Tuesday's Market 10/22/2013

Well that was a big miss. I had been looking at yesterday’s 1747.79 high as the completion of a 5 wave sequence from the 1646.47 low. That certainly was not the case. While today’s move above that high would normally point to the continuation of the current trend, I will remain cautiously neutral at the moment, as there is a chance that a sequence from 1646.47 concluded today.

The suspense did not last long this morning, as the SPX gapped higher at the open and surpassed yesterday’s high within the first minute of trading. From there the index rose above 1751 before a very small pullback. After that the SPX shot up to 1759.33. It appeared this spike higher would be short lived, as the index quickly reversed course and dropped back near the opening levels to 1747.58. The SPX then chopped higher through the afternoon, making it above 1758 before falling back to 1754 near the close.

Looking at the waves from yesterday’s 1747.79 high, the SPX completed 3 waves to the downside at 1740.67 as I mentioned yesterday. This was followed by a single sequence to today’s high of 1759.33. The index then completed a sequence lower with the ensuing drop to 1747.58. After that low was put in, it appears the index completed 3 waves to the upside.

Re-evaluating my count from 1695.93, I still see wave 1 completing at 1704.01. This was followed by an inverted corrective wave 2 that completed at 1714.12, with wave 3 then completing at 1729.64. I had been counting wave 4 at 1725.93, with wave 5 completing at 1747.79. If that count is correct, the 3 waves down yesterday from that high, and the drop today from 1759.33 would complete an inverted corrective wave, meaning another move to the upside would be in order.

It is also possible that from wave 3 mentioned above, an inverted corrective wave 4 followed. This would have ended at yesterday’s low of 1740.67. Today’s high of 1759.33 would then be wave 5. This would be unusual since normally there is only one complex corrective wave in a sequence, but with wave 2 being a complex wave also, this would make two. But this has been a strange market, so it cannot be ruled out.

A move above today’s high would mean the first scenario is correct, a drop below today’s low of 1748 the second. My next resistance level would be 1776. This is a level at which the sequence from 1074.77 could possibly complete. At the moment I see this as a low probability, but it is worth noting.

Support is at 1723, and then 1703.