Slope of Hope Blog Posts

This is the heart and soul of the web site. Here we have literally tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. You can also click on any category icon to see posts tagged with that particular category.

Santa’s Inflection Point

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On my last post I was talking about the expected significant backtest on SPX, and we have now seen that retracement which has reached the 61.8% fib retrace area. At this point I’m expecting the main rally into Xmas to start in the next couple of days and that may well be starting here. However ……..

I did mention in my last post that this retracement might extend lower into a full retest of the October low, and there is a possible setup to deliver that in this inflection point. That bear case rests on a decent quality H&S that has formed and broken down on ES with a target at that retest of the late October low, with a perfect backtest of the broken neckline in the 2717/8 area overnight. The original IHS on SPX looking for the 2910 has failed and this delivers a possible Janus Flag target at a retest of the prior low in the 2600 area. A sustained break below 2660 likely seals the deal for bears.

The bull case is that this is also what I would call a Janus Flag, in that it looks like a topping pattern that breaks down and rejects hard into the preceding high (2815 area). That case is backed up by the decent quality falling megaphone that has formed from the high and would obviously need some confirmation from breaks of upside resistance. The important upside levels on ES area possible double bottom support at 2718, and a sustained break above looks for the 2760 area. Falling megaphone resistance is in the 2730 area and a break above likely seals the deal for bulls. (more…)

Rallying Into FOMC

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Last week I was talking about a backtest into the 5dma / 50 hour MA support area and we saw that, and another leg up over the daily middle band and the 50% retracement level that brings SPX up into resistance at the 61.8% retracement level at 2812 and the September rally high at 2816.94. I have a decent looking rising wedge from the low that has slightly overthrown wedge resistance and a lot of negative divergence on the 15min chart particularly. SPX 15min chart:

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Just the Stats Ma’am

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The close on SPX yesterday was a clear close back over the 5dma, and as it has been a decline of more than 2% since the last break down, that puts SPX back on the Three Day Rule. That means that if SPX should deliver a clear close (4/5+ handles) back below the 5dma, currently at 2684, today or tomorrow, then SPX would very likely retest the October low in the following few days.

When SPX is trending in either direction I watch the 5dma and the 50 hour MA for trend support or resistance. The 50 hour MA is currently in the 2694 area, so that and the 50dma give us the short term support area.

On the resistance side there is a possible IHS neckline in the 2725 area, and that’s still in play potentially if SPX breaks back under the 2685-95. That would have an ideal right shoulder low in the 2651/2 area, but in practical terms in the event of a daily close back under the 5dma SPX would likely deliver at least a new retracement low. (more…)

Looking At The Bigger Picture

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SPX retested the retracement low this morning, so the Three Day Rule target has been reached. This is a return to form after the first fail on this stat since the start of 2007 in April/May 2018. Still the strongest stat I follow. So what now?

From a cycles perspective there is a cycle high window in January, then a big cycle low in May 2019 at which we are thinking we should see the main low for this move. The ideal target for that low then would be a test of rising megaphone support from the 2011 low to be hit in the 2370 area, which would also be at the 50% retracement of the move up from the 2016 low. There are two very decent looking options for reversal on the way.

The first is in the the 2655-70 area, from where we could see a reversal to retest the high, to set up a double top looking for the main target area. (more…)

Don’t Fear The Reaper

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It has been a while since we have seen a Three Day Rule signal fix, in part because the rule requires an initial 2% decline, and those have been pretty rare over the last couple of years, but the Three Day Rule triggers when there has been a minimum 2% decline on SPX and then SPX closes back over the 5 day moving average. That is day one, and that happened on Tuesday. The rule looks at the next two days and if there is a close back below the 5dma on either day then the rule fixes. That close back below happened yesterday, on day three. On this statistic we could see a fairly marginal high over the current rally high this week, but whether we see that or not, SPX should retest the low at 2710 in the near future. The only exceptions to this rule since the start of 2007 were two instances when an overall triangle was forming, and rather than a full retest of the previous low there were marginal higher lows over that low in the next few days.

