In this bizarro market bad is good. After the poor employment report on Friday the market opened with decent losses today. The major averages started off lower, but put in their intraday bottoms in the first half hour and reversed higher to stage a decent rally. The weaker than expected jobs number seemed to convince many market participants that any rate hike by the Fed would be delayed. The SPX led the way with a gain of .66% while the COMPQ was close behind at .62%. All the major averages closed at their intraday highs, reflecting strength. The best looking charts remain the small and mid cap averages. Volume was higher across the board, but the comparison was easy due to Thursday’s light volume. Leading stocks generally lagged the overall market with the leaders index gaining only .12%. The index closed right on it’s important 17dma but in the upper half of it’s trading range. Volume was lower on the index than Thursday, so there was not a lot of real buying conviction in quality growth stocks. Today’s reversal was positive, but it continues the trendless pattern of short moves that turn around when you think something may be developing. It continues to be a challenging market in which worthwhile profits are hard to come by. Jerry
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