S&P 500 Now Declining into 18-Month Hurst Cycle Low | Ahmed Farghaly

Major asset classes (equities, metals, cryptos) are entering the final phase of their current 18-month cycles (beige-yellow in first chart below), with synchronized troughs expected from late January into early March 2026. 

S&P 500 / US Equities: The August 2024 trough is identified as the 54-month cycle low. The brief break beneath it in April 2025 is viewed as a false Trump—“Liberation Day”—Tariff straddle and the first 40-week/9-month cycle trough within the current 18-month cycle. Since that time, price action has built a clean sequence of 20-day, 40-day, 80-day, and 20-week cycles. 

S&P 500 (daily closes); 2020 to December 2025: The Big Picture. 

 

S&P 500 (daily bars); September to December 2025: Last stage of the 18-month cycle.

The current 20-day cycle (magenta) ideally bottoms on December 7 (Sun), and the 40-day cycle (red) on December 23 (Tue).

 

The market has completed the latest 80-day trough on November 21 (Fri) and has now entered the final 80-day cycle before the 18-month (beige-yellow) low, which is due around mid to late January 2026 (second chart above). A rally out of the 80-day cycle low into December, but without a new all-time high, was expected because the broken 20-week VTL typically marks the 40-week peak (see first chart). 

 

An early December high remains likely before a meaningful decline into the 18-month trough. This forthcoming weakness is regarded as a mid-cycle correction within the still-intact 54-month cycle upswing. Strong gains are projected for Q2–Q3 2026 as the new 18-month cycle rises.

Reference:
Ahmed Farghaly (December 1, 2025) - Hurst Cycles Update: S&P 500, US Dollar, Gold, CRB Index, Interest Rates, Bitcoin. (video)

Hurst Cycles in the CNN Fear & Greed Index.

See also:

Ahmed Farghaly (December 2, 2025) - Hurst Cycles Update (S&P 500, US Dollar, Gold, CRB Index, Interest rates, Bitcoin). 

David Hickson (December 1, 2025) - Bullish or Bearish? - Hurst Cycles Market Update. (video)

 

High-Confidence Position Trading: Dow Jones Industrials

divided by Consumer Price Index, 1942 to 2025, and Forecast into 2037.

 

» A "straddle" is an analysis period that has its high above the FLD and its low below. «

(Cyclitec Cycles Course: Lesson 8, p. 8-14; Lesson 9, p. 9-11; Appendix C, Chart #47).

A "false straddle" is caused by an exogenous shock—an abrupt, unpredictable event originating outside the market's endogenous cyclic structure—that temporarily disrupts the established hierarchy of cycles, such as the March 2020 COVID-19 pandemic crash or the April 2025 announcement of Trump's global "Liberation Day” tariffs crash.

S&P 500 Hurst Cycles Analysis: Next Peaks and Troughs | Ahmed Farghaly

J.M. Hurst's Principle of Commonality suggests that major markets worldwide bottom at approximately the same time. Consequently, my phasing analysis for the S&P 500 is very similar not only to other US stock indices, but also to the CRB index, crude oil, and global equities.

Long-Term Phasing: The 2003 trough initiated a new 54-year Kondratieff cycle, whose first 18-year cycle (a 17.17-year Kuznets swing) concluded with the May 2020 low. This trough was a "straddle to the right," a timing deviation caused by the swift, exogenous shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.

S&P 500 (daily bars) from 1999 to November 2025.

 

The 18-year cycle subdivides into two 9-year cycles. Crucially, the major 2008-2009 decline is considered a "false break" that does not negate the 2003 low. Following 2020, the first 54-month (Kitchin) cycle completed in August 2024, and the S&P 500 is now progressing through the second.

Analog Selection and Projection: The market action preceding the 2008-2009 crisis must be negated as an analog because it was driven by an exogenous factor that broke the 2003 low, a condition entirely absent in the current cyclical environment.

 

S&P 500 (daily bars) from January 2023 to November 2025.

 The projection of the 40-week cycle has a 95% out-of-sample correlation.

