SPX Retracement Targets (by Springheel Jack)

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I got the reversal confirmation that I was looking for yesterday, albeit
not by much. We broke the declining channel I posted yesterday, cleared
the neckline of the IHS comfortably enough, though getting much past it
was a slow and painful business. The Vix closed under my channel
trendlines on the 60 min chart, just a little bit but enough, and the
RSI on the SPX daily chart broke up from the declining resistance
trendline of recent weeks. For my money, we're there, and the interim
low is in.

Even EURUSD has risen from the deathbed it has been
occupying in recent weeks and is showing some signs of life. I have a
retracement target if reached within two weeks of slightly over 1.30 for
EURUSD, and of slightly over 1.50 for GBPUSD over the same period. 

My $SPX:$VIX indicator on the 60 min chart, one of my favorites as it
tends to trend and pattern well, broke up from the recent broadening
descending wedge, retested the broken trendline and broke upwards again.
Normally this wedge would indicate a return back to the highs and lows
of SPX and Vix respectively, but I don't tend to regard such targets as
firm for this sort of derived indicator:

100528 SPXVIX 60min BD Wedge Breakout

Now some of the more bullish EW analysts have regarded this fall from
the high as an ABC correction and are regarding wave C as completed. If
so, we can expect that we would make a new high within the right angled
and ascending broadening formation on SPX in the 1250 area.

Possible, but unlikely I think. If they are right though, we'll find out
when EURUSD and GBPUSD reach their retracement targets and then break
upwards from their respective declining wedges. In the event that
happens, this will be worth another look.

In the interim however, I'm sticking with my primary EW count, which is
that we have just finished wave 1 down, and have now started wave 2.
That is important, as wave 2 retracements are often very deep, and can
retrace almost all of the preceding wave down in some cases, as we saw
with the first two waves after EURUSD peaked a few months ago. I don't
think that's likely, but it could happen, and I'll be looking for some
indicator and forex confirmations before I short the top of this too
heavily.

On the SPX 15min chart the IHS still looks pretty good, which is
reassuring as the right shoulder was beginning to look a bit of a mess
on ES yesterday afternoon. I'm expecting that the neckline at 1090 SPX
should be a firm floor for SPX in the next few days, and that any drops
below it will weaken or even invalidate the IHS, which has a target of
1140 SPX. I have marked in a rising support trendline on the chart, and a
very tentative rising channel line above as a possible immediate target
area. That only has one touch so far though, and until we see the next
short term reversal it is only an educated guess:

100528 SPX 15min IHS and Support Trendline

I've marked in possible fib retracement targets on the SPX 60min chart.
The main ones are the 50% retracement at 1130.29, which seems low for
me, and my preferred target of 1151.41 at the 61.8% fib. That would be a
typical wave 2 retracement, and I have two important trendlines that
will be near that level within two weeks. I have also marked in a
declining channel trendline from the top in early May that looks
compelling, and that I am seeing as the first serious resistance in the
1120 – 1125 area:

100528 SPX 60min Wave 2 Fib Targets and Declining Channel

On the SPX daily chart I am seeing two key broken trendlines that look
interesting as potential resistance and they are the broken lower
trendline of the main SPX rising wedge, which will be in the 1150 area
within two weeks, and the broken lower trendline of the main SPX rising
channel from the March 2009 low, which will be in the 1170 area within
two weeks.

The main declining trendline from the SPX high will intersect the broken
rising wedge trendline in the 1150 area in two weeks as well, and that
too is likely to prove significant resistance and is another reason why I
like 1150 as the retracement target from the low this week:

100528_SPX_Daily_Resistance_Trendlines

In terms of timeframe no doubt you'll have noticed that I'm using a
working timeframe of two more weeks for this retracement, specifically
with a speculative working target of Friday 11th June. That is a
workable contender for a turn date, and I don't think that the USD
currency pairs leave room for a much longer retracement period unless
they break up from their declining wedges. In practical terms I am
assuming that we have at least another week of retracement and perhaps
as many as three.