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A green daily candlestick has unfolded exactly as expected for Thursday’s session.

Summary: A consolidation has begun and is likely to continue for a few more days with choppy overlapping sideways movement. Tomorrow may begin with some upwards movement to end within a range of 2,277.53 to 2,288.58. Thereafter, downwards movement should unfold again. In the first instance, the lower edge of the cyan channel on daily and hourly charts will be expected to provide support.

Last monthly chart is here.

Last weekly chart is here.

New updates to this analysis are in bold.

DAILY CHART

S&P 500 daily 2016
Click chart to enlarge.

Cycle wave V must subdivide as a five wave structure. At 2,500 it would reach equality in length with cycle wave I. This is the most common Fibonacci ratio for a fifth wave for this market, so this target should have a reasonable probability.

Cycle wave V within Super Cycle wave (V) should exhibit internal weakness. At its end, it should exhibit strong multiple divergence at highs.

Within cycle wave V, primary waves 1 and 2 are complete. Primary wave 3 may be over halfway through and is now exhibiting stronger momentum than primary wave 1. It is possible primary wave 3 may fall short of the target and not reach equality in length with primary wave 1.

Within primary wave 3, the correction for intermediate wave (4) should be relatively brief and shallow. Intermediate wave (2) was over very quickly within one day. Intermediate wave (4) may last a little longer, perhaps two or three days, and may not move into intermediate wave (1) price territory below 2,146.69.

At 2,473 primary wave 3 would reach equality in length with primary wave 1. This Fibonacci ratio is chosen for this target calculation because it fits with the higher target at 2,500.

When primary wave 3 is complete, then the following correction for primary wave 4 may last about one to three months and should be a very shallow correction remaining above primary wave 1 price territory. Although primary wave 3 has now moved above the end of primary wave 1, it looks like primary wave 3 needs to move higher to allow enough room for primary wave 4 to unfold. For this reason, if a pullback begins here, I would not yet expect it to be primary wave 4.

HOURLY CHART

S&P 500 hourly 2016
Click chart to enlarge.

At this stage, it looks more likely that intermediate wave (4) is incomplete.

If intermediate wave (4) is a flat correction, then within it minor wave B must retrace a minimum 0.9 length of minor wave A at 2,274.62. The normal range for minor wave B within a flat correction would be 1 to 1.38 the length of minor wave A at 2,277.53 to 2,288.58.

If intermediate wave (4) is a triangle, then minor wave B may be complete at today’s high. It is also possible that minor wave B may move higher, and it may make a new high above 2,277.53 as in a running triangle.

A combination may be eliminated for minor wave 4 because a multiple has unfolded lower. This cannot be relabelled as a double zigzag for minor wave W. The maximum number of corrective structures in a multiple is three, and to label multiples within W, Y or Z increases the maximum beyond three violating the rule.

When minor wave B is complete, then a target may be calculated for minor wave C downwards. That cannot be done yet. At this stage, it is expected that minor wave C may find support at the lower edge of the best fit cyan trend channel copied over here from the daily chart.

ALTERNATE HOURLY CHART

S&P 500 hourly 2016
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Intermediate wave (4) will fit neatly as a double zigzag on the one minute chart. It may be over here. There is a very little alternation between the single shallow 0.34 zigzag of intermediate wave (2), which lasted 5 hours, and the more shallow 0.19 double zigzag of intermediate wave (4). Alternation is a guideline and not a rule, and the S&P does not always exhibit it perfectly.

Intermediate wave (3) is 12.49 points short of 2.618 the length of intermediate wave (1). This is less than a 10% variation on the length of intermediate wave (3), so it may be considered an adequate Fibonacci ratio, just. If it is accepted that intermediate wave (3) exhibits a Fibonacci ratio to intermediate wave (1), then intermediate wave (5) may be expected to not exhibit a Fibonacci ratio to either of intermediate waves (1) or (3). The target calculation will be left at only primary degree at this stage.

