Stocks defied negative news from North Korea as the rogue country tested its nuclear and missle strike capabilities. Consumer confidence jumped big fueling institutional buying pushing stocks even higher and the buying continued right up into the close. Volume was up across the board compared to Friday’s trade, but it was below the 50dma. Not a terrible sign, but its more showing institutions are still being a bit shy. Rapping up the day, seeing the indexes close out near the highs on volume was a positive step in the right direction.

Finally, we see the IBD indexes leading this market. The trend will need to continue, but today was a step in the right direction. It is nice to see quality growth stocks lead for once and not the junk off the bottom. Remember, in past uptrends which followed severe bear markets …