Read: http: //www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Wiley-Trading/dp/1592801943 to put yourself in touch with reality not what you make up about markets. BTW, I'm not suggesting that the common stocks of smaller companies and how they move are irrelevent ... every piece of the puzzle has meaning and information to be gleaned but I am saying that if the puzzle is a jungle scene you must not make the mistake of thinking the piece of the bush at the periphery is more important that the lion's mane right at the center of the action. In all liklihood there is still a blowoff phase in which your small companies will again seem like King Kong, although I suspect we will see a good sized correction first. The bull dies in an amazingly similar fashion nearly every time and it is well desdribed and analyzed in Reminiscences. When the bull is truly dead -- they are dangerous when wounded! -- the opportunities will be incredible.
I understand and knew about your point. Maybe the other poster made you think I did not know, but that is her speculation only, and I do not answer speculative matters. My point was/is: If 1500 stocks do not follow a group of 500 stocks that is information I do not see why I should disregard. They followed up to their 52-high, and some even say they were leading prior to october. If someone says "market at a new high" it can put that information "under a rug".
I'm not taking any issue at all with the fact that that group privides information ... potentially valuable information during a turn in sentiment. I only take issue with any contention that they represent the heavyweight division. The cumulative weight of 50 or so of the largest cap stocks, whether I want to trade any of them or not, represent the heart of America's equity markets. And the dozen or more that trade in serious size and move are key to a bull market remaining intact.