Showing posts with label US Stocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Stocks. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Third-to-Last Trading Day of August: 90.5% Bullish Record | Jeff Hirsch

August's third-to-last trading day is a calendar favorite for the bulls. Over the past 21 years, the S&P 500 has risen 19 times—a 90.5% win rate—making it one of only two days of the year with 19 gains in 21 years; the other is the first trading day of July.

 Bullish Third-to-Last Trading Day of August (2005-2025).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has an even stronger claim: its third-to-last trading day of August has been its best-performing day of the entire year, also gaining 19 of 21 times (90.5%).

This unusually strong late-August bias may reflect seasonal positioning: institutions prepare portfolios for the fall, retirement and investment contributions continue, and investors anticipate upcoming earnings, economic data, and Federal Reserve developments. With August ending, markets also begin positioning for the historically active final four months of the year.

The Saturn-Rahu/Ketu Conjunction Blueprint of Market Cycles | Allen Reminick

This 1646 engraving by Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher is an astronomical calculating tool from his book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae (The Great Art of Light and Shadow). Known as the Eclipse Dragon, the diagram maps and predicts solar and lunar eclipses. The beast's winding body represents the ecliptic plane, as eclipses occur only when the Moon intersects this path. The dragon's head on the left marks the ascending North Node, historically called "Caput Draconis." Its coiled tail on the right signifies the descending South Node, or "Cauda Draconis."
Fifteen years of statistical validation show that buying during Moon-Ketu conjunctions and selling at Moon-Rahu conjunctions yields a 70% win rate over two-week periods in the S&P 500. The critical caveat is that even when the statistics suggest shorting during Moon-Rahu alignments, the prudent approach avoids counter-trend positions in a bull market. The deeper principle is that the nodes serve as polarity points: Ketu represents contraction and Rahu expansion, each exerting a predictable gravitational influence on market psychology.

Saturn-Rahu Synodic Cycle: The Explosive Bull Catalyst
The strongest evidence for planetary influence emerges from the 11.4-year Saturn-North Node synodic cycle (11.4045 years = 4,165.443 days). When the angle between them measures approximately thirteen degrees—as on March 01 (Sat), 2025 [exact 2025 Saturn–North Node conjunction: on April 14 with the mean node, on April 21 (Mon), 2025 with the true node], preceding the March 30th low—historical back-testing reveals extraordinary consistency. Over 110 years, every occurrence of this specific angular relationship produced an explosive rally shortly thereafter. The 2025 rally from the April lows demonstrated the pattern with remarkable precision, following the template established in 1992, 2003, and 2014, each separated by the 11.4-year interval.
The predictive power extends beyond price action into geopolitical correlation. The same Saturn-Rahu alignment that preceded the 2025 market low also maps to the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, the Gulf War in 1991, and Ruhollah Khomeini's rise to power in Iran in 1979. Four cycles later, on February 28, 2026, Ali Khameini was murdered on the exact day another cycle began. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 aligned with this cycle, while its formation sixty-nine years earlier also fell on the same pattern. The 2025 Straits of Hormuz crisis mirrors the Dardanelles crisis of 1878—precisely 148 years, or thirteen synodic cycles, apart—with both involving naval deployments to keep strategic waterways open.
Saturn-Ketu Conjunction: The Bearish Counterpoint
The opposite nodal alignment—Saturn conjunct Ketu—produces the mirror image: severe bear markets every 34 years, or three Saturn-Rahu cycles. The October 11th, 2007 conjunction in Leo [exact Saturn–Ketu conjunction October 12 or 23, ephemeris-dependent] marked the exact high of the Great Financial Crisis. 
Three cycles earlier came the 1974 bear market, triggered three days after President Nixon's resignation. Three cycles before that, the 1940 crash unfolded as Hitler's European campaign intensified. Each occurrence produced a waterfall decline of approximately twenty percent, establishing durable lows that, crucially, were followed by recovery to new highs within five years—a pattern suggesting that the 4,800 level on the S&P in April 2025 will hold as a long-term floor.
Symmetry of Opposites: Market Inversion Mechanics
When Saturn-Rahu and Saturn-Ketu conjunctions occur at opposite zodiacal points, the market responds with striking symmetry. The 2007 high, generated by a Ketu conjunction, corresponds to the 2025 low produced by its Rahu counterpart, inverting the Great Financial Crisis into an upside-down mirror image. 
 
