Persistently strong breadth = BUY ST and IT

I continue to see reasons to expect the market to remain on firm footing looking out over the next 2 to 4 weeks. This time I take a look at breadth.

One Friday, the 10 day moving average of NYSE up vs down volume finished above 5.0 for a 4th consecutive day. This has occurred 8 prior times. While not statistically significant, it is interesting to note that the market was trading higher in every instance within the next 3 days. Additionally, on an intermediate term time frame, in 7 of the 8 prior instances, the market was trading significantly higher 20 trading days later by an average of about 5.7%.

Ticker	Date/Time	Close	PctChg N1	PctChg N2	PctChg N3	PctChg N10	PctChg N20
^GSPC	7/31/1950	17.84	1.01	0.62	0.84	2.52	3.87
^GSPC	1/4/1951	20.87	0.00	0.62	1.20	2.54	4.31
^GSPC	11/6/1957	40.43	0.59	-0.59	-0.62	-1.26	2.70
^GSPC	11/27/1957	41.25	1.14	0.27	0.29	-1.70	-3.56
^GSPC	11/15/1962	59.97	0.32	-0.25	0.80	3.82	4.34
^GSPC	8/20/1982	113.02	2.73	2.06	4.03	8.55	8.40
^GSPC	1/12/1987	260.30	-0.13	0.90	1.99	3.58	6.86
^GSPC	3/17/2009	778.12	2.09	0.76	-1.23	2.54	9.50
^GSPC	7/24/2009	979.26	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Similarly, the 10 day moving average of NYSE advancers vs decliners closed above 3.0 for the 2nd consecutive day. There were 8 prior times that we have seen this. In 7 out 8 cases, the market was trading significantly higher both 2 and 4 weeks out. The average gain 2 weeks later was about +4.8%, while 4 weeks later, the average gain was about +7.2%.

Ticker	Date/Time	Close	PctChg N1	PctChg N2	PctChg N3	PctChg N10	PctChg N20
^GSPC	1/13/1975	72.31	-0.87	-0.24	-0.36	4.23	8.37
^GSPC	1/8/1976	94.58	0.39	1.85	1.05	3.66	6.14
^GSPC	1/15/1976	96.61	0.40	1.77	2.33	3.62	3.77
^GSPC	8/25/1982	117.58	0.82	-0.40	0.07	3.73	5.30
^GSPC	1/13/1987	259.95	1.03	2.13	2.44	5.31	5.82
^GSPC	10/21/2008	955.05	-6.10	-4.91	-8.20	5.31	-10.04
^GSPC	3/13/2009	756.55	-0.35	2.85	5.00	7.85	13.51
^GSPC	4/3/2009	842.50	-0.83	-3.20	-2.06	-1.20	7.68
^GSPC	7/24/2009	979.26	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Though statistically insignificant, it does suggest that any dips may produce buying opportunities.