Typical May Up Early, Weak Middle, Strong Finish | Jeff Hirsch

Over the last 21 years, the first three days of May have historically traded higher, and the S&P 500 has been up 18 of the last 26 first trading days of May. 

 

Bouts of weakness often appear around or on the fourth, sixth/seventh, and twelfth trading days of the month while the last four or five trading days have generally enjoyed respectable gains on average, but the last day of May has weakened noticeably with only NASDAQ gaining ground.

Monday before May monthly option expiration (Monday, May 13) is much stronger than monthly expiration day itself (Friday, May 17) albeit weaker for small caps. S&P 500 has registered only ten losses in the last thirty-four years on Monday. Monthly expiration day is a loser nearly across the board except for Russell 2000 with a slight average gain (+0.01%). 

 

The full week (May 13-17) had a bullish bias that is fading in recent years with DJIA down seven of the last eight and S&P 500 down six of the last seven. 

 

The week after options expiration week (May 20-24) now tends to favor tech and small caps. NASDAQ has advanced in 24 of the last 34 weeks while Russell 2000 has risen in 26 of the last 34 with an average weekly gain of 0.88%.

 

 April was the first down month in 6 months. Almanac readers know April is the best Dow month by average percent change and #2 for S&P. It’s ranked fourth for average percent change on NASDAQ and Russell 2000.

In general, April is a notoriously bullish market month overall with a high average percent and plurality of gains across the board. A negative April is cause for concern. When the #1 Dow month is down that could be significant.

Digging into the data in the tables below of all down Aprils since 1950 there is a plethora of red in May and through Q2 and Q3. There are several steep drops scattered throughout these 21 down April years. May, Q2 and Q3 show consistent and average losses.

Q4 however delivered solid gains except for four years: 1973 (Watergate, Vietnam, Oil Embargo), 1987 (Crash), 2000 (Undecided Election) and 2012 (ZIRP, QE3, Operation Twist, Big Q1 & Q3). You can see why we expect the market to struggle for the next several months.

 

Quoted from:

Jeffrey A. Hirsch (May 6, 2024) - Typical May Up Early, Weak Middle, Strong Finish.
Jeffrey A. Hirsch (May 7, 2024) - When Bullish April Is Down Stocks Often Struggle Until Q4.

 

 In Bull Markets, New Moons are Bottoms, and Full Moons are Tops. 

In Bear Markets, New Moons are Tops, and Full Moons are Bottoms.

Algo vs SPY | Handler & Associates, Inc.

Reference:
Handler & Associates, Inc. (May 5, 2024) - OSS Nightly Indicators. Tonight's Free Charts - Email Newsletter.

S&P 500 Cycle Analysis | Steve Miller

Reference:
Steve Miller (April 26, 2024) - S&P 500 Cycle Analysis. (video)

The S&P 500 and the Election Year Cycle | Robert Miner

I am recording this on April 25th and am going to talk about the S&P 500 and the election cycle today. [...] Within the next three weeks there is going to be one of the best setups within the entire election cycle. This is a setup that since 1952 had only one minor losing year (less than -1%). 

 

 

In the above chart the dark black line is the average of all election years since 1952. The gray line is the average of all election years since 1984. The red line is 2024 up to past week.

[...] The second chart just covers the beginning of March through September period of the election years. The blue line is the average of all  election years since 1952. In the first chart we saw the entire year, where the first part of the year is usually fairly negative. On average, we can see this distinct dip into the middle of May.

[...] Here are just two key pieces of information from the election year study from the spring until the end of summer. Number one, the 'summer low' is usually made around the second half of May to the first half of June. So that summer low probably hasn't been made yet. It sort of implies that the S&P is likely to be sideways to down into the second half of May. At least that is based on the averages of election years. Number two, in every election year, when the first quarter was strongly bullish (which it was in 2024), the S&P traded above the March high by September 20th - except for the year 2000, when the summer high came within just seven points of the March high by September 20th.

If the S&P happens to be sideways to down for the next few weeks, we know that the bias is overwhelmingly strong and bullish and that the S&P should then trade above the March high before September 20th. The March high was the high of the year so far, and it is more than likely that the S&P will go sideways to down in the next few weeks. A correction would not be complete prior to May 23rd to 38% time retracement.

