Even though the early action resulted in gains, by the close values had fallen, almost in the same magnitude as Fridays advance. The sharpest hit S&P500 lost -1.29 percent; the DJIA did not do much better, falling-off -1.24 percent. The NASDAQ lost -.69 percent.
Todays pattern a losing day, after one increase, that followed three down days has taken place 16 times before today; the majority, 10 of these, came after December 1999. Triangles mark these instances on the diagram of the S&P500. Clearly, without guidelines to separate bull from bear markets, this sequence of downs and ups clusters when the trend of prices is up.
Only two occur during a decline; perhaps a third one, just prior to the 2007 peak might be included. All others came when prices were rallying.
This information, similar to most recent pattern analysis, projects further gains, contradicting the actual, recent slowdown and erosion of previous advances. Similarly, it challenges the pessimism and fears of significant price corrections that continue to spread, it seems, in an accelerating tempo.
DJIA -1.24 percent NASDAQ -.69percent
S&P500 -1.29 percent