trading range. This was a new high for the index on both a closing and an intraday basis. The index remained above its short term 9dma and volume was slightly higher than yesterday. The market had something of a positive reversal today after yesterday’s negative reversal. After a weak open the market bottomed in the first ten minutes of trading and rallied into the close. Weak openings and strong closes are a sign of strength. The higher volume on the New York was a confirmation of the price strength while the Nasd volume was about unchanged. A couple of the shorter term indicators I look at, the Summation Index and the A’s minus E’s have turned slightly lower in the last couple of days, but they are small declines and usually only warn of shorter term weakness. Right now we haven’t seen much. The preponderance of the evidence still points to higher prices ahead. Jerry