Investing Information

Stock Market Leaders and Laggards





Leaders are stocks that breakout immediately when the market confirms a new rally. In the first several weeks, strong stocks with leadership ability will breakout on volume above their 50-day average. Some of these stocks will breakout on the largest volume ever. Typically, newer stocks that have come public in the past few years will have the most strength for sizable gains.

As multiple stocks breakout from similar industry groups within larger sectors, a confirmation of broad leadership is established. "Sister Stocks" will usually move in crowds and lead the way in similar fashion. Their charts will show some resemblance and their action with be closely related. When one leader goes up, so will the others in the group. It's not an exact science but almost anyone could chart the progression of leaders during the beginning stages of a rally.

Laggards are stocks that don't breakout immediately when the market confirms a new rally. They become laggards if they wait a few months to finally breakout while dozens of other stocks have already gone on to excellent runs. Investors must be on the lookout for a healthy correction after several strong months of advancement within a specific industry group or broad sector. As the correction materializes, the original leaders will be poised to continue their run so long as the 'M' in CANSLIM is still positive. 'M' stands for market health.

Investors must be on the lookout for stocks that only start their advancement on the overall correction. These stocks tend to be weaker and are more prone to failure. The original leaders will have more institutional support and are more likely to advance further. Laggards will often sport a nice breakout during the correction phase, only to disappoint the investor with a reversal.

Let's use a hypothetical example: XYZ breakouts out in October and runs up 50% in 3 months and then pulls back to correct. ABC breakouts out 3 months later in January while the correction is taking place (from the same industry group) but has been stagnant the past 3 months as many other stocks in the industry groups have made nice gains (like XYZ).

Laggards stay stagnant during the beginning stages of bull markets. This doesn't mean that they can't have a nice run, it just means that the chances for failure are higher because "dumb money" may be bidding up the cheaper stock in that particular group.

The "smart money", otherwise know as institutions may have ran up stock 'XYZ' for 3 months and will most likely allow weak holders to sell before they resume the advance. In the mean time, those weak holders may be the investors running up stock 'ABC' because it looks cheap. They may reason that it should be moving up because 'XYZ' moved up in the prior 3 months.

Finally, be careful and analyze each specific stock and situation before you make a commitment. This is a general rule to help you select a leader within a strong industry group. The market never works perfectly every time so make sure you are prepared for anything.

About the Author

Chris Perruna

http://www.marketstockwatch.com

Chris is the founder and CEO of MarketStockWatch.com, an internet community that teaches you how to invest your money with solid rules. We don't stop at just showing you our daily and weekly screens, we teach you how to make you own screens through education. Through our philosophy, you will be able to create your own methods and styles to become successful.


MORE RESOURCES:

Dow Corning investing $4 million to update its laboratories
MLive.com, MI - 5 hours ago
By Eric English Dow Corning Corp. is spending $4 million to update some of its older laboratories at its Bay County corporate headquarters campus. ...


Yahoo

Pimco Names El-Erian CEO Of the Bond-Investing Giant
Wall Street Journal - 18 hours ago
... returning from running Harvard University's endowment, Mohamed El-Erian was named on Thursday as chief executive of Pacific Investment Management Co. ...
PIMCO Co-CEO Stepping Down IndexUniverse.com
all 60 news articles


Seattle Post Intelligencer

Lieberman Still Investing In Democratic Party
NPR - Sep 4, 2008
Morning Edition, September 4, 2008 ยท He may be campaigning for Republican John McCain. He may have been close to becoming McCain's running mate. But Sen. ...
Democratic, Republican Platforms Show Sharp Differences AFL-CIO
McCain The Maverick Is Touted By Dem Apostate Sen. Lieberman Investor's Business Daily (subscription)
all 1,040 news articles


ArkansasSports360.com

Not For The Faint
Oneindia, India - 13 hours ago
Investing in art is the hottest trend prevailing worldwide and is turning into a fine art by itself. The galleries in the Indian Metros are not far behind ...
Crystal Bridges Museum reveals acquisition Seattle Post Intelligencer
Unveiling another Benton County Daily Record
Crystal Bridges Sends Painting To Washington The Morning News
all 14 news articles


One Essential Stock Screen
Motley Fool - 4 hours ago
Like an eccentric playboy tossing money in the air, Tom threw out some of the best and most actionable investing advice that I had ever heard. ...
Do You Still Own This Garbage? Motley Fool
all 2 news articles


Andreesen on Chrome, Obama, and Investing in Start-ups
Conde Nast Portfolio, NY - 7 hours ago
Andreesen explained that he stays busy with Ning, his non-profit work on behalf of Stanford Hospital and Room to Read, and investing/advising start-ups. ...


Monday Morning

ROBERT POWELL For the long haul
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
Most experts do not advise investing more than half of your assets in non-US stocks. But they do suggest investing a portion in such stocks. ...
Oxford Club bet on Buffett: A 'no-brainer' BloggingStocks
all 3 news articles


5 More Munger Quotes to Improve Your Investing
Motley Fool - Sep 4, 2008
"If you took [Berkshire's] top fifteen [investing] decisions out, we'd have a pretty average record. It wasn't hyperactivity, but a hell of a lot of ...
Make This Your Best Investing Year Yet Motley Fool
No One Likes Your Portfolio Motley Fool
all 3 news articles


Crisis investing: The Opportunities in Vietnam
GuruFocus.com, TX - 39 minutes ago
by Andrew Mickey Crisis investing is not an easy thing to do. It takes nerves of steel. After all, buying what no one else is willing to seems absolutely ...


CNBC

Avoid These Six Deadly Investing Mistakes
CNBC, Englewood Cliffs - 3 hours ago
But no matter what, avoiding these six costly investment mistakes will help you to keep your head above today's troubled waters. "Fluctuations in the market ...

Investing - Google News

pine bedroom furniture
After aa home insurance ? Click here
Looking for New York Hotels . Try the Orbitz search engine.
Improve your credit  the home owner loan  Stock4Profit  Best Investing Guide  Credit Card and Mortgage  
Free Links Direct
  • Some charities accept donations through intermediaries, who are paid a percentage of the proceeds from your Car Donate.


  • A patent idea lawyer can tell you what your rights are with your patent.


  • More and more people are realizing that car donation is a better option than giving money.


  • A car donation is a great way to get tax credits.


  • Part of an executive's job description is an endlessly busy schedule, so to be able to reach them, you need to have an executive mailing list in hand.


  • Now, if you are hosting your own website, then you need a video streaming host all the more.


  • Search Exchange Free Link Exchange Web Portal Google PR
    Cheap Flights - Over 1,200 Destinations Worldwide
    Cheap flights to New YorkCheap flights to DubaiCheap flights to Bangkok
    Cheap flights to OrlandoCheap flights to Las VegasCheap flights to Sydney
    Home | Site Map | The Investment Machine | real estate investing | stock market investing | stock market | investing strategy | stock investing | investing in | invest | stock |
    © 2007