3:30 p.m. New York time
Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures reached a session high of 7485.75 and then retreated into the 7460s, remaining within the boundaries of Monday’s range.
Elliott Wave Theory. The analysis remains unchanged from this morning—and from many recent mornings. Rising wave D{-5} appears to remain underway. Alternatively, D{-5} may have ended through a truncation on July 16 at 7632, completing waves C{-7}, C{-6}, and D{-5}, with falling wave E{-5} beginning from that point. Neither scenario has been verified.
Decision Points. A break above 7485.75 would favor continued short-term strength, while a fall below 7417 would favor renewed weakness. Neither move would resolve the larger ambiguity. A sustained rise above the July 16 high of 7632 would weaken the truncation count, while a rise above the June 15 high of 7648.75 would strongly favor the conclusion that wave D{-5} remains underway. A decline below 7357.25 would invalidate the current rising C{-7} count and strongly favor the conclusion that wave E{-5} has begun.
9:35 a.m. New York time
What’s happening now? The S&P 500 E-mini futures drifted lower after Monday’s closing bell, reaching 7419, and then rose to 7467 as Tuesday’s opening bell approached.
What does it mean? The movement provides little information for Elliott Wave Theory analysis. The ambiguity remains. Either rising wave D{-5} is continuing, or it ended through a truncation on July 16 at 7632, completing waves C{-7}, C{-6}, and D{-5}, and falling wave E{-5} began. Neither scenario has been verified.
Decision Points. A sustained rise above the July 16 high of 7632 would weaken the truncation scenario, while a rise above the June 15 high of 7648.75 would invalidate it. On the downside, a break below the overnight low of 7419 would indicate renewed short-term weakness, while a fall below 7357.25 would materially strengthen the case that wave E{-5} is underway, although it would not by itself confirm the larger count.
The Chart. Today’s chart focuses on wave D{-5}, the next-to-the last subwave of wave 4{-4}, a downward correction that began on October 29, 2025. The blue lines trace the upper and lower boundaries of the expanding triangle form wave 4{-4} has taken.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures 3:30 p.m., 1-day bars with volume]
Waves Now Underway
These are the waves currently in progress under my principal analysis. Each line on the list shows the wave number, with the subscript in curly brackets, the traditional degree name, the starting date, the starting price of the S&P 500 E-mini futures, and the direction of the wave.
- S&P 500 Index:
- 5{+3} Supercycle, 7/8/1932, 4.40 (up)
- 5{+2} Cycle, 12/9/1974, 60.96 (up)
- 5{+1} Primary, 3/6/2009, 666.79 (up)
- 5{0} Intermediate, 2/11/2016, 1810.10 (up)
- 3{-1} Minor, 3/23/2020, 2191.36 (up)
- 1{-2} Minute, 7/31/2025, 6468.50 (down)
- S&P 500 E-mini futures
- 5{-3} Minuette 8/1/2025, 6239.50 (up}
- 4{-4} Subminutte 10/29/2025, 6953.75 (down}
- D{-5} Micro, 3/30/2026, 6353.25 (up}
- C{-6} Submicro, 6/11/2026, 7232.25 (up)
Reading the chart. Price movements — waves – – in Elliott Wave Theory analysis are labeled with numbers within trending waves and letters with corrective waves. The subscripts — numbers in curly brackets — designate the wave’s degree, which, in Elliott Wave analysis, means the relative position of a wave within the larger and smaller structures that make up the chart.R.N. Elliott, who in the 1930s developed the form of analysis that bears his name, viewed the chart as a complex structure of smaller waves nested within larger waves, which in turn are nested within still larger waves. In mathematics it’s called a fractal structure, where at every scale the pattern is similar to the others.
Learning and other resources. Elliott Wave analysis provides context, not prophecy. As the 20th century semanticist Alfred Korzybski put it in his book Science and Sanity(1933), “The map is not the territory… The only usefulness of a map depends on similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map.” And I would add, in the ever-changing markets, we can judge that similarity of structure only after the fact.
See the menu pageAnalytical Methodsfor a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, July 28, 2026
Disclaimer
Tim Bovee, Private Trader tracks the analysis and trades of a private trader managing his own accounts. The content reflects my interpretation of market structure, including Elliott Wave Theory and related tools.
Nothing in this blog constitutes a recommendation to buy or sell stocks, options, or any other financial instrument, or to pursue any particular strategy. The purpose of this blog is education and entertainment.
No trader is ever 100 percent successful. Trading in stock and options markets involves risk and uncertainty. Each trader must make decisions for his or her own account and accept full responsibility for the outcomes.
Charts and tools are used to support my personal analysis. Any data displayed is illustrative of that analytical process and is not presented as a source of market data for redistribution.
All content on Tim Bovee, Private Trader byTimothy K. Boveeis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Based on work atwww.timbovee.com










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