With today’s decline, the S&P500 has registered the fifth day of alternate closes: down today, up yesterday, down the day before
This now the 38th of such strings since January 2000.
And 28 of these sequences took place when the market was in a long decline. While the other nine occurred when prices were regaining and approaching their previous record high. See the figure below.
Perhaps this is not a pattern signaling decay in prices, merely coincidence, but caution dictates that the alternative -its a signal- deserves attention.
DJIA -1.15 percent
NASDAQ -1.17 percent
S&P500 -1.29 percent
On the figure below, the S&P500 close is marked by a circle. The line connecting these circles provides perspective on the time path of this index; it does not represent actual prices, only the circles do.