Quoted from:
Robert C. Miner (April 26, 2024) - The S&P and the Election Year Cycle. (video)

 

See also:

Robert C. Miner (January 31, 2024) - The Definitive Guide To The U.S. Election Cycle and Stock Market Trends.
Larry Williams (April 24, 2024) - S&P 500 Strength into May 1 & Weakness through Mid May.

Jeff Hirsch & Wayne Whaley (March 24, 2024) - S&P 500 March-April 2024 Seasonality. 

Michael J. Huddleston (March 2, 2024) - ICT Seasonality. 
Jeff Hirsch (December 26, 2023) - 2024 S&P 500 Election Year Seasonal Pattern.
TPR (December 13, 2023) - 2024 in the Presidential Cycle Pattern.

Algo vs DJIA | Handler & Associates, Inc.

Reference:
Handler & Associates, Inc. (April 25, 2024) - OSS Nightly Indicators - Email Newsletter.

Top Reasons to Exit S&P Short Positions Soon | Allen Reminick

The S&P market has been behaving as expected. It looks as if April 15 (Mon) or so could be a low followed by a bounce for a few days until April 18 (Thu) followed by another decline into the April 24 (Wed).

 

 Apr 15 (Mon) Major Low ?
Apr 18 (Thu) High
Apr 23-24 (Tue-Wed) Low

Bounce
May 9 (Thu) Major Low ?

May 24 (Fri) Major High
  Jul 24 (Wed) Major Low

 

Today is April 14 (Sun) and we're looking at this forecast as being very similar. But there are several different variations of this particular pattern. The most reliable one so far has been the year 2000 market. It is repeating almost exactly what happened in April of 2000 and that low came in on April 14. But we are looking for a low around April 23-24 (Tue-Wed), another bounce and another low around May 9 (Thu). The May 9th low may not be lower than the market is right now.

The analogs we're using are the year 2000, the 1996 market and the 2006 market. All of which are connected to the present market and you can see the overlap of the 1996 and the 2006 markets and how they go forward is extremely similar but not identical.

They both have a high late May, they both have a low late July. But from now until late May they have different variations on how they go forward. So at this point one needs to be cautious about expecting continued lower prices because the fourth wave does not have to be a big decline. It's after the Elliott fifth wave that you'd expect to see a major decline. 

 

After this whole correction phase is over we're expecting a new high by May 24 (Fri), a strong rally in the month of May and then after that a very big decline from May 24 (Fri) down into July 24 (Wed) area. That could be a very significant short position for those who want to go short or at least one once a hedge, one's long positions during that time. After that July low the market should again rebound strongly and by the end of the year make new highs.

So we're looking at a fourth wave correction which is probably going to end either in the next two weeks or it could be as late as May 9 (Thu) and then the fifth wave rally until late May followed by an ABC meaningful correction of the whole move from October 27th until May 24th that whole up move should be corrected in the two months after that. So if you're looking for a big decline it's not likely to happen now. It's more likely to happen after the end of May. 

 

Quoted from:
Allen Reminick (April 14, 2024) - Top Reasons to Exit S&P Short Positions SOON. (video)

 Solunar Rhythm, Cosmic Cluster Days & Sensitive Sun Degrees | April 2024

 

 

See also:
Tom McClellan (March 29, 2024) - Crude Oil's 10-Year Leading Indication for US Stock Market.

S&P 500 Bear Reversal - Gann's Time and Price Overbalance | Robert Miner

YM and RTY have already made Bear Reversal Signal. S&P and NQ should soon confirm. Gann's time and price overbalance signals: A daily close below 5283 would be an 'overbalance of price' and strong signal the trend should be net Bear for 3-4 weeks or longer.

 

Robert Miner (April 10, 2024) @ X

 

 

S&P 500 Update (April 12, 2024)

The Path of the Moon's Shadow during the April 8 Total Solar Eclipse

During the Great North American Total Solar Eclipse on April 8 (a Monday) 2024 the path of totality of the Moon's shadow runs northeast across the Pacific Ocean, Sinaloa, Texas, Upstate New York, Newfoundland, the Labrador Sea, and the North Atlantic Ocean. For some moment Nazas in Durango will be the darkest place on Earth. And the invisible true lunar nodes are performing their particular choreography again.

Prepare for April S&P Correction Now │ Allen Reminick

Short term, the S&P market is topping in the next two weeks.