The recent S&P rally was driven by the Saturn‑Rahu synodic cycle: On March 1, 2026, a high formed with a thirteen‑degree angle between Saturn and the North Node, followed by a low on March 30. This exact thirteen‑degree angle recurs every 11.4 years, and back‑testing over 110 years shows that every occurrence produced an explosive rally soon after the corresponding high. Crucially, from every Saturn‑Rahu low, the market is invariably higher five years later, with no exceptions, even when intermediate bear markets appear, as in 1957 and 1969. The synodic period of 11.4 years shifts through different zodiac signs, requiring a full thirteen cycles—totaling 148 years—to return to the identical starting position. On a short‑term basis, Moon‑Ketu conjunctions are bullish and Moon‑Rahu conjunctions are bearish, yet in a bull market one must never counter‑trend short on the Moon‑Rahu signal. 
The 17.5-year interval—1.5 times the 11.4-year cycle—aligns the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse, the worst phase of the decline, with the most explosive portion of the 2025 rally. On November 21 (Fri), a secondary low followed by a six-week bounce, maps precisely to current market positioning, providing a roadmap for the coming months: a continuation of the rally into September, punctuated by a July dip.

The 34-Year Cycle: Structural Superiority Through Zodiacal Rotation
While the 11.4-year Saturn-Rahu cycle demonstrates impressive predictive capability, the 34.2-year cycle exhibits greater longevity and structural integrity. The reason lies in zodiacal position: the 1991 conjunction occurred at the beginning of Capricorn [Jan 21 (Mon), 1991, while the 2025 alignment in the sidereal system occurred at approximately two degrees of Pisces]—a sixty-degree rotation. 
 
34.25-Year Saturn–Node Cycle Overlay: Weekly Dow versus the same chart shifted back 34.25 years (three Saturn–North Node synodic cycles of 11.4045 years each). The April 2025 low maps directly onto the December 1991 low, the 2007–09 financial-crisis decline aligns with the 1974 crash, and the 15 October 2014 low coincides with the 30 March 2025 low at 97 percent correlation on five-minute bars. The longer-term fidelity arises because the 1991 conjunction occurred at the start of Capricorn while the 2025 conjunction fell near 2° Pisces sidereal—a 60° rotation that preserves the cycle’s structural integrity far beyond isolated 11.4-year repetitions. Project the pattern forward from 34 years ago for the continuing roadmap.
This sixty-degree planetary shift, equivalent to one-sixth of the zodiac, preserves the cycle's periodicity across extended timeframes with 95% correlation. The April 2025 low corresponds precisely to the December 1991 low, with identical swing structures, while the 2007–2009 financial crisis maps to the 1974 crash, demonstrating that the thirty-four-year interval captures both the 11.4-year cycles and their sixty-degree rotations.

Jupiter-Saturn Supra-Cycle: The Grand Synthesizer
Above these cycles operates the Jupiter-Saturn synodic cycle, completing every 19.85 years and remaining in the same elemental sign for 250-year epochs. The 60-year cycle—three Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions, approximating 59.6 years—provides the most reliable long-term market template, with 1965 aligning perfectly with 2025 and 1966 with 2026. 
Multiplying the three cycles yields a 178-year interval connecting the 1842 Opium Wars to the current opioid crisis in the US, with trade direction reversing from west-to-east to east-to-west. The same 178-year span links Mexico's 1828 independence and subsequent invitation to American settlers with today's immigration crisis, demonstrating that these cycles govern not merely market prices but the collective human drama itself.
Human Element: Consciousness Embedded in Cosmic Structure
The patterns repeat because human nature remains constant. The same emotions, fear and greed, and cognitive biases that drove traders in 1878 continue to drive traders today. Planetary configurations serve as signposts—mathematical markers of where collective consciousness directs its attention and emotional energy. 
 
Partial Solar Eclipse (August 12, 2026) and Partial Lunar Eclipse (August 28, 2026) over New York. Moon-Rahu and Moon-Ketu conjunctions occur once per Draconic Month (~27.2122 days) at each node. The most critical conjunctions occur when the Moon aligns with a node near a syzygy (New or Full Moon), producing solar or lunar eclipses—for example, March 3, 2026, Ketu: Total Lunar Eclipse; August 12, 2026, Rahu: Total Solar Eclipse; August 28, 2026, Rahu: Partial Lunar Eclipse. 
Recognizing this structure dissolves the apparent chaos of markets into ordered pattern. The trader ceases to be a victim of random events and becomes an informed participant in a cosmic drama, understanding that the script was written not in Washington or on Wall Street, but in the mathematics of the solar system itself. As the ancient aphorism states: "As above, so below." Markets, far from being disconnected from natural law, operate as its most transparent expression.

