Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m.New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures rose during the session, reaching 5991.25 and then retreatng slightly. The rise put the price close to 6008, the starting point of the the 4th-wave downward correction

The rise put the price close enough to that level, which is confirmation that the 5th wave is now underway, that I’ve made that scenario the principal analysis, and altered the chart to conform,.

Here’s the wave lineup under the new Principal Analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its final stage, uptrending wave 5{-9}.

Within wave 5{-9}, its initial subwave, wave 3{-10}, is probably what’s underway, unless it’s a strange 2nd wave.

9:35 a.m. New York time.

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures initiall fell overnight, from the 5940s to sligtly below 5910, and then rose back into the 5940s, remaining below the early overnight high.

What does it mean? In yesterday’s analysis I ran through the ambiguity that has been with the futures since last week, and I refer the reader to the “What does it mean?” section in that edition of Trader’s Notebook.

Simple version: Either downtrending wave 4 is n its final subwave (black labels), wave C, or wave 4 ended on May 23 and wave 5 began and is underway today (red labels).

I’ve kept the 4th-wave scenario as my prncipal analysis. What could change that decision? A break above 6008, the end of wave 1 in the 5th-wave scenario. If the price turns and resumes its decline, then the 4th-wave scenario remains the most likely scenario.

How low will wave 4 go? At a minimum, I would expect wave C to be the length of wave A within the 4th wave, which would carry the price down to the low 5600s.

How high will wave t5 go? At a minimum, I would expect it to reach into the 5990s at a minimum, with a length equal to the preceding 1st wave.

How will it play out? Time will tell.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m., 90-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave C{-10}, is underway. An alternative analysis sees wave 5{-10} as having ended at today’s overnight decline, ending wave C{-10} and wave 4{-9} and beginning uptrending wave 5{-9}, the final subwave within wave 5{-8}. Wave 5{-9} in this scenario is now in iwave 2{-10}, its second subwave out of five.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, June 3, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures continued to rise during the session, into the 5940s.

Elliott wave Theory: The higher the price rises, the more likely it is that wave 5 is underway, with 6008 being where that alternative scenario is a certainty.

9:35 a.m. New York time.

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures fell after trading resumed overnight, from slightly above 5909.25 down to the 5860s, and then retraced back to 5900 as the opening bell drew nearer.

What does it mean? Elliott Wave Theory analysis sees the the declne that began on May 29 as the final subwave, wave C, within a 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19.

Maybe. It’s also possible to see the rise as the second subwave, wave 2, within a 5th-wave uptrend that began on May 23, following a 4th-wave downward correction that begqn on May 19 and ended on May 23.

We’re waiting for confirmation either way, If the wave continues to fall starts to approached the end of wave A, 5756.50, cthen the scenario that has 4th wave correction still under and inn wave C gains credence. If the price reverses some distance away from the end of wave A, then the uptrending 5th-wave scenario gains credence.

I’ve marked both possiblities on the chart, the 4th-wave-correction-continues principal analysis in black, and the 5th-wave-uptrend-correction-continues auxiliary analysis in red,.

If moments of ambiguity are your cup of tea, then you’ve got to love Elliott Wave Theory.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m., 90-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave C{-10}, is underway. An alternative analysis sees wave 5{-10} as having ended at today’s overnight decline, ending wave C{-10} and wave 4{-9} and beginning uptrending wave 5{-9}, the final subwave within wave 5{-8}. Wave 5{-9} in this scenario is now in iwave 2{-10}, its second subwave out of five.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, June 2, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the opening bell. The S&P 500 futures remained slightly above 5900 as the closing bell approached. Elliott Wave Theory: I’m staying with this morning’s principal analysis — the wave-4-continues scenario — while remaining mindful of the alternative analysis — the wave-5-has-begun scenario — while searching out confirming evidence that the 5th wave truly is underway.

9:35 a.m. New York

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures fell sharply overnight as the opening bell approached. The declne coincided with the release of two economic reports: the Personal Income and Outlays report, and Personal Income Expenditures. The price began to drop from 5921.50, reversed from 5876.50, and retraced back to 5907.

What does it mean? When analyzed using Elliott Wave Theory, the chart shows five waves between the May 29 high of 6908 and the overnight low of 5876.50, sufficient to label the entire decline from that high as wave C, the final subwave of the 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19.

At question is whether the overnight low marks the completion of the final subwave — a declining n5th wave — within wave C or a upward pause within the continuing 5th-wave decline.

For the moment, lacking evidence to the contrary, I’m retaining the analysis that considers declining wave 5 to still be underway.