This is the highest probability stat that I follow, and SPX is very likely to retest the 2710 low in the next few days. (more…)

Need To Know Your ABC

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I was saying after the SPX support trendline touch a few days ago that having a strong three-touch support trendline cuts both ways, in that it is strong support while it holds, but can get ugly fast when it breaks. The strength of this push down after the support trendline broke on Wednesday morning was extremely impressive.

That move may be bottoming out for the moment and, if so, that should be the end of wave A, with a wave B rally in progress now or soon, and a likely wave C down after that to complete this move from the high. There are a number of possible options for the wave C low, but my favorite would be a retest of the 2018 low at 2532.69, just under the annual pivot at 2538. There is a possible H&S neckline at that level. If SPX does a 50% retracement from the current low then the target would be in the 2825 area, though there is impressive looking resistance in the 2790 – 2800 area that may hold as resistance.

Full Premarket Video from theartofchart.net – Update on ES, NQ, SPX, NDX, RUT, CL, NG, GC, SI, HG, ZB, KC, SB, CC, ZW, ZC, ZS, DX, EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD: (more…)

Updated SPX Roadmap

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I was saying in our free monthly Chart Chat on Sunday that the obvious next downside target on SPX was main channel support, and a test of that trendline that would mean that the channel had likely evolved into a rising wedge, which is something that happens regularly. If you’d like to see the recording of that it is posted on our October Free Webinars page.

At the low yesterday SPX hit that rising support and held it, and hourly buy signals fixed across the board on SPX, NDX and RUT. That should be the start of a new leg up and, as long as that trendline support remains unbroken, the next target within the rising wedge is wedge resistance, due to reach the 2965-70 area by the time of the next high window in early November.

Full Premarket Video from theartofchart.net – Update on ES, NQ, SPX, NDX, RUT, CL, NG, GC, SI, HG, ZB, KC, SB, CC, ZW, ZC, ZS, DX, EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD: (more…)

Potholes On The Yellow Brick Road

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On Thursday morning my SPX path that has held the last four weeks hit a serious pothole with the break below shorter term rising wedge support and a break back into the high 2800s. I’ve been looking carefully at the options from here and there are clear bull and bear scenarios. Price needs to give direction but until demonstrated otherwise I’m leaning towards the bullish option that SPX has another new ATH into what well then be a high that lasts well into 2019.

RUT has been leading the market, as is often the case and is testing the 200dma, which is holding so far. On a break below the next big support is rising support from the early 2016 low. A break below that would be a major technical break. RUT daily chart:

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Clean Clean

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In my last post I was talking about the touch of the rising wedge support trendline that I’d been looking for, and the bull flag that was forming on SPX, that should break up today if not seen on Friday. SPX gapped up through flag resistance at the open today, and the minimum flag target is a retest of the all time high, not seen today but likely coming soon. On the video I was talking about a backtest, which we are watching now, and the ideal target for that would be a backtest of broken flag resistance, currently in the 2922 SPX area. The next possible target below would be a gapfill into Friday’s close at 2913.98.

Partial Premarket Video from theartofchart.net – Update on ES, NQ, SPX, NDX, RUT: (more…)

The Wicked Witch Of the West

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Looking at the average rises and falls on SPX from the start since 1997, the most bearish straight sequence of days of the year are the six days from 19th September through 25th September. Within those six days, usually including the September quadruple witching, the lowest percentage of positive closes is 23rd September at 26.67% and the highest is 25th September at 35.71%. Markets are closed on the 22nd and 23rd this year of course, so that leaves Monday and Tuesday next week leaning historically bearish, and Wednesday through Friday leaning an average of 62% bullish. There is a significant possibility of a retracement in the early part of next week, and there is a decent looking setup here for that.

Update on ES, NQ, CL, NG, GC, SI, HG, ZB, KC, SB, CC, ZW, ZC, ZS, DX, EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD: (more…)