 

Monday, August 17, 2026

Margin Debt Hits Record Then Drops: Classic Late-Cycle Sign | Branimir Vojcic

Latest FINRA data published in mid-August show that US margin debt fell to $1.42T in July 2026 after reaching a record $1.50T in June, marking the first decline following a sustained period of increases.


The
chart tracks US margin debt versus the S&P 500 from 1997–2026, highlighting historical peaks in leverage that preceded 
S&P 500 tops by 0–4 months (median around 3 months). That places September–October toward the later end of the historical window for a S&P 500 decline.

Saturday, August 8, 2026

BofA Bull & Bear Indicator Hits 9.7—Extreme Greed Signals Sell

On August 5 (Wed), BofA's Hartnett Bull & Bear Indicator hit 9.7, up from 9.4 and its highest level since 2021—a strong contrarian sell signal for risk assets (banks, industrials, semis/tech). 

 
The indicator aggregates positioning (hedge funds and long-only managers), equity/bond flows, global equity breadth, and tight credit spreads. Historically, readings over 8 have preceded modest average equity declines of 2-3% over 1-3 months (around 60% hit rate), with occasional larger drawdowns, prompting BofA to recommend rotating toward defensives (stable, less cyclical sectors like consumer staples and often utilities/healthcare).
 

See also:
 
Goldman Sachs' Panic Index—a 2-year rolling percentile of equity-volatility metrics (VIX, skew, ATM IV, term structure)—collapsed from the 90th to 0th percentile in one week, reaching 1.03 in the 2024–26 chart. The plunge signals near-total exhaustion of downside-protection demand after early-2026 fear spikes, with options flows now call-heavy and rising volumes pointing to upside chasing rather than hedging. Yet extreme complacency has historically preceded both sustained rallies and abrupt volatility. Translation: There is no fear. 
Only the dotcom boom pushed US valuations higher.
 
There is a notable negative divergence between the NAAIM Index and the SPX,
similar to February 2025, which preceded a significant decline in the SPX.

VIX 80-Day Cycle Low Within Days & Volatility Ready to Break Out | Namzes

The VIX 80-day cycle low is expected within the next few days. August 5 marked day 68, which is slightly early but still within range. The 40-day cycle, shown in the bottom panel, reflects a 2:1 harmonic ratio relative to the 80-day cycle. August options expiration (OpEx, Friday, August 21) should be watched as a potential window for a volatility breakout. Volatility is likely to rise into October, where the next key low in the S&P 500 may form.

Top panel: VIX price + 80-day cycle. Middle: Seasonality/trend + dated cycle lows. Bottom: 40-day cycle oscillator.

The S&P 500's 20-week cycle low likely occurred on July 29 (Wed), with 7,313 now serving as a key daily pivot for any downside. As the VIX cycle approaches its low in the coming days, it is important to monitor the VIX term structure, which is currently reaching extreme contango levels, indicating that 30-day volatility is significantly lower than 3-month volatility. When this ratio approaches and clusters around 0.80, it signals market complacency and often precedes pullbacks in equities.

VIX/VIX3M ratio vs. S&P 500.
 
The VIX/VIX3M ratio, shown inverted in the lower panel for easier comparison against the S&P 500 (in gold), highlights these 0.80 readings. When combined with extreme dispersion and a rapidly declining put/call ratio this week, these conditions point to increasing volatility, which is expected to spike in the second half of August.


See also:

Thursday, August 6, 2026

S&P 500 Hits New ATH as Smart Money Starts Bailing

With the S&P 500 reaching a new all-time high in early August 2026, a pronounced contrarian bearish divergence has emerged among market participants. Retail "Dumb Money" Confidence (red line in the chart below) has surged from neutral into optimistic territory at 0.61, while institutional "Smart Money" Confidence (blue line) has dropped into pessimistic territory at 0.31
 
Retail sentiment tilts euphoric while institutional positioning turns defensive.
 
Historically, the most dangerous periods for stocks are when dumb money is high and smart money is low at the same time the index is elevated. It does not mean an immediate crash is guaranteed, but it raises the odds of a meaningful pullback or at least a period of weaker returns ahead. 
 
An alternative experimental S&P 500 composite cycle
projection points to a mid-October major low.

However, having likely printed a nominal 20-week Hurst cycle low on June 30 (17.29 weeks / 121 CD off the late-March 40-week trough), the S&P remains in the rising phase of its second 20-week sub-cycle—part of a broader 40-week (9-month) and 18-month structure targeting a major low in late November (± 8 weeks).
 
