Breadth,, what does that mean?

readytoretire answered 7 months ago …

It referrs to how many of the stocks are going along with whatever index you are watching. For the Dow, there are 30 stocks, and the average could be up, with all but a couple of stocks neutral or down. So the index going up doesn't mean that the market was good, only a few had a good move. As the index gets larger, the number of stocks moving up or down more equitably matches the index, so it is more consistent. Some indexs are weighted not just by the number of stocks, but by their market cap. In those, it is possible for one stock (the big dog) to move the index even when the rest are headed the other way. Normally, good reporting will tell the amount the index moved, and the number of winners and losers. From that, you get a feel for how widely the market followed the index.