Ratios within intermediate wave (3) are: minor wave 3 is 5.23 points longer than equality in length with minor wave 1, and minor wave 5 is 2.02 points short of 1.618 the length of minor wave 1.

Ratios within minor wave 5 are: minute wave iii is 3.62 points longer than 6.854 the length of minute wave i, and minute wave v 2.35 points short of 2.618 the length of minute wave i.

Intermediate wave (5) would have to be a long extension, longer than equality with intermediate wave (3) to reach the target at 2,473. If this target is wrong, it may be too high.

Within intermediate wave (5), minor wave 2 may not move beyond the start of minor wave 1 below 2,248.44.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

WEEKLY CHART

S&P 500 weekly 2016
Click chart to enlarge. Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com.

Another strong upwards week comes with a slight decline in volume, but volume is still relatively high.

On Balance Volume may find resistance at the purple line and this may force intermediate wave (4) to arrive earlier than expected. If OBV breaks above this line next week, that would be a fairly bullish signal.

RSI is not yet extreme. There is room for price to rise.

DAILY CHART

S&P 500 daily 2016
Click chart to enlarge. Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com.

The target using the measured rule from the pennant pattern is 2,318. In the first instance, this target should be used. If price keeps rising above it, then use the Elliott wave target at 2,473.

An inside day closes green, with the balance of volume today upwards. The decline in volume for this session is bearish; the rise in price today was not supported by volume, so it is suspicious. This favours the main hourly Elliott wave count over the alternate.

Expect price to find support about the short term Fibonacci 13 day moving average.

ADX today showed some further increase. It is now well above 35, which is extreme.

ATR is still slightly increasing. Ballinger Bands are still widening. There is an upwards trend in place, but it is extreme. Some consolidation may be expected as an interruption to the trend here.

Trend lines on On Balance Volume are today redrawn about the new small consolidation. This may force price to move in a shallow range prior to a breakout.

RSI does not exhibit any divergence short term with price at the last high, but Stochastics does. This indicates some weakness for bulls here.

VOLATILITY – INVERTED VIX CHART

VIX daily 2016
Click chart to enlarge. Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com.

There are a few instances of multi day divergence between price and inverted VIX noted here. Bearish divergence is blue. Bullish divergence is yellow. It appears so far that divergence between inverted VIX and price is again working to indicate short term movements spanning one or two days. While this seems to be working more often than not, it is not always working. As with everything in technical analysis, there is nothing that is certain. This is an exercise in probability.

No new divergence is noted today between price and inverted VIX. Last divergence noted may now be resolved.

BREADTH – AD LINE

AD Line daily 2016
Click chart to enlarge. Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com.

Short term bullish and bearish divergence is again working between price and the AD line to show the direction for the following one or two days.

There is longer term divergence between price and the AD line, but like inverted VIX this has proven reasonably recently to be unreliable. It will be given no weight here.

Last bearish divergence may have been resolved by one day of downwards movement. No new divergence is noted today.

DOW THEORY

Major lows within the old bull market:

DJIA: 15,855.12 (15th October, 2014) – closed below on 25th August, 2015.

DJT: 7,700.49 (12th October, 2014) – closed below on 24th August, 2015.

S&P500: 1,821.61 (15th October, 2014) – has not closed below this point yet.

Nasdaq: 4,117.84 (15th October, 2014) – has not closed below this point yet.

Major highs within the bear market from November 2014:

DJIA: 17,977.85 (4th November, 2015) – closed above on 18th April, 2016.

DJT: 8,358.20 (20th November, 2015) – closed above this point on the 9th of November, 2016.

S&P500: 2,116.48 (3rd November, 2015) – closed above this point on 8th June, 2016.

Nasdaq: 5,176.77 (2nd December, 2015) – closed above this point on 1st August, 2016.

Dow Theory Conclusion: The transportations indicate an end to the prior bear market. The transportation index confirms a bull market.

This analysis is published @ 09:12 p.m. EST.