Important Market Downturn today? Feb. 18, 2010

Short Term Forecast

A number of signals are suggesting that the recent market rally from the lows on February 5, 2010 for the TSX Composite and SP500 Indexes may have ended and the downtrend that began at the peak of the 10 month rally off the March 2009 lows will continue.

World Stock Markets Looking Weak January 28, 2010

I continue to study the market charts looking for more clues as to what is going on. My main tool is the Elliott Wave Principle (EWP). I also use other forms of Technical Analysis. I do not ignore the fundamentals.

The results of my review continue to indicated that the bear market will most likely continue below the March 2009 lows. The index charts for Canada, the US and Japan are all very similar and tell me the same story.

I can't say how much lower the stock markets are likely to go but the situation continues to have the potential to develop into another 1929-32 bear market degree of severity. The loss during the 1929 bear market was about 89 percent. For comparison, the current bear market was closer to a 60 percent loss at the March 2009 lows.

I only refer to the 1929 bear market to give people something for easy comparison. My analysis is based on a great deal more data than one particular bear market. I successfully recognized the approach of the bull market peak using the EWP and this was not the first important market turn that the EWP allowed me to recognize.

If we do see a 1929 type scenario, investors who currently subscribe to the 'buy and hold for the long term' are risking holding shares or mutual funds that may take 25 years or more to recover back up to the bull market peak (2008 for Canada and 2007 for the US).

A few comments on the economic situation and human psychology

The news from official reports (economists/government etc.) are anything but rosy at this time. Governments continue to be worried. And, many investors recently burnt by the unexpected bear market slide down to the March 2009 market lows remain nervous at this time. Many continue to be sitting in a relative loss position.

I speculate that any relatively fast downward market moves at this time may lead to a panic that will be comparable to, or worse than, what we saw leading down to the March 2009 lows. This is what occurred in the 1929 bear market. Believe it or not, this is normal market behavior under the EWP. Bear markets frequently exhibit three distinct legs, one down, one up and one final down move. This was the case in 1929. After a very strong rally of about 50 percent on the way down, the floor fell out of the market for the second time taking it to the ultimate 89 % loss bottom.

With us humans we tend to think and act with a herd psychology, especially when we are afraid of something. If a lion grabs a Gazzel at a water hole the rest of the herd panics and runs for safety. People act in a similar fashion in the stock market.

I wish I had better news.

S&P 500 Index...a 580 % rate of return

During a good year in a strong bull market one might see a 20 percent net gain. As one lengthens the period of time, the percentage gain per year drops. For a good 5 year period the average year may be closer to 15 percent per year, compounded annually.

Taking an even longer historic view, if one goes back to the 1930s time period for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the annual equivalent rate of return over about 80 years is in-the-order-of 3 percent to 6 percent per year. The 3-6 % spread comes from using peaks or lows at both ends. These numbers suggest that the longer one is invested, the more likely they are to see lower returns of rate.

At the other end of the rate spectrum, consider the market rally over the last 10 calendar days. The media has been focusing on how the markets have risen for the last 5 trading days. This rally has produced a very impressive short-term rate of return.

The SP500 Index rose from a low of 667 on March 6 to a high today of 774. This was a point gain of 107 points over the starting level of 667. A total gain of 16 percent over 10 calendar days. This is equivalent to an annual gain of 584 percent per day. The two ends of this spectrum are 3 percent and 580 percent. Interesting numbers here.

Based on nothing more than the 500 % + unsustainable rate of return recently we should not be surprised to see the markets drop significantly over the next few days.

March 6th SP500 Rally Update

Following up on my post of March 6th , I am posting today's chart for the S&P 500 Index. The rally that began at that time continues to climb.
For anyone familar with statistical probability, ask yourself what are the odds that someone could have predicted this rally, on the day it began, if the stock market is really just a random walk. I know it is not an impossibility with a random walk but keep in mind here that I do not make a lot of these forecasts. I am not a roulette wheel being spun 7 days per week for years on end. Its quite a different situation. Very few trials here.

As I monitor this rally and ponder my trading decisions I am now trying to see where this rally might end, in terms of it's upper extreme limit. Strong rallies like this one are always temporary, at least in the short-term.

The end of a bear rally, if I am correct in this longer-term expectation, is always harder to call than the start of the rally. My crystal ball is not that clear. A degree of uncertainty is something one must always live with when forecasting the market. The degree of uncertainty varies over time.

There are several possible upper limits, the closest one being near 810. As always, the market will decide if this limit is the most appropriate or not. It all depends upon how much bullishness remains out there in stock market land.

Predicting the Random Walk?

In my post on Friday, March 6th I discussed the possibility of the start of a rally for the SP500 Index. The upward turn at level 667 did develop into a relatively significant rally. I have circled the rally on the updated chart. It will be interesting to monitor to see where the market goes from here.

The success of this prediction may be viewed as possible evidence that the stock market is not just a random walk. That does not mean that there is no randomness in the stock market.

SP500 Possible Temporary Bottom Today

Every so often I recognize what appears to be a very likely turning point in an index. The SP500 may well have made one of those turns today (March 6) at the low of 666.79. This is based in part on my Elliott Wave Count. If the rally does occur I see it as only another pause in a continued downturn.

The interesting thing about this is that my analysis allows me to see "the possibility" of a relatively important market turn as it occurs. Only Elliott allows one to see this sort of thing.

Time will tell if the market has started a sideways or rally pattern. The market always has the option of going deeper still before it makes the next rally. In any event it appears to be due for a somewhat larger rally at this time.

Another Bull Trap Snaps Shut

Over the last couple of days a rally of about 100 points occurred on the SP500 US stock index. This little rally naturally had people wondering if this was going to be a large rally or perhaps the end of the bear market. The rationale being...if the market is down 50 percent surely it can't go much lower. I'm sure that there people thinking/hoping the same thing when the 1929 stock market decline was at a 50 percent loss point. It eventually went to -89 %.

This morning that little 2 day bull trap closed and the SP500 made a new low.

It is also worth noting that another example of a bull trap closing occurred today on the Canadian side of the boarder. Canadian National Railways Company (CNR on TSX exchange) has finished a sideways move that began back on November 21. At that time the low was $38.9. The price has dropped to $38.5 so far today.

These "technical events" are measurable scientific evidence that the bear market is alive and well and that the best bet these days is for lower lows.

These breakouts to new lows do not tell us where and when the bear bottom will occur but they do warn us that the bottom will occur somewhere in the future at some lower level.