Bing, bing, BING!

No. Ricochet Rabbit yells "Ping, ping, PING!" (or often heard and written as "Bing, bing, BING!") right before shouting his own name - Ricochet Rabbit - as he bounces off objects. This was confirmed in autographs signed by the voice-over cartoon actor. But today, the ES futures on the daily chart, can be seen bouncing off the bottom Bollinger Band, and without hardly stopping at the 18-day SMA, ricocheted to the upper Bollinger Band.

The Principle of Equivalence says there are at least three good ways to count this formation. They are listed below.

• First is minuet (a), (b), (c) of minute ⓥ failure. This formation would seem to 'rush' the count as degree labeling can not be used to confirm the lengths of (a) or (b), we don't know the up movement is over, and there is no overlap of concern at this time.
• Second is smaller degree sub-minuette i, ii, iii of minuet (a) of minute ⓥ. The supporting evidence for this is that the hourly MACD is on a high, we don't know the up movement is over, and there is no overlap of concern at this time.
• Third is even smaller degree micro Ⓐ, Ⓑ, Ⓒ of i of diagonal minuet (a) of ⓥ to extend the entire sequence in time and try to get the waves to survive until the end of the year.

There is, of course, still the option of a third wave up because in contracting diagonals, the smaller up waves, and the smaller down waves still fit in with the nested 1,2,i,ii scenario which always, always, always makes counting diagonals tricky.

At this point, the middle scenario is the most reasonable. This is counting the three up waves as i, ii, iii the three sub-minuette waves of minuet (a) until we know more, there are some confirming overlaps or news reports that dump prices. This would also still allow for the Elliott "over-throw" if that should occur, after the under-throw that we wrote about in the prior post.

At the moment, the daily bias has instantly turned from down to up. But there is no swingline trend: just a lower swing-line low, and a higher swing-line high. The daily slow stochastic is not over-bought yet, but I'd watch tomorrow's readings. Further, as things were still settling out, on the NYSE there were only 1,527 advancing issues versus 1,226 declining issues on a day which could easily have seen a ratio of 5 or 6 to 1. It didn't. And, again still settling out, there were only 26 new 52-week highs on the NYSE versus 154 new lows. So, some stocks are behaving against the rally - which is interesting.

For our part, we continue to measure & count; measure & count. Can I say it again, "measure & count" as best we can and look at the evidence. We'll not predict the future - especially not when The Principle of Equivalence tells us there are multiple scenarios with odds spread out amongst them. The odds above can be roughly rated as 25%, 50%, 25% for the three scenarios. Today you saw how fully seven closes occurred over the upper intraday Bollinger Band which had odds rated at 0 - 2%, and yet that occurred before prices closed back inside the band. Granted it was an intraday chart. Still. if 1% events can happen, one has to be very, very judicious with 25% events - or else one is just gambling, not using wave-counting skills for what they are intended for.

Have an excellent start to the evening,

TraderJoe

Eclipse

Like a full solar eclipse, sometimes you are in the right place at the right time and can gleefully shout, "I saw it, I saw it" along with the full other range of phenomenon that day - like sky darkening, or Bailey's beads. You can say you were there to experience them all. In today's market, if you draw the daily closing trend line up from the April low, you might see what is famously termed the "Elliott under-throw". Here is that daily chart in the SPX500 (CFD), trend line included.

If you look to the day of September 16th, you might see what Elliott termed the "under-throw" in a contracting diagonal. This is price action that breaks the trend line to get people more bearish, and then begins to recover to potentially make a fifth wave, and which can then result in the more famous "over-throw". Clearly from my post of 4 Sep ("How Nasty") I was prepared in advance for such an event, and now the sudden reversal higher.

If prices make the new high, then the under-throw will likely have been confirmed and then you can say "I saw it, too!". Further, Elliott will have been proven correct at an extraordinary degree of trend. And even if prices don't make the new high, and instead fail, he would still be correct.

Did the under-throw drive some fear into the market? Well, the CNN-Money Fear and Greed Index was last down to 27 (Fear) from its August highs in the (Greed) category near 66, so it looks to have had some impact.

The only item a little dissatisfying about the diagonal currently is that the retraces are not 62% or better as in the 'guidelines' for wave formation, but they are just that 'guidelines', not rules. So, to follow the rules now, the wave structure only needs a fifth wave that is shorter than the third.

We'll see if that happens. If not, we'll adjust. One adjustment 'could be' that the third wave, ((iii)) or circle-iii is still underway. Have an excellent rest of the weekend.

TraderJoe

Another Clue

For months and years readers of this blog know I have been watching the cumulative NYSE Advance/Decline line for signals as to when topping might occur. Without this index diverging, I said it would be difficult for any true bear market to start. An updated daily chart of this technical index is below.

