The market had another quiet session yesterday with the major averages bouncing around unchanged all day. Late weakness saw all the major averages finish the day at their intraday lows. The COMPQ lost .03% on the day while the SPX declined .22%. Volume was lower across the board, as you would expect in a pre long holiday weekend, so there was no distribution on the session. Leading stocks were mixed but generally higher on the day. The leaders index rose .60% on the day and closed in about the middle of it’s intraday range. Volume on the index was higher and slightly above average. The index has flattened out in the last few days after about a week and a half of gains. The relative strength line of the index made a new high. This shows that quality growth stocks are acting better than the overall market, which is positive. Despite this, stocks that produce real worthwhile gains are very hard to find. The breakout screen in Marketsmith had two stocks on it yesterday and the top one was Cigna. It was also touted as a breakout in the Big Picture. The last earnings report in this company showed a one percent gain and there was only been one quarter of twenty percent earnings growth in the last eight. If this is the best stock to talk about it shows the state of the market. The truth is that there are very few opportunities in the current environment. I have some small positions right now but there are not really doing anything for me. The bottom line is that in a late cycle situation like we are in now there are few stocks that produce real gains. Hopefully this geriatric bull we are in now will die soon so we can get a real bear market going and get it over with. That will produce a new cycle where substantial profits can be made. Jerry
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