Leaders Index 8-19-21

The market sold off early today and it looked like the selling would continue. The major averages found a bottom and then worked their way higher in a jagged fashion the rest of the session. All the major averages finished high in their intraday trading ranges in a struggling advance. The gains were small with the COMPQ and the SPX higher by .11% and .13% respectively. The NDX did better with a gain of .51%. small and mid-cap stocks continued to sell off. Volume was higher across the board. It gained 9.45% on the Nasd and 6.64% on the New York. Leading stocks continued weak today with the leaders index falling 1.79% on the day. The index closed low in its trading range and closed below its important 50dma. Volume was much higher and well above average. The market had a bit of a reversal from early losses, but it was a weak showing overall. The gains were not very strong and many stocks continued lower. Quality growth stocks continued to weaken as the leaders index closed below its 50dma for the first time since late March. Other ETF’s of leading growth stocks, like the FFTY and AARK were also lower. The fact that quality growth stocks are underperforming the overall market is a real concern. The COMPQ recovered most of the early looses but closed just below its 50dma. The current action is sloppy at best and a good deal of caution is warranted. Jerry