Static projection based on the latest 20-week cycle period (17.29 weeks / 121 CD).
 
However, having likely printed a nominal 20-week Hurst cycle low on June 30 (17.29 weeks / 121 CD off the late-March 40-week trough), the S&P remains in the rising phase of its second 20-week sub-cycle—part of a broader 40-week (9-month) and 18-month structure targeting a major low in late November (± 8 weeks).
 
The current rise suggests to extend into early September—
interrupted by the 5- and 10-day cycle higher lows of August 5–6 (Wed-Thu) and August 11–12 (Tue-Wed) and a 20-day cycle low around August 24 -28 (Mon-fri)—before yielding a late-September 80-day (10-week) cycle trough. A secondary rally into mid-October—capped below the September peak—is then likely to trigger the final decline into the primary 40-week and 18-month cycle trough in November.
 

 
 
Average S&P 500 total-return path (indexed to 100 on midterm Election Day) for all midterm years since 1970 (1970–2022), spanning roughly ±6 months. X-axis centers on Election Day (first Tuesday in November); y-axis tracks cumulative total return. The average line rises in the final ~22 trading days before the election (= October 2, 2026) and continues higher afterward (+14.1% average in the following six months). A separate “Lost Control” series (party loses presidential trifecta) lags the broader average post-election (+10.4% vs. +16.1%).
See also: 

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Thursday, July 30, 2026

The Turn-of-the-Month Effect: A Century of Empirical Evidence

The turn-of-the-month (TOM) stock market anomaly, where returns cluster heavily around month-end and early-month trading days, is validated by academic literatureAnalyzing Dow Jones data from 1910 to the present using a relative trading day counter that excludes weekends and holidays reveals that while mid-month returns remain weak or negative, performance surges dramatically from the second-to-last trading day (day -2) through the fourth trading day (day +4) of the new month. 

 The TOM anomaly (-2 to +4 trading days) has delivered persistent outperformance
versus buy-and-hold with lower drawdowns across 116 years of Dow data.  
 
Segmenting this 116-year history into three 40-year periods (1910–1950, 1950–1990, and 1990–present) confirms consistent TOM outperformance across all regimes, despite a post-1990 dip on the final trading day skewed by rare macro anomalies like 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis. A systematic strategy trading this -2 to +4 window historically outperformed traditional buy-and-hold, generating higher profits with lower drawdowns during the 1929 crash, multi-decade sideways markets, the dot-com bust, and the 2022 bear market, showing historical flat periods often precede strong resurgences. The strategy's second-largest drawdown occurred in 2008, supporting the outlier theory. 
 
Hypothesized causes like recurring automated capital flows (salaries/retirement) and institutional rebalancing remain unproven, as trading volumes do not spike and automated systems did not exist in 1910. Lacking a definitive causal consensus, the TOM effect persists either as a structural confluence or an unexplained anomaly. 
 

Monday, July 27, 2026

20-Week Hurst Cycle Low Due in SPX QQQ SOX SMH | Namzes

The last 80-day cycle bottomed on time (June 10). Semiconductor stocks (SOX/SMH) made marginal new all-time highs, while the broader indices—the S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ)—remained slightly below theirs.

PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX).

We are now due for a 20-week cycle low. July 17 marked day 109 and last Friday day 116, so a low may already be in, though it’s early to confirm. Alternatively, if this was only a 40-day low, the current 20-week cycle could extend into a late-August bottom. This would be the fourth bullish cycle in a row, increasing the likelihood that the next cycle is left-translated (bearish).

The subsequent 20-week low, following the August trough, is projected for late October, aligning with seasonal weakness and potentially offering a significant buying opportunity (see the April 2025 SOX projection).  A 3.5-year cycle (Kitchin Cycle) low is still expected ahead, but no major liquidation has occurred yet and models have not issued a sell signal. Market breadth remains acceptable; however, leadership—particularly in technology and semiconductors—is weakening, while defensive rotation is increasing, both of which are cautionary signals.

Using Hurst cycle analysis, the semiconductor ETF (SMH) is entering the 10-week FLD (Future Line of Demarcation). In a strong uptrend, this level typically acts as support; a break below would imply lower projections toward the 200-day moving average (200 DMA) and Q1 highs. For now, this remains a preliminary, low-confidence projection.

PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX).

The current 40-day cycle should continue rising for a few more trading days. The next 40-day low in August will help determine whether the new 20-week cycle is bullish or bearish. A bearish outcome would show early failure, indicating left translation.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH).

