Bullish Hurst Cycle Targets for the S&P 500 and Bitcoin | David Hickson

For the S&P 500, an 18-month cycle trough likely formed on April 7, 2025, with confidence upgraded from the prior 80-day cycle analysis. A 40-day cycle trough occurred on May 7, 2025, with price holding above the 20-day FLD, signaling bullishness. An 80-day cycle trough is expected in the first week of June 2025, preceded by a peak. A 20-week cycle trough is anticipated around August 2025. Price crossing the 80-day FLD targets 6,360 before the June trough, while crossing the 20-week FLD targets 6,780 before the August trough. The 80-day FLD should provide support in June. Staying above the 20-day FLD during the 40-day trough and FLD crossings reflect strong bullish momentum, reinforcing the April 18-month trough.

 80-Day Cycle Trough expected around the first week of June, with a prior peak around 6,360.

18-Month Cycle Trough on April 7, 2025, with increased confidence from prior 80-day cycle analysis.
40-Day Cycle Trough on May 7, 2025, with price staying above the 20-day FLD, indicating bullishness.
80-Day Cycle Trough around the first week of June 2025, with a peak forming beforehand.
20-Week Cycle Trough around August 2025.

80-Day FLD Crossing generated a target of ~6,360, expected before the 80-day cycle trough in June 2025.
20-Week FLD Crossing generated a target of ~6,780, expected before the 20-week cycle trough in August 2025.
Support Level: The 80-day FLD is expected to provide support during the 80-day cycle trough in June 2025.

For Bitcoin, a 40-week cycle trough likely formed in early April 2025, supported by price finding stability at the 40-week FLD. A recent 40-day cycle trough formed with price at or above the 20-day FLD, showing bullishness. An 80-day cycle trough is expected by late June 2025, following a peak. An 18-month or possible 54-month cycle trough occurred in August 2024. The 40-week FLD provided support in April, and prior crossing generated an achieved upside target. Shortened cycles, like the early 40-day trough, suggest a bullish trend. Price behavior at the 20-day FLD and FLD support confirm the 40-week trough, though shorter cycle positioning, like the 20-week trough, remains uncertain. 

 80-Day Cycle Trough expected toward the end of June 2025, with a peak around 109,697 forming prior.

40-Week Cycle (= 9-Month Cycle) Trough likely formed in early April 2025, with evidence of support at the 40-week FLD.
40-Day Cycle Trough formed recently, with price staying at or above the 20-day FLD, indicating bullishness.
80-Day Cycle Trough  expected by end of June 2025, with a peak forming prior.
18-Month Cycle Trough formed in August 2024 (potentially a 54-month cycle trough).

40-Week FLD Interaction: Price found support at the 40-week FLD level in April 2025, confirming the trough.
Upside Target: Prior 40-week FLD crossing generated a target (achieved), with current bullishness suggesting further upside to around 109,697 and 123,519.

Reference:
David Hickson (May 19, 2025)  - Bullish Cycle Targets - Hurst Cycles Market Update for the S&P 500 and Bitcoin. (video) 

 

See also:

Krasi (May 17, 2025)  - S&P 500 Hurst Cycles Analysis. 

Namzes (April 18, 2025)  - 2025 vs V-Shaped Recoveries of 1965, 1992, and 2018. 

 

Current 20-Day Cycle in the S&P expected to bottom during first week of June.
 

 S&P 500 1965 vs 2025 Analogue.

 

Russell 2000 and NASDAQ historically strongest in
week before Memorial Day (Monday, May 26).

 

 US Fed bought $43.6 billion in treasuries in 4 days.

S&P 500 Hurst Cycles Analysis | Krasi

We now have a potentially completed pattern on the hourly chart, with the schedule aligning to week 8 for the 10-week high, suggesting it's time for a pullback toward the 10-week low.

In the short term, the RSI appears to form a triangle in the middle, suggesting a possible zig-zag pattern with a running triangle as the Elliott B-wave. In the intermediate term, a zig-zag pattern is testing the 200-day moving average and the RSI trendline. The next move is a pullback, followed by a rise into July.

 

In the short term, Hurst cycles are nearing the 10-week high, with the next move likely to be a decline toward the 10-week low.

The 40-week low in early April 2025 was right on schedule, with the next move expected to be a rise toward the 40-week high.

 

Reference:
Krasi (May 17, 2025)  - Practical Technical Analysis: Weekly Preview.

 

» Absent an escalating trade war, there is no theme right now that can push stocks massively lower (i.e. re-test the April lows). 

