Rick Ackerman

Index futures were getting whacked Tuesday night for a rare change, with the E-Mini S&Ps down as much as 16 points and the Mini-Dow off by 120. There is nothing obvious in the news at the moment to indicate why this is happening, although it seems likely that something has unsettled Asian markets. Regardless, DaBoyz will try to hold this gas-bag above last week's 2379.00 low (see inset), and to sufficiently deplete sellers by Wednesday's opening to set up the obligatory short squeeze.  But if the overnight bottom should take out a second previous low -- i.e., 2376.00 recorded on May 4 --  bulls could find themselves on the run in the early going. We'll move to the sidelines for the time being, but you should tune to the chat room for intraday guidance, since the swing highs and lows created when things get a little nutty wind up being easier to predict than the tiresome oscillations we've experienced for the last several weeks.

Permabears in particular will find this hard to believe, but the Dow Industrial Average could levitate a further 2336 points before it hits something solid. Even some bulls might find the 23317 target shown in the chart (see inset) a tad optimistic. But charts don't lie, and in this case the force with which the Indoos impaled the red line, a midpoint Hidden Pivot resistance at 19343, makes a run-up to 23317 a good bet as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I could give you a dozen good reasons why the blue chip average would be more fairly priced at 10,000. But I have to keep reminding myself that all the 'good reasons' in the world have in no way impeded the progress of this epic bull market since it began in 2009. We'll lay out some shorts at the pink line, the pattern's 'secondary' Hidden Pivot, nonetheless, since it is a logical spot for the bull to reverse, if only temporarily. In the meantime, we should not presume to understand what's on Mr. Market's nasty mind -- other than that he will fool most of us at the top.

Although headlines over the weekend suggested that the ransom malware that wreaked havoc around the world on Friday could get second wind on Monday when workers return to their desks, there was no sign Sunday night that Wall Street was even remotely concerned.  Index futures were trading moderately higher, but not by enough to suggest DaBoyz were trying to distribute stock ahead of a possible Monday selloff. Although the broad averages look like they could use a rest, a FAANG-stock rampage has been making it very difficult for this to occur. I have higher targets outstanding for FB, AMZN, AAPL, NFLX and GOOG, and although subscribers hold a small put position in QQQ, we should resist the temptation to get in their way.

June Gold slightly exceeded the minor Hidden Hidden Pivot resistance at 1230.10 that we used last week to get on the right side of a bullish trend change and to stay with it. Now I'll suggest using the pattern shown (see inset) to understand and exploit price action over the next day or two. It implies that a decisive push above the 1231.10 midpoint pivot is likely to hit 1235.50. You can see that it would take just a little more, specifically a move exceeding the 'external' peak at 1236.90 recorded last Monday, to put sellers back on their heels. _______ UPDATE (May 15, 6:35 p.m. ET): Gold did as it usually does today: two steps forward, one-and-three-quarter steps back. But not before generating a fresh impulse leg on the hourly charrrrrrrt by exceeding the 1236.90 'external' peak noted above. Traders looking to get long should use this 'counterintuitive' set-up I've sketched hypothetically here. Please note that a point 'C' low beneath 'A' is allowable, but ideally it should fall within the range 1226.10 - 1227.20.

Silver has turned higher after having failed to achieve a crystal clear downside target at 15.485 last week. That's encouraging, since whenever a corrective move falls shy of a D target, it implies that the larger uptrend -- in this case one going back to January 2016 -- is still dominant. The bullish significance of this would grow if the futures continue to exceed minor rally targets. At the moment, the nearest lies at 16.590, just three cents above Sunday evening's so-far high. If the rally exceeds that number, and particularly if it surpasses an 'external' peak at 16.845 recorded May 3 on the way down in the process, beleaguered bulls will have something to cheer about. _______ UPDATE (May 15, 8:04 p.m. ET): Today's strong upthrust easily surpassed the 16.590 resistance, although it fell just shy of icing the cake for bulls with a move above the 16.845 peak. I expect the correction off the intraday high to continue, and that's why I'm recommending a 'counterintuitive' trade as sketched to subscribers seeking to get long. ______ UPDATE (May 16, 9:20 p.m.): Like Gold futures, July Silver did not defer to our niggardly bid before taking off this morning. Use the 17.070 target shown in the chart as a minimum upside objective for now. If it's achieved, the futures would generate a fresh impulse leg on the hourly chart. Night owls can use a 'mechanical' buy signal at 16.830, stop 16.750, to get long, but I'll recommend converting it to a 'camouflage' entry in order to cut the initial risk by as much as 90%. A pullback to the green line can be bought 'mechanically,' stop 16.595, straightaway with no tricks.  _______ UPDATE (May 17, 7:02): The mechanical buy signal noted above worked nicely, but because no subscribers reported doing

The 168.46 target I'd said was 'very likely' to be achieved when the stock was still trading below $150 now looks like a lock-up. It comes from the weekly chart (see inset), although it could be subject to a short stall at 160.12, a Hidden Pivot calculated by using September's 63.89 low as a point 'A' instead of June's 55.55 bottom. More immediately, using the hourly chart, the rally will generate an additional target at 161.18 , just above the larger-degree pivot noted above, if it can get past the 156.65 midpoint pivot resistance shown in this chart. _______ UPDATE (May 16, 9:35 p.m.): The correction looks bound for 153.95 overnight, but if that Hidden Pivot support gives way easily it would portend more weakness during the regular session. Here are the coordinates for the target on the hourly chart:  a=156.27 (5/16, 9:00 a.m.), b=154.72. _______ UPDATE (May 17, 7:04 p.m.): AAPL sliced through the 153.95 pivot on the opening bar, telegraphing the avalanche that followed. For now, use this pattern, with implied downside to as low as 146.98 over the near term, to guide you.

Today's chart yields a somewhat higher target than the one at 2454.50 we've been using for a near-term perspective. It is not necessarily more bullish, however, since the stall exactly at the midpoint Hidden Pivot supports either of two sobering interpretations: 1) that the bull market is over; or, 2) that a significant correction is under way. We shall see. But it would be perfectly logical for the futures to take a breather for perhaps 3-5 weeks, given the importance of the 2405.13 midpoint resistance where they topped last week. If they instead rampage higher with barely a pause, that would lend weight to the case for a quick run-up to 2492.50. The Dow Industrials, currently at 20896, would be trading just below 22,000 at that point.

Impressed with the short-squeeze DaBoyz triggered off using Thursday morning's sold-out lows?  Don't be, especially since the bear buying-binge in index futures and a few other well-trafficked vehicles failed to surpass any prior peaks on the hourly chart (see inset). A second-day levitation could prove even harder for DaBoyz to orchestrate, since anyone who buys into it will need to believe the bet is safe enough to weather any mood swing that occurs in these far-too-interesting times between now and Sunday evening.  In the meantime, subscribers who ended the session with a short position in QQQ acquired a day earlier have little reason to feel nervous.

The dream is dying hard on Wall Street at the moment. Shares of the hottest IPO in years are plummeting on disappointing earnings news announced after the close. SNAP has gotten instantly devalued by 25% and appears headed significantly lower (see tout below for a precise price target). Can anyone be surprised that the company failed out-of-the-gate to live up to a $35 billion valuation? We hesitate to infer this will chasten investors who have grown used to supporting sky-high valuations for companies that have yet to figure out how to make a profit. (Snap lost $2.2 billion in the first quarter, so they have ways to go in that category.) Whatever the case, the pounding SNAP is taking this evening seems likely to ratchet down by a notch or two the lunatic factor that has sustained the bull market through thick and thin.