Technical signs suggest that the market ought to be at or near a top. Here's the daily chart:
SPX Daily:
As you can see, the rally from the August low has been crawling up the median line of the pink pitchfork and, of course, it can continue to do so.
The technical indicators should be a concern on the bullish side, however:
- the CCI seems to be stuck under +100;
- the MACD histogram has been showing significant bearish divergence;
- the RSI failed to make a new high with the market yesterday;
- the MACD is rolling over;
- the stochastic has turned down.
CBOE Equity Options Put/Call Ratio:
The 5ma has moved above the 10ma and the 10ma is itself moving up. However, both remain contained in the pink downward channel (bullish for the market).
As I've said before, technically, the action of the moving averages is a sell signal, but while they are below the blue dotted line, the risk of false signals is high.
A decisive break above the blue ine and out of the pink channel is needed.
For the moment, this suggests a sell, but with caution.
The McClellan Oscillator broke the bear flag I had drawn in and failed to break above the red channel, which seems rather bearish along with the negative divergence it has displayed as against the rally in the market.
SPX Percent of Stocks Above the 50ma:
This triggered a sell signal with a break below its 13ma on 19 October.
NYSE $Tick:
The NYSE Tick continues to display bearish divergence against the market, suggesting some real underlying weakness.
However, until we actually see some price action to confirm that a top to the rally from the August low may be in, price can continue to creep up, as we've seen.
I've bored myself silly repeating numerous times over the last few weeks that the price action required is a clear impulsive 5 wave decline that breaks some significant price level. In elliott wave terms, this means three 5 wave declines linked by two 3 wave rallies with no overlap.
So far, on various occasions, we've seen an initial 5 wave move down that looks promising as the start of a larger 5 wave decline, followed by a 3 wave rally and then a second 5 wave move down. However, they've subsequently turned out to be part of a larger 3 wave decline when the second 3 wave rally has overlapped the low of the first 5 wave decline. This is what we saw yesterday, with the late rally turning the move down into yesterday's low into a 3 wave move. The best play in recent days has been to go long when you see a possible end to the second 5 wave move down.
It remains possible that the bearish count shown in Chart 2 of yesterday's end of day update will play out. Certainly, with the invalidation point so close by, it could be worth a short trade. However, if you want to play it safe, the benefit of the doubt has to be given to the upside in these circumstances and you have to wait for clearer price confirmation of a potential top.