If the alternative analysis, considering declining wave 5 to have ended at the overnight low, that will also be the end of the parent wave, the 4th-wave downward correction, and the beginning of an uptrending 5th wave the same degree as wave 4. That larger wave 5 will be the final subwave of its parent, a still larger 5th wave that began on May 7 from 5596.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m., 85-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave C{-10}, is underway. An alternative analysis sees wave 5{-10} as having ended at today’s overnight decline, ending wave C{-10} and wave 4{-9} and beginning uptrending wave 5{-9}, the final subwave within wave 5{-8}.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 30, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures continued to fall during the session, reaching into the 5880s so far.

Elliott Wave Theory: The decline confirms that the final subwave, descending wave C, of the 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19 is underway.

9:35 a.m. New York time

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures fell sharply overnight, from a high of 6008, and has so far reached into the 5940s.

What does it mean? Using Elliott Wave Theory analysis, I’ve concluded that rising wave B, the middle subwave within a 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19, ended at the peak, and the final subwave, falling wave C, began.

The two most common types of B waves are the Zigzag and the Flat. If the A wave has three subwaves, then it’s a ZigZag, and under the rules of Elliott Wave theory, the B wave that follows can’t rise past the beginning of wave A. If wave A has five subwaves, the B wave must retrace at least 90% of the A wave and can retrace more than 100% without triggering any Elliott Wave Theory rules.

I count wave A as having five subwaves, and so the analysis is within the rules: Wave C has begun and will have five subwaves as it declines.

The end of wave C will also be the end of the 4th-wave correction and the beginning of an uptrendng 5th wave.

The C wave in a flat is usually 1 to 1.65 times the length of wave A, which is 265 points long. That length times 1.65 is 301.05. Wave C began from 6008 and so is likely to see the price drop to between 5743 and 5616.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m., 85-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave C{-10}, has begun.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 29, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m. p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures whipsawed for 20 points in the low 5900s when the Federal Open Market Committee releases minutes of its May 6-7 meeting, taking the price a bit higher than when the whipsaw began.

All in all, the day produced no change in my Elliott Wave Theory analysis from this morning: Rising wave B within a 4th-wave downward correction continues.

9:35 a.m. New York time

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures fell from the 5940s to the 5910s in overnight trading and then rose back into the 5940s as the opening bell approached.

What does it mean? The 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19 continues, Elliott Wave Theory analysis shows. Internally, the correction is in its second of three waves: Rising wave B. It will be followed by a falling C wave that will complete the 4th-wave correction and usher in an uptrending wave 5 that will complete its parent wave, also a 5th wave, and a still larger 5th wave, as well as an even larger 3rd wave that began on April 21.

The end wave the 3rd wave will also be the end of three degrees of increasingly larger 1st waves, all of which began at a significant low point on April 7, from 4832.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m., 85-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave B{-10} is underway.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 28, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: Gold

12:45 p.m. New York time

What’s happening now. Prices of the gold-based exchange-traded fund GLD fell when trading resumed this morning.

What does it mean? Elliott Wave Theory analysis sees GLD’s present wave as declining C wave within a larger A wave that began on April 21. The May 23 peak, 310.25, was the end of the B wave preceding wave C.

[Gold futures, 12:45 p.m., 85-minute bars, with volume]

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.

  • GLD exchange-traded fund:
  • 3{+1} Primary, 12/17/2015, 100.23 (up)
  • 4{0} Intermediate, 4/21/2025, 322.52 (down)
  • A{−1} Minor, 4/21/2025, 322.52 (down)

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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 27, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures rose during the session, reaching into the 5930s. Elliott Wave Theory: The rise lends additional credence to rising wave B now being underway, the middle wave of a 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19.

9:35 a.m. New York time

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures resumed trading after the Memorial Day holiday with a rise, from 5862.70 to 5912.50 and then a slight pull back.

What does it mean? The post-holiday Elliott Wave Theory analysis is as filled with ambiguity as was the pre-holiday chart. Is the 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19 still underway, or did it end at the May 23 low — 5756.50 — giving way to uptrending wave 5.

If it’s underway, then wave A, the first subwave within the 4th wave, ended on May 23, and wave B has begun its rise. Wave A, with a bit of imagination, can be counted as havng five subwaves, making wave 4 a Zigzag style of correction.

But, with a bit more imagination, wave A can be counted as having three subwaves, a Flat style of correction.

If the correction is a Zigzag, then wave B cannot move above the start of wave A, 5993.50. If its a Flat, then the start of wave A poses no barrier under the rules of Elliott Wave Theory and wave B will retrace at least 90% of wave A, up to 5969.80 or higher.

