Thursday, May 28, 2026

The Everything Bagel

Sorry I really meant the everything bubble. But like one of those bagels at your favorite coffee shop that has every conceivable manner of topping and seed on it, this market has now really taken on the characteristics of an 'everything bubble'. We knew about the debt bubble, we knew about the equity bubble, we knew about the housing bubble, we knew about the crypto bubble - to name a few. But now we also know we have an A-I bubble, and further, a war bubble. And that means bubbles in commodities, like oil, and even still Gold. Some would even add that we have a bubble in war babble. And now you can add a bubble in government owned enterprises. Intel was not the first. A former President had the U.S. government buy a lot of shares of a flagging car company called General Motors. Of course, that was at the bottom of one of the more notorious financial problems in 2009. This is near a market high. It certainly feels like the stakeholders are truly getting "all in".

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe we need a bubble in planet ownership. Oh, wait, yeah, there is a certain IPO scheduled for 12th June isn't there? Something about rockets and space exploration, I think.

Meanwhile, back at the chart ...

ES Futures - Daily - Days since 18-day SMA

This is just a reminder that price has not hit the 18-day simple moving average in the last 35 bars. That is almost twice the length of the average. And all-day today after the 10 AM bar price did not even hit the intraday 18-per on the ES 30-min chart. No worries. I'm sure the algorithm is going to do what's best for us all in the end. Right? Ha. Meanwhile, can I interest you in some cream-cheese?

Have an excellent start to the evening,

TraderJoe


Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Best Alternate at this Time - 3

The daily picture in the ES futures still looks like the chart below. Nothing has changed there, yet. We are still waiting to see if a fifth wave, minute ⓥ, completes and if it completes with good form. Since the third wave in this configuration is shorter in price than the first wave, the Fibonacci ruler is shown to see if the fifth wave stays shorter than the third. There isn't an upward length violation at this time. If there should be, we will adjust.


As far as the local count on the SPY cash 30-min chart, there is a leading expanding diagonal first wave (where the zigzags first started coming from - because they initially couldn't be counted as clean 'fives'), then a second wave zigzag, then a third wave which just notches out a wave that is longer than the first. This chart starts with minute-iv, circle-iv, or ((iv)) at the lower left. From there, this would be the minute  wave.


There is one way to count the pattern as complete, but it doesn't match up with the futures. A further way to see the pattern ending would be with a ivth wave triangle. Right now, a parallel is being maintained. If a triangle forms, the parallel could be breached. We note the Elliott Wave Oscillator is not near the zero line yet on this timeframe.

Have an excellent rest of the day.

TraderJoe


Friday, May 22, 2026

Best Alternate at this Time - 2

The ES daily futures got within 90% of the prior high, qualifying for the 'b' wave of a Flat, or the next impulse, higher.


The upward wave 'currently' counts best as a double zigzag. That could change. But the wave is high enough to wonder a little bit about a truncation.

One might want to keep an ear out for the news over the long weekend.

Have a good one.

TraderJoe

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Best Alternate at this Time

Like an 'eighties John Travolta movie with Bee Gee's soundtrack if this market decides it is Staying Alive then this would be the best alternate I can offer on the ES daily timeframe. The market has been very hesitant and whippy in its declines. There is some possibility it is a fourth wave.


The down wave is the longest decline on the chart in the up series from April already, so the degree may have turned. But it has not yet overlapped - a key sign of a loss of momentum. The down wave might continue to the 18-day SMA (see prior posts) or it may go much farther than that.

The MACD has only just curled over from its high peak reading. Yet, the wave is currently in a parallel that we will acknowledge until/unless broken lower.

And wild cards are 1) the FED meeting minutes tomorrow, 2) NVidia earnings after the close, and 3) the geopolitical news background.

Again, nothing lower will surprise me but did I want to cover my commitment to review reasonable alternates to the wave count. And, if the third minute wave is shorter than the first minute wave, then the fifth minute wave should be shorter than the third if it occurs.

Have an excellent start to the evening,

TraderJoe

Monday, May 18, 2026

Watch the Embedded Reading

Monday's session ended with the ES daily slow stochastic below the 79 level at 78.90, and tonight the reading is around 71 - 72. The only day the market can gain back the embedded status immediately is for both the %K and the %D lines to close back up over 80 in Tuesday's session. This is not impossible, but it will take a large rally. The daily chart is below.


If the embedded status is not regained, it becomes more probable that price and the 18-day SMA will try to come together. As it stands right now the daily bias is still somewhat positive as the closing price was over that 18-day average.

Today - in the comments for the prior post - we said that any potential expanding diagonal upward invalidated in the Sunday night session. It's good to have that one off the table.

Whippy and grindy - as it is - this is my best estimate of the what the down and the up wave counts are in the half-hour ES/SPY (CFD).

ES/SPY (CFD) - 30 min - Count

The overnight waves, and those made in the cash session best count as a Flat wave, so far. There are two fourth wave locations nearby - shown by the blue box. But the lower low in the cash session may have been a tip-off.

In a perfect flat, the a-3 wave can be taken out and exceeded higher. If there is some overnight news or for some other reason (like a big whale gets the willies, or something) the flat can truncate. Don't put anything past this market. Attempt to count what you see.

Have an excellent rest of the evening,

TraderJoe

Friday, May 15, 2026

Pinbar

Don't exhaust yourself this weekend. Every YouTuber, stock trader and technical analyst will try to sell you their wares (trying to at least get your attention for views, clicks, and/or to get you to purchase memberships, ads, or subscriptions). Don't bother. Get some rest and relaxation instead. The ES futures made a weekly "pinbar" or "spinning top" candle - the likes of which we have not seen in months. It is not confirmed yet. Still, it is a green pinbar which is a tad weaker than had it been a red-bodied candle.

ES Futures - Weekly - Pinbar

A one-candle pattern is not necessarily the end of the move. It could be, but it isn't confirmed. So, next week could confirm the candle - or not. We can count a five-wave-move, up, at several degrees of trend as we have exhaustively covered in the prior posts and charts. So, this could be the end of the wave. But the market today refused to rule out an (admittedly lower probability) hourly expanding diagonal option which is another way to make a more definitive high.

So, it is simple. The candle is either confirmed with a significantly lower confirming candle next week - or it is not - and it is invalidated with a higher high candle. Elliott analysts know how to handle both.

Have an excellent start to the weekend,

TraderJoe

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Thin

It's getting thin up here in the SPY (cash) ETF contract. Volume is seriously declining as prices are rising. Sure, there could be a couple more days up. The question is, "is it worth the risk?"

SPY (Cash) ETF - Daily - Versus Volume


At least some bulls are apparently thinking, "maybe not". And what do the bears think? Try to find one to ask one.

Have an excellent rest of the evening,

TraderJoe