The market opened solidly higher today after a deal on the debt ceiling was announced over the weekend. The major averages quickly topped out and spent most of the rest of the day working their way lower. The major averages finished mixed with all low in their intraday trading ranges. The Nasd averages were the strongest with the COMPQ and the NDX up .32% and .40% respectively. The SPX was about flat on the session. Volume was higher across the board. The higher volume combined with the low closed produced stalling on all the major averages. Leading stocks were mostly higher with the leaders index gaining 1.59% on the day. The index also lost much of its early gains and closed in the lower half of its trading range on higher and above average volume. The market started out strong with the strongest gains again being made by the Nasd averages. Selling came in and most of the early gains were lost but the Nasd averages finished with moderate gains. The New York averages were flat to down while the small and mid-cap averages were lower. The big cap tech stocks have been the leaders and they are the ones to watch. If they start to roll over the overall market will likely follow them down. Right now the market is still in an overall rally mode but it is a struggling one. Few stocks are producing real gains and it is hard to make much real progress, except maybe in the ETFs of the Nasd averages. Finally, I would like to say something about Bill O’Neil who passed away yesterday. I believe he was the best stock market operator that ever lived. I was first exposed to his work back in 1988. I took a bit of a hit in the crash in 1987 and really didn’t see it coming well enough. I was talking to a friend and he handed me a newspaper then called Investor’s Daily. I have been using O’Neil products and the CANSLIM methodology for my stock trading ever since. He will be missed. Jerry
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