Leaders Index 8-31-20

The market put in a mixed performance today. The New York averages were a bit weaker while the Nasd averages rallied. The Nasd averages finished in the upper half of their intraday trading ranges while the New York averages closed near the bottom of their trading ranges. The COMPQ and the NDX were higher by .68% and .96% respectively. The SPX declined by .22%. Volume was higher across the board. It gained 13.58% on the Nasd and 1.90% on the New York. This, combined with the decline in the SPX was enough for a distribution day on the SPX. Leading stocks had a solid session today. I put together a new leaders index over the weekend. It has 21 stocks in 15 industry groups and is a good cross section of leading stocks right now. The index gained 3.54% today on higher and above average volume. The large advances in AAPL and TSLA helped. This is a new high for the index as well as its relative strength line. Today’s action was overall encouraging. The Nasd averages built on recent gains and made new highs today on both a closing and an intraday basis. There was some mild weakness in the SPX but it is still looking good. The new leaders index should give us a good read on what leading stocks are doing and hopefully a warning when a top is near. The strength in the Nasd averages today has a lot to do with AAPL and TSLA, both split today and saw large gains. We are likely a little extended in the short term, especially on the Nasd averages, but the overall picture remains encouraging. Jerry