ChartWatchers

Watching for a Spring Top

John Murphy

John Murphy

Chief Technical Analyst, StockCharts.com

Last December 14 I wrote a message warning of the likelihood of a market correction during 2014. Midterm election years are the most dangerous of the four-year presidential cycle. ["The Four Year Presidential Cycle Suggests That 2014 Could Suffer a Major Downside Correction...The Strongest Six Month Period Ends in April"]. The message points out that midterm year peaks usually start in the spring. Since April ends the "strongest six month period" that starts in November, that makes April a good time to take some money off the table. It may also make the "sell in May" maxim more meaningful this year. The good news is that a major bottom usually takes place during the second half of the year (usually in October). Calendar-wise, we've now entered the dangerous spring season. That makes warning signs of a possible market top more meaningful. The monthly bars in Chart 1 show the S&P 500 rising above its 2007/2000 highs last spring to register a major bullish breakout. Those two prior peaks should act as major support below the market. Measuring from this week's intra-day high to the 2007 intra-day peak at 1576, an S&P 500 drop of 17% would bring it back to that major support level. That's probably the maximum correction we can expect. The red line shows the last two 17% corrections taking place during 2010 and 2011 (the 2011 correction of 19% lasted from May to October). The moral of the chart is that a correction as big as 17% would not disturb the market's major uptrend, and would most likely represent a major buying opportunity later this year.

20140405008-sc

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A LOOK AT RECENT S&P 500 CORRECTIONS... Chart 2 shows the last 10% correction in the S&P 500 (using intra-day prices) taking place in the spring of 2012 (during April and May). Two years without a 10% correction is unusual. A correction of 8% took place in the autumn of 2012, and a smaller 7% drop in the spring of 2013 (during May and June). An even smaller pullback of 6% took place this January. An S&P 500 drop to its early 2014 February low near 1740 would represent an 8% correction (see first support line). That's probably the minimum correction we can expect this year.

John Murphy
About the author: is the Chief Technical Analyst at StockCharts.com, a renowned author in the investment field and a former technical analyst for CNBC, and is considered the father of inter-market technical analysis. With over 40 years of market experience, he is the author of numerous popular works including “Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets” and “Trading with Intermarket Analysis”. Before joining StockCharts, John was the technical analyst for CNBC-TV for seven years on the popular show Tech Talk, and has authored three best-selling books on the subject: Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, Trading with Intermarket Analysis and The Visual Investor. Learn More