Monday’s big drop in the overall market spooked investors and has given me mixed feelings too.
First, the chart for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) has a possible inverse head and shoulders pattern forming and that is a bullish factor. Unfortunately, a personal market indicator that I developed in 2009 just gave the strongest bearish reading so far in 2018.
Let’s look at the chart of the SPY first.
We see that the ETF dropped to the 270 level in early October and then bounced to the 281 level. This would be the left shoulder and the left side of the neck. The SPY then dropped to the 260 level and that would form the head of the pattern. It then jumped to the 281 level again to form the right side of the neck and has now fallen for three straight sessions and could possibly form the right shoulder in the next few days.
For the pattern to be completed we would need to see the fund bottom in the 270 area again and then rally above the 281 area.
There are a couple of factors that make me question whether or not it can complete the formation, but the most notable is how the daily stochastic readings just made a bearish crossover out of overbought territory.
The second factor is what I mentioned earlier—an indicator that I developed almost 10 years ago. I call it the market barometer and it came about from some scans I have run every night for ten years now. The scans produce a bullish and bearish list for me each night and then the total results of those lists are included in the barometer. The scans look at a number of technical factors including the RSI, the stochastic readings, volume, etc.
Without giving away too much proprietary information, the barometer’s reading last night was -107 and that is the worst reading it has produced this year. The two lowest readings prior to last night came on January 25 and April 20.
The blue line in the chart is the S&P 500 and the orange bars represent the barometer readings. The two lowest readings that I mentioned above are circled in blue with yesterday’s reading also circled.
Those readings in January and April both came just as the S&P was getting ready for a pretty sizable drop.
This is why I say I have mixed feelings about the overall market right now. On the one hand, you have a possible bullish pattern developing, but on the other hand an indicator I developed is telling me that the market is getting ready to head lower again.
Moving higher for three straight days is viewed as a bullish sign. Keep an eye on this stock for future growth. Considering data from situations where SPY advanced for three days, in of 365 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The Aroon Indicator entered an Uptrend today. In of 429 cases where SPY Aroon's Indicator entered an Uptrend, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued Uptrend are .
The RSI Oscillator demonstrated that the stock has entered the overbought zone. This may point to a price pull-back soon.
The Stochastic Oscillator entered the overbought zone. Expect a price pull-back in the foreseeable future.
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence Histogram (MACD) for SPY turned negative on July 15, 2025. This could be a sign that the stock is set to turn lower in the coming weeks. Traders may want to sell the stock or buy put options. Tickeron's A.I.dvisor looked at 53 similar instances when the indicator turned negative. In of the 53 cases the stock turned lower in the days that followed. This puts the odds of success at .
Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where SPY declined for three days, the price rose further in of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are .
SPY broke above its upper Bollinger Band on June 26, 2025. This could be a sign that the stock is set to drop as the stock moves back below the upper band and toward the middle band. You may want to consider selling the stock or exploring put options.
The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows
Category LargeBlend