There wasn’t anything in particular that threw the indices firmly in the red today.  Just call it good old fashioned profit taking after a record run as we head into what has historically been one of of the worst performing months for the market.  I’m sure the sell off of last May is still fresh in the minds who took a hit in their portfolios about this time last year. 

Now that the selling has begun, we turn our attention to the intensity of this selling and strength/weakness at key support levels.  Both the Dow and S&P chalked up a day of distribution while the Nasdaq narrowly averted the classification.  One or two of these over the next week or two is relatively harmless, so nothing to be alarmed about at this point.  In terms of key support levels, the Nasdaq was not able to hold above its multi year highs and is now sitting right on the upward trend line that began with the key reversal on March 14th.  There is a good chance it will wipe out that support level at some point tomorrow, creating the likelihood of a drop to the 50 day moving average at some point.  The Dow and S&P are in much better shape and haven’t touched their first lines of support.. in fact the Dow needs to drop about 265 points just to hit its first level of support.  That’s a good indication of just how overbought this market has become.  No change in strategy from the past couple weeks – lock in hard earned profit and sit flush with cash waiting for the next round of opportunity.

::: Major Indices Performance – The Numbers :::

(Note: volume averages are based on the average over the past 50 days)
Data as of 4:00EST – End of Day April 30th 2007

Distribution in the Dow and S&P500.

Nasdaq: DOWN 1.26% today with volume 6% BELOW  average
Nasdaq ETF (QQQQ) DOWN 1.31%, volume 23% BELOW average
Dow: DOWN .44%, volume 6% ABOVE the average
Dow ETF (DIA): DOWN .43%, volume 5% ABOVE the average
S&P ETF (SPY): DOWN .83%, volume 5% BELOW the average
Russell Small Cap ETF (IWM): DOWN  2.11%, volume 40% ABOVE the average

::: SelflInvestors Leading Stocks :::

The Self Investors Leading Stocks Index is comprised of stocks in the Breakout Tracker, which is a database of the fastest growing companies near a breakout or having already broken out of a base.  Leading stocks got hit fairly hard today – about in line with the Nasdaq but with heavier volume.

Summary:

* Decliners led Advancers 326 to 80
* Advancers were up an average of 2.14% today, with volume 69% ABOVE average
* Decliners were down an average of 2.21% with volume 14% ABOVE average
* The total SI Leading Stocks Index was DOWN  1.35% today with volume 25% ABOVE the average

::: Where’s the Money Flowing :::

Many investing websites provide leading industries based on price performance alone. However, without accompanying volume levels, this can sometimes be misleading.  The only way that I know of to gauge industry/sector strength WITH volume levels is through the analysis of ETF’s.  A couple years ago this was not possible, but as more traders/investors use ETF’s they become a much better tool for gauging the health of the market and seeing where the money is flowing (or not flowing).  Using the proprietary SelfInvestors Demand Indicator score which measures price and volume movements, I’m able to quickly see which sectors/industries are seeing the greatest inflows of cash.  For a detailed look at how I go about gauging sector/industry strength please see the following post: http://selfinvestors.com/si/industry_tracking/

* Current Leading Sectors/Industries (over last 30 trading days): 
Semiconductors, Networking, Biotech, Pharma, Financial
                                               
* Current Lagging Sectors/Industries (over last 30 trading days): 
Internet Infrastructure, Agriculture

* Today’s Market Moving Industries/Sectors (UP):
Bonds

* Today’s Market Moving Industries/Sectors (DOWN):
Clean Energy, Homebuilders, Oil Services, Semis, Retail, Transports

::: Stocks :::

The stocks section will be an area where I highlight one stock selected from a group of stocks moving up with volume well above average and most likely breaking out of a base or consolidation.  Sorry, no Stock of the Day today.  There just weren’t any high volume movers that piqued my interest.