We've been discussing the 18 year cycle and the 12 year cycle and the 24 year cycle, all having agreement since March 12th, where they all implied that the market would rally until Monday, March 25th or longer. There is a very good chance that is the beginning of a sideways phase that could last until as late as April 10th. We're not expecting a dramatic continuation on the upside. Potentially the market goes slightly higher between now and April 10th, but it's a topping phase. 

 

It's a down, up, down, up, down, up kind of pattern. And finally, in the later part of April, it should make a low. Between April 16th and the 24th of April. But it may gyrate and just do nothing much until it's ready to fall between April 10th and April 24th.

 

After that, of course, we're expecting to see further, higher prices until May 23rd , between 5,400 and 5,600. This could be completing the move that started October 27th of 2023.

Quoted from:
Allen Reminick (Mar 23, 2024) - Prepare for April S&P Correction Now. (video)

S&P 500 March-April 2024 Seasonality │ Jeff Hirsch & Wayne Whaley

After 5 months of solid gains, are markets ready for a pause? Bullish Presidential Cycle Sitting President Pattern flattens out the mid-February to late-March seasonal retreat considerably without 2020 in the average.

 'Best Six Months' ends in April.

April is the final month of the “Best Six Months” for DJIA and the S&P 500. From our Seasonal MACD Buy Signal on October 9, 2023, through (March 21, 2024), DJIA is up 18.4% and S&P 500 is up 20.9%. Fueled by interest rate cut expectations and AI speculation, these gains are approximately double the historical average already and could continue to increase before the “Best Months” come to an end.

This AI-fueled bull market has enjoyed solid gains since last October and will likely continue to push higher in the near-term, but momentum does appear to be waning with the pace of gains slowing. With April and the end of DJIA’s and S&P 500’s “Best Six Months” quickly approaching we are going to begin shifting to a more cautious stance. We maintain our bullish stance for 2024, but that does not preclude the possibility of some weakness during spring and summer.

 

Reference:
Jeffrey A. Hirsch (Mar 24, 2024) @ Twitter/X 

 

 

Reference:

 ICT Seasonality | Michael J. Huddleston

The Quarterly Theory | Jevaunie Daye

 

THE CORRELATION MODEL SEES A NEGATIVE LAST WEEK OF MARCH FOR THE S&P. Provided a time frame of interest, my correlation model calculates the Correlation Coefficients (-1 to +1) for the past performance of 4165 different time frames over the prior 3 months vs the performance for the time frame of interest in search of the period which has demonstrated the most barometric acumen in predicting the performance of the upcoming time frame of interest. 

 

This week I ask the model for it’s prognosis for the S&P in the last week of March. It responded that the prior ten calendar days (Mar10-24) had a very uncanny track record of forecasting the last week of March with those 2 time frames having a very strong NEGATIVE correlation which doesn’t bode well for next week given that March 10-24 was up 1.63% this year.  

 

Note the 3-10, March 24-31 performance in the far right category below in those 13 prior years where March 10-24 was greater than 1.2% for an avg wkly loss of 0.74% with 1% moves 1-7 to the downside.  This contrasts dramatically to the 11-2 performance when March 10-24 was less than -0.5%.  Fingers crossed that it is wrong this year. 

 

The outlook for April is much brighter. 

 

  

Reference: 

 Wayne Whaley (Mar 23, 2024) @ Twitter/X

 

[ oftentimes true: ]

 

In Bull Markets, New Moons are Bottoms, and Full Moons are Tops. 

In Bear Markets, New Moons are Tops, and Full Moons are Bottoms.

 

The SoLunar Rhythm in March 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

Pervasive Euphoria Across The Market | TomTheTrader

The markets closed another week at record highs, with the S&P 500 up by 2.3%, the Nasdaq by 3%, and the Dow by 2%. [...] I want to share two charts that caught my attention: The first chart, courtesy of Sentimentrader, depicts the small speculator index at the bottom. The annotation succinctly captures the essence of the chart— "small speculators are all in." 

 

 Small speculators are all-in.

This mirrors my observation last week regarding fund managers being fully invested based on the NAAIM index. The alignment between market participants, both large and small, underscores the pervasive euphoria across the market.

 Tech leadership vs S&P 500 is at highs exceeding the Great Financial Crisis.

The second chart, from Bank of America Global Research, highlights the Technology leadership versus the S&P 500, reaching levels surpassing those seen before the Great Financial Crisis. This serves as an intriguing backdrop to maintain awareness as sentiment and positioning continue to stretch.