Readers can see that as of yesterday's FOMC day, the index has fallen off 'almost' as much as it did in April, but not 'quite' as much. The two arrows lengths are copies of each other. Now I'm not saying it is 'required' for this technical measure to make a full diagonal like price might. It is possible this might fail to make a new high while price goes on to make a higher all-time-high. But, clearly, there is already overlap with the March peak after a shorter wave up in length.

So, market breadth conditions should again be watched as prices rise to see if there is any divergence again with the average stock at the exchange level on significant rallies. Further, should the April low in this measure be undercut, that should start to send out some additional warning signals related to how frothy price might be, and whether or not speculation is ruling the trade or whether price rises accompany economic expansion of a more meaningful type.

So far, we have had economic expansion, some from data center build-outs. Some from programmers being hired to build A-I, some from increased retail sales, partly due to inflation, and some from higher commodity prices themselves, not to mention, unfortunately, those economic increases that accompany a military conflict.

Should the market decide to once again undertake its 'discounting mechanism' role, we'll see if it leads changes in any of the aforementioned sources of GDP growth. It's definitely worth watching.

Have an excellent start to the day,

TraderJoe

 

Clue

This morning in the wee hours, a lower low was made below the Prior Low (PL) of the previous post. As such, the upward variety of expanding diagonal invalidated in a bout of sheer whip. The SPX500 (CFD) 4-hr chart is below.

This now leaves the potential downward contracting diagonal as a way to end minute ((iv)). This count is subject to the usual rules for a contracting diagonal. First, we don't 'know' that wave iii is done, but it would have to remain shorter than i for a contracting diagonal. Then, too, when wave iii is done, wave iv would have to remain shorter than wave ii. And, of course, in this scenario wave iv can and would likely overlap wave i but not travel beyond the end of wave ii. If that succeeds, then wave v would have to remain shorter than wave iii.

This is also a reminder that wave v in an overall (c) wave of minute ((iv)) is allowed to 'fail' if it wants to in order to signify the end of a downward wave.

None of this is locked-in-stone. It is all contingent, but the lower low does provide a clue as to possible price direction. Again, nothing lower will surprise us. There is a way for price to have topped in this and in other indexes. But this is an effort to give the broader market a ending pattern at large degree. We'll see if that happens.

I will also note that some other Elliott Wave analysts were expecting a (ahem) [iii], up, here. I guess they got fooled by the new low, and we did not. But, I've been fooled before, too. Very few readers read the prior post, so, if you haven't, you may wish to review it now.

Have an excellent start to the day,

TraderJoe

Up For Grabs

Overnight, the market as measured by the ES futures has more than overlapped the prior possibility for a 1st wave up as shown below. But it has not taken out the prior low (PL) either. The chart below is of the SPX500 (CFD) 1-hr timeframe.

So, the primary way to make an 'A' wave up is with an expanding diagonal. But, if the 2nd wave marker is undercut, then there is no way to make an expanding diagonal, up and still follow the 'rules'. On the other hand, if the low is exceeded, then perhaps look for a diagonal downward to end the fourth wave, minute ((iv)). A contracting diagonal is the more likely downward, but we'd also have to look for the expanding possibility if the contracting variety should not be valid.

IF a diagonal is being made, in either case, then the internal waves could be quite whippy, instead of trending, and trading might be quite difficult. So, patience, calm and flexibility remain key tools to success.

Have an excellent start to the day,

TraderJoe

Full House

Think of it like a full-house hand in poker. You have three aces and a king & a queen. The question is what will be pulled from the deck.

We're just patient until the cards are dealt. The degrees are difficult to consider because the lengths are quite similar. Also, in the futures it is very hard to count that initial (a) wave up in the first diagram as it is very hard to count five-waves-up. And, if it has a truncation it may be the c wave in the second diagram making an overall (b) wave up in that diagram.

Have an excellent start to the evening,

TraderJoe

How Nasty ?

The wave counting has been ugly. The trading even worse. One question to ask is how nasty will this market be in the short run? Yes, price can still certainly go upward to finish a fifth wave of an (a) wave up on Monday. But the question has to be asked, "what if it doesn't?" What if price goes down before it goes up? Below is a very nasty alternate count in the hourly SPY cash contract.

The gist of the count is that it's possible for the minute fourth wave to extend a bit in time, break some upward trend lines in the process, and temporarily getting people more bearish. We do not know it will. We can only suggest this alternate might be in play IFF the overlap warning signal is fired off before a new high is made. In other words it is possible there is a (c) wave down to follow after what might be a failure flat (b) wave up.

It's something to watch. It was brought about by the Payroll Report wave being very deep and making one overlap, by the failure of the SPY to make a new high above the prior high, and the lack of a solid impulse to end the day today.

So keep an eye on it. Don't let it rule the roost unless the signals fire off. Meanwhile be flexible, patient and calm. The market will re-establish a trend direction at some point. Right now, price is fighting with the 18-day SMA, and the Smart Money needs to be sure things are good & confusing.

Have an excellent start to the evening and the long weekend if you are celebrating,

TraderJoe