 

Lacking the preferred 18-year analog (typically required for a correlation coefficient >0.8), we utilize the 9-year cycle position to project the current 18-month cycle. After synchronizing the 40-week cycle troughs, this model proved highly effective, demonstrating a 95% out-of-sample correlation. Instead of a direct price overlay, the optimal approach is to detrend this projection and apply it to the RSI. This detrended analog shows a high correlation, suggesting a three-swing pattern for the US equity market, which is currently in the anticipated downswing.

Short-Term Outlook: The short-term cyclical position projects an 80-day cycle trough around November 14-16 (Fri-Mon), followed by a rally into early December, before a final selloff into year's end.

 

S&P 500 (daily bars) from June 2024 to November 2025.

Decline into 80-day low around November 14-16 (Fri-Mon); rally to December 8 (Mon) high; 

final decline into an 18-month or 40-week cycle low around December 25 (Thu).

 

Conversely, the more dominant 9-year cycle analog suggests a period of sideways consolidation near current levels. Under this model, new highs are unlikely to be significant, and the market will largely trend sideways until the 18-month cycle trough is established.

 

Reference:

Ahmed Farghaly (November 2, 2025) - SPX Time Cycle Analysis via Economic Waves. (video)

 Ahmed Farghaly (November 2, 2025) - Beyond the Headlines: Navigating US Markets with Long-Term & Short-Term Cycles.

 

FLD Cascade Pattern on XAUUSD chart indicates $3,000/oz target by Q1 2026.

 

Decoding the Next Global Conflict: Commodity Prices Signal Kuznets War-Phase.

Bitcoin FLD Trading Opportunity with 8% Potential | David Hickson

The daily Bitcoin chart below is dated September 15 (Mon), with price near $114.5k. A 20-week cycle trough was identified on September 1 (Mon), which means 14 days have passed since then. The average length of a 20-day cycle is about 17.1 days, and we are approaching the expected timing for the next 20-day cycle trough. The nest of lows at the foot of the chart suggests that a 20-day cycle trough is likely to occur around September 18–19 (Thu-Fri).

20-week cycle trough confirmed on September 1 (Mon). Next 20-day cycle trough expected 

around September 18–19 (Thu-Fri). With the 20-week, 80-day, and 40-day cycles all

pushing up, upside targets are $120K+ by early October. 

Our main tool here is the 20-day cycle FLD. Price has already crossed above this FLD twice, producing a somewhat messy A-category interaction. The target from that interaction was achieved early on Friday, slightly exceeded, as expected after a 20-week trough. Now, price is dropping toward the next 20-day cycle trough. At that time, we expect it to find support at the 20-day FLD at around 112k. 

 

This creates the trading opportunity: If price finds support at the 20-day FLD when the 20-day trough forms, we can look for a long entry. The sequence of price interactions with the 20-day FLD has a 62.5% accuracy rating, making it a reliable setup. Why? There is bullish pressure: Bitcoin is rising out of a 20-week trough, with the 20-week, 80-day, and 40-day cycles all pushing upward. For different entry options, watch the 7-minute video (link below). 

 

Reference:
David Hickson (September 15, 2025) - FLD Trading Opportunity in Bitcoin. (video) 

See also: 

 David Hickson (August 25, 2025) - 20-Week Cycle Troughs in S&P 500, NASDAQ, Gold & Bitcoin.

Hurst Cycles Notes on the S&P 500 and Bitcoin | Christopher Grafton

General outlook: Gold, EURUSD both in 40 day cycle peak zone. US Dollar, Oil, Copper, USDJPY forming pro-trend 20 day cycle troughs. SPX E-Minis, 10 Year Treasuries at 80 day cycle peaks. Nikkei to 40 day cycle trough zone. Bitcoin 80 day cycle trough forming. 

S&P 500 E– Minis (ES, daily chart) - 80 day peak zone. Down.

 Bitcoin (daily chart) - 80 day cycle trough zone. Up.

Reference:
Christopher Grafton (September 2, 2025) - The Macro Brief - 2 September 2025.

 

See also:

Christopher Grafton (2011) - Mastering Hurst Cycle Analysis.
David Hickson (August 25, 2025) - 20-Week Cycle Troughs in S&P 500, NASDAQ, Gold & Bitcoin.