I expect stocks to trade in a wide and volatile range throughout 2025 [...] perhaps making marginal all-time highs. «

 Subu Trade, May 17, 2025.

 

See also:

Namzes (April 18, 2025)  - 2025 vs V-Shaped Recoveries of 1965, 1992, and 2018. 

Namzes (April 16, 2025)  - S&P 500 1965 vs 2025 Analogue = 89% Correlation.

Namzes (December 27, 2024) - 2025 Outlook on S&P 500, Cryptos, Currencies, Metals & Energy.

Hurst Time-Price Cycle Analysis for the S&P 500 & NASDAQ │ David Hickson

For the S&P 500, the target for the 20-day cycle bottom was 5,812. We are currently in a bearish 80-day cycle, with a downside target set at 4,660. It has been 528 days since the 18-month cycle trough in October 2023. 

 

 S&P 500 (weekly bars).

In both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, the 40-day cycle trough is likely to occur 

next week around April 14-18, and the 18-month cycle trough around mid-May.

The average duration of an 18-month cycle is 546 days, meaning we still have some time before the 18-month cycle trough is expected. We anticipate that this upcoming trough around mid-May will be more significant than a typical 18-month cycle.

 NASDAQ (daily bars).

In the NASDAQ, the situation is similar. We are heading toward a major cycle trough, expected around mid-May. A 40-day cycle trough is likely to occur sometime next week (April 14-18).

Reference:
David Hickson (7 April 2025) - Bear Cycle Targets - Hurst Cycles Market Update (SPX, NDX, ASX, NIFTY-50, GOLD, BTCUSD) (video)

 

See also:

Martin Armstrong (April 4, 2025) - DJIA Panic Cycle to Hit During the Week of April 28 - May 2.

Hurst Cycles Forecast Bearish Q1 for S&P 500 & NASDAQ │ David Hickson

The first quarter of 2025 is expected to be bearish for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ. Following the 40-day cycle trough observed in early December, the S&P 500 is expected to form a 80-day cycle trough around mid-January, i.e., this week.

 

 

 S&P 500 down into late March or early April.

A significant cycle trough in the first few months of 2025 is anticipated, likely around March or April. The price action as it exits the 80-day cycle trough will be crucial in determining the strength of the recovery or the continuation of the bearish trend.

 NASDAQ down into May.

The NASDAQ's 20-week cycle trough was formed in mid-December, and a significant 18-month cycle trough is expected around May 2025. A weak bounce from this week's low would indicate further bearish movement into May.

Reference:
David Hickson (January 13, 2025) - A Bearish Start to 2025 - Hurst Cycles Market Update. (video)

Hurst Cycles Update for S&P 500, NASDAQ, Gold, and Bitcoin | David Hickson

Reference:
David Hickson (October 14, 2024) - Early Cycle Troughs - Hurst Cycles Market Update. (video)

Hurst Cycle Projection for the NASDAQ and S&P 500 | David Hickson

 

There is uncertainty regarding the 20-day cycle trough's exact timing. The average length for this cycle is 17 days. Positioning the trough on August 22 aligns better with the 40-day cycle, which should be forming around September 9.

 

In the NASDAQ, similar trends are observed. The crest of the red dashed line of the Hurst Cycle Composite is around Quadruple Witching Friday, September 20 ± a few trading days.

Reference:
David Hickson (September 9, 2024) - The 40-Day Trough - Hurst Cycles Market Update. (video)

 

See also:

Jeffrey A. Hirsch (September 5, 2024) - S&P 500 September 2024 Seasonality.

Wayne Whaley (August 31, 2024) - S&P 500 Soared 7% in Summer, Shifts Weakness to October.

Robert Miner (August 31, 2024) - S&P 500 Uptrend May Extend to 5,800 Into Equinox. 

The Cyclic Theory Of Stock Transaction Timing │ J.M. Hurst

In the 1970’s an American engineer called J.M. Hurst published a theory about why financial markets move in the way they do. The theory was the result of many years of research on powerful mainframe computers, and it became known as Hurst’s Cyclic Theory. Hurst claimed a 90% success rate trading on the basis of his theory, and yet the theory has remained largely undiscovered and often misunderstood.