We are in a short-term downtrend, with the 50-day moving average (50 DMA) acting as a pivot near 600 on SMH. Above it, 620 is the key resistance level.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH).

 
Failure at 600 would open the path to liquidation toward Q1 highs, filling gaps below and repairing weak structure, including the large volume void between 420 and 537 (which includes the July 17 low).
 
See also:
 
Hurst Cycle Troughs and Peaks (November 2025 through July 24, 2026).
 
» The current 20-week cycle could extend into a late-August bottom. « 
Forward Cycle Projection through late 2026-early-2027.

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

DJIA Triggers Down Friday/Down Monday Signal at 51,839 | Jeff Hirsch

The DJIA recorded its sixth Down Friday/Down Monday (DF/DM) of 2026 this week—a signal worth monitoring based on Stock Trader’s Almanac research (2026 ed., p. 78). A DF/DM occurs when the DJIA declines on Friday (or the final trading day of the week) and the following Monday (or first trading day of the next week). While not a guaranteed sell signal, history shows DF/DMs often mark inflection points and have frequently preceded weakness within 90 calendar days. Short-term rebounds are common, but many have been temporary.

 DJIA performance hinges on whether the 51,839.26 DF/DM level holds.

The latest DF/DM followed DJIA’s sharp July 17 (Fri) decline, which ended a multiweek advance amid technology and semiconductor weakness, geopolitical concerns, and rising oil prices. Monday’s attempted dip-buying rebound failed, leaving open whether current strength is durable or simply another post-DF/DM bounce.

E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures (daily bars):
DF/DM history suggests the next 90 days depend on 51,839.
 
Since 2000, the DJIA has experienced 271 DF/DMs. In only 32 cases (11.8%) did the DJIA avoid closing below the Monday DF/DM close over the next 90 days. When that level held, returns were historically stronger; when breached, performance was notably weaker, with limited gains over the following 60 trading days. The key level is Monday's close of 51,839.26. Holding above it would suggest this DF/DM may be a temporary setback; a close below it would increase the historical risk of further weakness.
 
Reference:
 
See also:

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Margin Debt at Extremes Threatens Sharp Equity Selloff

The NYSE/FINRA margin debt chart quantifies the total capital investors borrow against their securities portfolios to finance additional equity purchases. It operates as a procyclical indicator of market tops, typically expanding aggressively in the late stages of bull markets. At present, margin debt is approximately 53.7% year-over-year, reaching an extreme level of roughly $1.42 trillion.

67-year NYSE/FINRA margin debt YoY: 53.7% at $1.42T; historical tops align with rate
rollovers—not peaks—preceding S&P 500 highs in 1972, 2000, 2007, and 2021.

Historically, major market peaks (1972, 2000, 2007, 2021) exhibit a consistent structure: a rapid acceleration in margin debt into an overheated zone, followed by a reversal and subsequent contraction. The critical signal is not the absolute peak in leverage, but the inflection point after a steep rise. This reversal closely aligns with the formation of tops in the S&P 500. During the expansion phase, equities continue to advance alongside rising leverage; it is the sharp decline in margin debt that typically precedes market weakness.
 
Currently, the S&P 500 is trading near all-time highs, while margin debt has re-entered overbought territory. A confirmed reversal has not yet occurred, but proximity to critical thresholds is evident. Historical patterns indicate that once levels above approximately 55% are approached or exceeded, the probability of a trend reversal increases materially. While additional short-term upside remains possible, the onset of a downturn in margin debt is typically followed by an accelerated decline in equity markets.
 
The underlying risk mechanism is driven by leverage. Declining asset prices simultaneously reduce the value of collateral and the leveraged positions financed by borrowed capital. This dynamic can trigger margin calls and forced liquidations, producing a cascading effect that amplifies downside volatility. Elevated margin debt therefore acts as a systemic amplifier of market stress during downturns.
 
From a tactical standpoint, current conditions favor reducing long exposure and maintaining a bias toward short positioning. Strategic capital deployment is deferred until the anticipated correction has fully developed within the defined target range, where a more favorable long-term risk-reward profile and substantial upside potential are expected to re-emerge.
 
Philip Hopf’s Elliott Wave analysis indicates the S&P 500 has entered its terminal top zone, with residual upside capped at approximately 10% toward the upper boundary near 8,310. Within this range, the formation of a major cyclical peak is expected. Subsequently, a significant correction is likely, estimated at approximately 37% to 47%, implying a downside range of roughly 4,700 to 3,900.