Another positive session, the third since last Thursday, pushed the NASDAQ up 1.19 percent, as the S&P500 increased 1.12 percent and the DJIA moved .97 percent higher. Accordingly, the market now has a +3/-1/+2 pattern; or in words, todays close is the third consecutive in the plus column, that came after a single loss, that followed two increases in a row.While today is the 23rd close of this configuration, only 8 others came after 2007 with the 9th, last previous such close, occurring at the end of the last decline. Accordingly, Fridays analysis remains in place that such chains are frequent in bull markets, but not when the price trend down.But note that the dates of this current configuration are different, though only slightly, from the previous analysis. Three of these days came near the end of the 2003/2007 expansion, and a fourth one preceded the bottom of March 2009.This alternate assessment, however, provides an outlook that tempers Fridays optimistic conclusion. And because markets do not continue their trends without interruptions, a pause like this generates a firmer belief in the underlying, long term projection.
DJIA .97 percentNASDAQ 1.19 percentS&P500 .97 percent