Participation problems

At sporadic times over the past 6 months, there have been odd days when the indexes rallied but with relatively few stocks going along for the ride. For the most part, those oddities didn't matter, as the indexes just kept plugging along. We're starting to see some more severe, and protracted, divergences now, which may morph into a real issue. Even on Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite closed at a new high but with only 31% of stocks advancing. That's the lowest out of any of the 1,080 days when the Composite has closed at a new high since 1984.