3:30 p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. As the session opened, the S&P 500 futures peaked at 6005.25 and then fell slowly thereafter into the 5950s.

The rising 4th wave continues within wave C, the final subwave of a 2nd-wave downward correction that began on December 16.

9:35 a.m. New York time

What’s happening now? The S&P 500 E-mini futures rose overnight, from the 5930s back into the 5990s.

What does it mean? Elliott Wave Theory sees the rise as the next-to-the-last subwave — rising wave 4 — within the final subwave — declining wave C — within the 2nd-wave downward correction that began on December 16.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p1`.m., 50-minute bars, with volume]

What are the alternatives? It is possible to see the entirety of the 2nd wave correction so far as subwaves of wave A, the initial subwave within wave 2. In that case, then the overnight rise is wave 4 within wave A if the correction is taking the form of a ZigZag, or if wave A has three subwaves, then the correction is taking the form of a Flat and the rise is the first subwave within wave B, the middle subwave within correction. Wave B will have three subwaves in either scenario.

What does Elliott wave theory say? Here are the waves that underly the analyses.

Principal Analysis:

• .Rising wave 5{0} is underway. It is a wave of Intermediate degree that began in December 2018.
• It is in its final subwave, wave 5{-1}.
• Within wave 5{-1}, rising waves 5{-2}, 5{-3} and 5{-4} are underway, as is wave 5{-5}.
• Wave 5{-5} is in its initial subwave, wave 1{-6}, which in turn is in its middle subwave, wave 3{-7}.
• Wave 3{-7} is in its final; subwave, uptrending wave 5{-8}.
• Wave 5{-8} is in its final subwave, wave 5{-9}, which is in its final subwave, uptrending wave 5{-10}.
• Wave 5{-10} is in its final subwave, wave 5{-11}, which appears to have completed its middle subwave, wave 3{-12}.
• Rising wave 5{-13} is now underway and is in its second subwave, wave 2{-14}.
• Wave 2{-14} is in its final subwave, declining wave C{-15}, which is in its next-to-the-last subwave, rising wave 4{-16}

Alternative Analysis:

• Rising wave 5{-13} is now underway and is in its second subwave, wave 2{-14}.
• Wave 2{-14} is in its middle subwave, risng wave B{-15}.

Long-term Waves.

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, 12/26/2018, 2346.58 (up)
• S&P 500 Futures
• 5{-1} Minor, 10/27/2023, 4127.25 (up)
• 3{-2} Minute, 10/27/23, 4127.75 (up)
• 3{-3} Minuette, 10/27/23, 4127.75 (up)
• 5{-4} Subminuette, 4/18/2024, 4963.50 (up)
• 5{-5} Micro, 8/5/2024, 5120 (up)
• 1{-6} Submicro, 8/5/2024, 5120 (up)
• 3{-7} Minuscule, 8/7/2024, 5182 (up)
• 5{-8} (unnamed), 9/6/2024, 5394 (up)
• 5{-9} (unnamed), 10/2/2024, 5724 (up)
• 5{-10} (unnamed), 11/4/2024, 5824.25 (up)
• 5{-11} (unnamed), 11/19/2024, 5933 (up)
• 5{-12} (unnamed), 11/27/2024, 6000.25 (up)
• 5{-13} (unnamed), 12/13/2024, 6041.25 (up)

Reading the chart. Price movements — waves – – in Elliott wave 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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, December 19, 2024

Disclaimer

Tim Bovee, Private Trader tracks the analysis and trades of a private trader for his own accounts. Nothing in this blog constitutes a recommendation to buy or sell stocks, options or any other financial instrument. The only purpose of this blog is to provide education and entertainment.

No trader is ever 100 percent successful in his or her trades. Trading in the stock and option markets is risky and uncertain. Each trader must make trading decisions for his or her own account, and take responsibility for the consequences.

License

All content on Tim Bovee, Private Trader by Timothy K. Bovee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Based on a work at www.timbovee.com.