 

Hurst published two seminal works: a book called The Profit Magic of Stock Transaction Timing, followed a few years later by a workshop-style course which was called the Cyclitec Cycles Course (now available as J.M. Hurst’s Cycles Course). There are a number of very enthusiastic advocates, prominent traders and writers who proclaim Hurst as the “father of cyclic analysis” and confirm the efficacy of the theory (including the late Brian Millard who wrote several books about Hurst’s theory), but why is it that the theory isn’t better known and more widely used by technical analysts? There are, in my opinion, two reasons:

Firstly, Hurst’s Cyclic Theory is not “easy”. While it is beautifully simple and elegant in its essence, it is not a simple theory to understand or to apply. The Cycles Course is over 1,500 pages long, and most people take several months to work through it. 

Secondly, although the theory presented in both the Profit Magic book and the Cycles Course is the same, there is a vitally important distinction between the analysis processes presented in the two. Hurst claimed his success on the basis of the process presented in the Cycles Course, whereas many people read the Profit Magic book and go no further, with the consequence that they never discover the more effective process presented in the Cycles Course. 

 

Hurst defined eight principles which like the axioms of a mathematical theory provide the definition of his cyclic theory. The eight Principles of Hurst’s Cyclic Theory are:

1. The Principle of Commonality – All equity (or forex or commodity) price movements have many elements in common (in other words similar classes of tradable instruments have price movements with much in common). 
2. The Principle of Cyclicality – Price movements consist of a combination of specific waves and therefore exhibit cyclic characteristics.
3. The Principle of Summation – Price waves which combine to produce the price movement do so by a process of simple addition.
4. The Principle of Harmonicity – The wavelengths of neighbouring waves in the collection of cycles contributing to price movement are related by a small integer value.
5. The Principle of Synchronicity – Waves in price movement are phased so as to cause simultaneous troughs wherever possible
6. The Principle of Proportionality – Waves in price movement have an amplitude that is proportional to their wavelength.
7. The Principle of Nominality – A specific, nominal collection of harmonically related waves is common to all price movements.
8. The Principle of Variation – The previous four principles represent strong tendencies, from which variation is to be expected.

In essence these principles define a theory which describes the movement of a financial market as the combination of an infinite number of 'cycles'. These cycles are all harmonically related to one another (their wavelengths are related by small integer values) and their troughs are synchronized where possible, as opposed to their peaks. The principles define exactly how cycles combine to produce a resultant price movement (with an allowance for some randomness and fundamental interaction).

Name of Cycle (nominal)	Av. Wavelength (Days)	Av. Wavelength	Harmonic Ratio
972 year *	353,548.8	968.22 years	3 x 1
324 year *	117,849.6	322.74 years	2 x 1
162 year *	58,924.8	161.37 years	3 x 1
54 year *	19,641.6	53.79 years	3 x 1
18 year	6,547.2	17.93 years	2 x 1
9 year	3,273.6	8.96 years	2 x 1
54 month	1,636.8	53.77 months	2 x 1
18 month	545.6	17.93 months	3 x 1
40 week	272.8	38.97 weeks	2 x 1
20 week	136.4	19.48 weeks	2 x 1
80 day	68.2	68.2 days	2 x 1
40 day	34.1	34.1 days	2 x 1
20 day	17	17 days	2 x 1
10 day	8.5	8.5 days	2 x 1
5 day	4.3	4.3 days	2 x 1
2 day	2.2	2.2 days	2 x 1
1 day	1.11	26.67 hours	2 x 1
5 hour	0.22	5.3 hours	5 x 1
160 minute	0.11	160 minutes	2 x 1
1 hour	0.037	53.3 minutes	3 x 1
30 minute	0.018	26.67 minutes	2 x 1
15 minute	0.009	13.3 minutes	2 x 1
7 minute	0.0045	6.6 minutes	2 x 1
3 minute	0.0023	3.3 minutes	2 x 1
* Ahmed Farghaly, 2015 (eg.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-farghaly-a5825637)

 

These eight simple rules distinguish Hurst’s theory from any other cyclic theory. For instance most cyclic theories consider cycles in isolation from each other, and cycles are often seem to 'disappear'. By contrast cycles never disappear according to Hurst’s theory, but they may be less apparent because of the way in which cycles combine. It is the fact that Hurst’s theory stipulates that there are an infinite number of cycles that makes it particularly different, and also begins to explain why it is impossible to forecast price movement with 100% accuracy. Just as it is impossible to conceive of the sum of two infinite numbers, it is impossible to define the result of combining an infinite number of cycles.

 

Reference:

J.M. Hurst (1971) - Profit Magic of Stock Transaction Timing.
CycliTec Training Course (1975) - J. M. Hurst Cycles Trading Course.

David Hickson (2023) - How The Markets Work.