Leaders Index 3-29-21

The market put in a mixed to somewhat lower performance today. The major averages opened lower but recovered much of the losses by the close. The New York averages finished high in their intraday trading ranges while the Nasd averages closed just above the middle of their trading ranges. The Nasd averages were the weakest with the COMPQ and the NDX falling .60% and .10% respectively. The SPX was about flat with a decline of only .09%. The small cap and mid cap averages were a lot weaker. Volume was lower across the board. It fell 15.90% on the New York and 7.58% on the Nasd. Leading stocks were hit hard with the leaders index falling 3.64% on the day. The index closed low in its trading range but held above its 50dma. Volume was lower but still above average and very heavy. The market started out pretty weak early but recovered much of the losses. The New York averages were about flat. The Nasd averages showed greater losses, but the real damage was in the small and mid-cap stocks, along with the semiconductors. The small caps were off a large 2.83% as the former strongest sector continues to weaken. The mid-caps lost 1.90% while the semiconductors declined 1.66%. Leading stocks took a big hit. The leaders index was very weak and only six stocks in the IBD 50 were higher. Overall the rebound off the lows was encouraging, but it remains a very difficult market to make progress in. I have always said that you should be heavily invested when it is easy to make money. It isn’t now. Jerry