The futures have behaved well, meaning predictably and profitably, within the pattern shown, so far producing a short precisely from p2, and on Thursday a 'mechanical' buy at the green line (x=6659.00). There are no guarantees bulls will achieve D=6803.34, since price action at the midpoint Hidden Pivot (p=6707.17) has been a knock-down, drag-out battle. But since every rally for the last 16 years has equaled or surpassed its target, there is no reason to think this one will go unachieved. A final note: There are two textbook trades left in the pattern -- long to d; and, if you've made money on the ride up, short at D. ______ UPDATE (Oct 3, 1:34 p.m.): The pullback from exactly 6800.00 seems too coy to last, but we should still respect the possibility of an important top there, since it fell just a split-hair shy of a compelling Hidden Pivot target that took four months to reach. If, as is more likely, bulls get second wind and continue higher, 6874.25 would be the next logical stop on the way to, like, Mars. If you got short as suggested above, an rABC pattern extrapolated from the hourly chart (a=6787.50) would have triggered at 6794.75 and taken you out of half with a quick profit at 6779.00. The next, potentially buyable, Hidden Pivot support for this correction comes in at 6736.50.
The Endless Bull Market still has a ways to go, although a key component of it, the E-Mini S&P 500, is coming up on an important Hidden Pivot resistance at 6803.75 that lies just 1.2% above. Trump's ability to transform an economy fatally swollen with debt into a beautiful vista is vastly overrated, as is the promise of AI, and that's why we should be on our guard for the onset of a bear market that is long overdue. Most immediately, that means paying close attention to price action at 6740.25, the midpoint between D and p2=6676.56. Trends within patterns as obvious as the one shown often fall short of expectations, and the midpoint between levels is where to expect such failures to occur. We'll treat this one as we would a conventional midpoint (p) Hidden Pivot, meaning the futures would become a strong bet to achieve 'D' if they blow past 6740.25. The D target is shortable but bound to get front-run because of the pattern's obviousness, so don't look for a precise turn from within a point or less of where we should want it to occur. _______ UPDATE (Sep 22, 8:07 p.m. EDT): Just a slight downward adjustment: I now see the futures achieving a minimum 6801.25. _______ UPDATE (Sep 25, 1:13 p.m. EDT): The futures have come down unusually hard after stalling precisely at the 6758.50 secondary pivot associated with the 6801 target identified above. They triggered a theoretical 'mechanical' buy signal at 6661.50 this morning, but a subsequent low flirted with the 6612.75 stop-loss, casting the bullish outlook into doubt. On the other hand, all previous bets that the bull market is at an end have lost, so we are obliged to give the bull the benefit of the doubt for now. We'll stay close to
The futures ended last week's sprightly death dance poised to move higher as soon as Wall Street gives the all-clear for nervous Nellies worried about the war between Israel and Iran. Although the September contract hasn't signaled a certain move to the 6358.00 rally target, it has shown enough buoyancy to make a pullback to the green line (x=5948.00) an enticing buy with a 5811.00 stop-loss. Use a 'camo' trigger to cut that down to size so that theoretical entry risk is no more than $175 per contract.
I've used the June chart to allow a little more running room for the finale of this now two-month-old bear rally. The new target lies at 6132.75, about 82 points above the one given here previously. Although I am fairly confident the Hidden Pivot resistance will work, I'm prepared nonetheless for a Mother of All Tops to occur marginally above last December's record-high 6235. I don't usually dig in my heels where mere feelings are involved, but I've had it up to here with bullish hubris and the idiotic notion that stocks somehow deserve to be trading at these levels. We are literally at a civilizational height of folly, and the usual shenanigans will not suffice to push this vehicle through formidable layers of supply that accumulated between last October and March. It may be working for Microsoft, but that is why I expressed doubts earlier that the broad averages would follow.
I've disdained the brute power of a 1200-point rally to focus on a simple target at 6051.50 that could conceivably stop the charge. Of course, it never feels like the trend is about to die when it has come this far and lies within easy distance of the old highs. Even if they are achieved, however I'm going to reserve some skepticism for the question of whether the breakout will be marginal rather than the start of a significant new leg up. I doubt it will prove to be the latter, but there's no point getting heavily invested in outcomes attributable more to mental illness than to the rational actions of investors. The target can be shorted, but only if you know how to control the entry risk so that it stays theoretically below $225 per contract.
Although I no longer expect the June contract to achieve a new record high, it can still be bought 'mechanically' on a pullback to p=5483.88, the midpoint Hidden Pivot of the pattern shown. The textbook stop would be 5266.75, implying a theoretical entry risk of nearly $11,000 per contract. It should be possible to cut that down to around $250, however, by using a 'camo' trigger fashioned from an intraday chart, so that's how we'll plan on getting aboard if the opportunity arises. Nudge me if I'm in the chat room then and we can plot this one together. _______ UPDATE (May 27, 5:08 p.m.): DaBoyz left shorts badly bleeding and hanging on the ropes with today's short squeeze. They were warned when last week's low on Friday narrowly missed touching a theoretical, major sell signal at 5742.00 (see inset chart).
Although the rally may already have begun to feel the magnetic pull of the old high, that is no assurance a new high will be achieved. It will first have to push past a Hidden Pivot resistance at 6128.25 that has the potential to stop the rally dead. The effect is likely to be precise if it occurs at all, so you won't have to ponder price action for more than an hour or two once the target is hit to figure out what might come next. The target is worth shorting provideddd you have the chops to pare entry risk down to 3.00 points or less per contract.
The futures did nothing last week to allay suspicions that the no-longer-exciting move off early April's low is just a garden-variety bear rally. Although it exceeded my 5736.00 target by five points, the fact that one needs a microscope to see this on the weekly chart means we should treat the resistance as intact. If buyers get decisively past it, I will be the first to guarantee 5867.00 as a minimum price objective. But we'll remain disciplined for now, and that means bulls must prove their case every step of the way. I may put out a trade in the chat room this week because this vehicle's minor swings are so easy to read. Stay close to the room if you're interested. The trade will likely happen too quickly for an email blast to be of much value, but if I see an opportunity developing lazily, I'll notify everyone.
The slimeballs who manipulate this stock for a living made full use of a short-squeeze opportunity when Microsoft announced earnings after Wednesday's close that unsurprisingly surpassed estimates. What could bears have been thinking?? DaBoyz kicked off the celebration with a $40 rally after the close, then worked their criminal magic again on Friday's opening to hoist the stock a further $10. Realize that no stock changed hands during the spectacular first stage of this maneuver, and only a relative handful of shares traded on the second. The result was an approximately $317 billion contribution to the financial realm's gaseous 'wealth effect'. Most of it came in mere nanoseconds, since that's how long it takes to create an enormous gap on a chart. This is a feat that mere bullish buying could never have hoped to achieve. It required mainly the arrant stupidity of shorts, who dependably acted as though the risk of getting blown out of the water was negligible. If I had to guess where MSFT, financialization's chief instrument for adding fake money to the system, is headed, I'd say to xxx.xx. I don't want to queer the bold, Hidden Pivot magic of this number, so I'll post it only in the chat room.
The futures ended the week a hair shy of a 5736.00 target I'd posted in the chat room. This would have merited an aggressive short if the target had been hit, ideally with at least 90 minutes remaining in the session. Alas, we'll have to reserve these ambitions, since it will be a new game when the futures start to trade again ahead of Monday's opening. The target is still shortable, but squeezing off the trade could be harrowing in the thin-volume nervousness of Sunday evenings. If the June contract blows past 5736.00, be prepared to short the next target aggressively, a Hidden Pivot 'd' target at 5867.00.