Quoted from:

TomTheTrader1 @ Twitter/X
Lines on a Chart by Tom - (Mar 24, 2024) - The Market & The Moon. 

 

This week’s NAAIM Exposure Index number is 93.22. 

Active fund managers are all-in.

 

 [Euphoriameter]

 

 [CNN Fear & Greed Index ]

 

 

 [McClellan Oscillator]

 

S&P 500 Index vs 18.61 Year Lunar Node Cycle │ March - April 2024

 

» I’m not trying to predict the future; I am trying to accurately and quickly depict the present. 

I’m not trying to predict what people will do, but rather identify what they are doing right now. «  
Chris Camillo, 2023

 

 

See also:

Previous Projections.

TPR (2015) - S&P 500 vs True Lunar Node's Speed and the Eclipse Crash Window.

S&P 500 vs Copper | J.C. Parets

 J.C. Parets @ Twitter/X - Mar 07, 2024

The relationship between the copper price and the S&P 500 Index is one of generally positive correlation, with divergent movements at times. The copper price is an economic bellwether due to its extensive industrial usage; the S&P represents general equity market sentiment. In the days of inflation driven AI craze the price of copper keeps declining.

S&P 500 March 2024 Seasonality │ Jeff Hirsch

Over the recent 21 years March has been a decent performing month for the market. Average gains over the period range from a low of 0.78% by DJIA to a respectable 1.40% by NASDAQ. 

 

March typically opens positively but selling pressure and weakness tend to follow quickly thereafter with choppy trading until around mid-month. From here on the market generally rallied to finish out the month. End-of-Q1 portfolio adjustments have contributed to additional choppy trading during the last three or four trading days of March. Election year average performance is influenced by across-the-board double-digit losses in 2020, but March’s pattern is similar with weakness in the first half and modestly improved trading in the second half.

 

Reference:
Jeffrey A. Hirsch (Mar 5, 2024) @ Twitter/X

S&P 500 vs VIX and Seasonal Patterns

Corrections and short-term market peaks often coincide with exceptionally low levels of market volatility.

Reference: ISABELNET - Feb 28, 2024.

 

Beware of the Ides of March: This year also coincides with the seasonal decline during presidential election years where the sitting president is running. Support levels to watch in the S&P 500: 4800 old ATH and 4600 near summer 2023 highs.

 

 Reference: Jeffrey A. Hirsch @ Twitter/X - Feb 28, 2024

February’s last trading day historically bearish. DJIA and S&P 500 have been down 9 straight and 11 of the last 12. NASDAQ has tried to buck the trend, up 3 of last 4 years. Potential setup for historically bullish first trading day of March.

Reference: Jeffrey A. Hirsch @ Twitter/X - Feb 28, 2024

 

 Reference: Wayne Whaley @ Twitter/X - Feb 29, 2024

 

Reference: Larry Williams' 2024 US Stock Market Outlook.

S&P 500 Seasonality Weak from Mid-February to Mid-March │ Jeff Hirsch

The big round number 5,000 is proving to be resistant. It will likely take a few attempts to break through. February’s notorious seasonal weakness is bound to relieve the market’s obviously overbought condition. This is not out of the ordinary for February even into March.

 

This usually mild retreat (around 4% on average) from mid-February to mid-March in election years with a sitting president running for reelection could be a good opportunity to establish new or add to existing positions. Election year seasonal patterns suggest respectable full-year gains. 

 

Reference:
Jeffrey A. Hirsch (Feb 13, 2024) @ Twitter/X 

Jeffrey A. Hirsch (Jan 24, 2024) @ Twitter/X

S&P 500 Seasonal Pattern for February 2024 | Jeff Hirsch

Typical February Performance: Weakness After Mid-Month Peak - After a strong opening day, strength has tended to fade until around the seventh trading day. From there until around the 12-trading day all five indexes have historically enjoyed gains. But those gains have not held until the end of February with a peak occurring around mid-month. By the end of February, only NASDAQ and Russell 2000 have remained slightly positive while DJIA, S&P 500, and Russell 1000 turn negative.

Reference:
Jeffrey A. Hirsch (Jan 24, 2024) @ X

 

See also:
Jeffrey A. Hirsch  (Dec 26, 2023) - 2024 S&P 500 Election Year Seasonal Pattern.

Larry Williams (Dec 18, 2023) - 2024 US Stock Market Outlook.