If its a Flat, then wave 5 may be underway, with no hard rule limiting its rise.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m., 85-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave B{-10} has begun.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 27, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

1:30 p.m. New York time

Early closure for Memorial Day weekend. U.S. markets will close early today, at 2 p.m. New York time and will be closed all day on Monday, May 26,.

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures rose throughout the session, from the overnight low of 5756.50 to the 5830s as the closing bell approached. Elliott Wave Theory: Wave 4 continues and may have ended Wave A at the overnight low. If that’s the case, then rising wave B is underway.

The rise allowed the chart to avoid, for the moment, breaking a rule of Elliott Wave Theory. See the disussion below

9:35 a.m. New York time

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures fell overnight, from 5672 so far down to 5756.50.

What does it mean? Last night’s Elliott Wave Theory analysis labels the decline as wave A within a declining 4th wave that began on May 19.

However, the overnight decline has brought the 4th wave perilously close to violating a rule of Elliott wave theory: A 4th wave can’t cross the end of the preceding 1st wave. Wave 1 ended on May 8 at 5741. Wave 4, as noted above, has reached a low ovrnight of 5756.50.

So the rule remains intact, but barely. Wave 4 is 15.5 points above the end of wave 1.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 1:30 p.m., 75-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave A{-10}, may be underway, or perhaps it has ended and wave B{-10} has begun.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 23, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures has risen during the session, reaching into the 5890s.

Elliott Wave Theory: The 4th-wave downward correction that began on May 19 continues. It’s possible that the overnight low marked the end of the first subwave, downward wave A, and that the middle subwave, rising wave B, has began.

But that’s far from certain, and for this report I’m leaving the analysis where it was this morning, with wave A still underway. To put it i context, wave A so far has fallen by $164.75. The potential wave B has risen by $64.25. Quite a difference. Hence the uncertainty.

9:35 a.m. New York time

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures traded sideways overnight, staying between the 5850s and the 5870s, and then resumed the decline, reaching into the 5820s. When the Initial Jobless Claims report was released, at 8:30 a.m. New York time, the price rose sharply back into the 5860s.

What does it mean? I’ve modified the Elliott Wave Theory analysis from what I posted yesterday, May 21. The overall decline is the same, but the details differ to better match the reality of the chart. In describing the analysis, I’ll refer to the waves as they appear on the chart: A wave number followed by the wave’s relative position within the fractal hierarchy as a numerical subscript within curly brackets. See the Elliott Wave Theory wave labels below for a description of the system.

The decline that began on May 19 from 5993.50 marks the end of uptrendng wave 3{-9} and the beginning of a downward correction, wave 4{-9}. The corretion is presently in its initial subwave, wave A{-10}.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30.m, 75-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its next-to-the-last stage, a downward correction, wave 4{-9}.

Within wave 4{-9}, its initial subwave, wave A{-10}, is underway.

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 22, 2025

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

Trader’s Notebook: S&P 500

3:30 p.m. New York time

Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures began a swift decline at 12:55 p.m. New York time and as the closing bell approached continued to fall.

The decline carried the price below 5892.75, erasing this morning’s principal analysis — a low degree wave 5 is underway — and replaced it with the alternative — wave 4 continues and is in its final subwave, wave C.

9:35 a.m. New York time

What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures resumed falling overnight, from 5958.25 down to 5905 so far. The price has remained above 5892.75, the low set on May 19 and reversed to the upside as the opening bell sounded.

What does it mean? If the price moves below the May 19 low, then the rules of Elliiott Wave Theory will come into play.

The current decline is a declining 2nd wave withn a larger rising 5th wave, according to the current analysis. If the price moves below 5892.75, then it has broken a rule: A 2nd wave can’t move below the start of the preceding 1st wave of the same degree.

If that should occur, then wave 4 is stil underway and wave 5 has not yet begun. On the chart, the present wave 4{-10} label will be changed to A{-11}, the 1{-11} label to B{-11}, and the present declining wave from ongoing wave 2{-11} to C{-11}, all subwaves of decling wave 4{-10}.

But that hasn’t happened yet, so wave 2{-11} is working through its pattern and rising wave 3{-11} will follow, all subwaves of wave 5{-10}.

(See “Reading the Chart”, below, for an explanation of the labeling system.)

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m, 75-minute bars, with volume] 

Elliott Wave Theory wave labels. Each wave listed on the charts has two components: A wave number, and a subscript in curly brackets that place the wave’s position in the fractal strucutre in relationship to Intermediate degree. The present Intermediate degree, wave 5{0}, began its rise on February 11, 2016 from 1810.10 and is still underway.

The waves referred to on the chart are as follows.

Principal analysis: Upward correction wave 5{-2} is underway and within it is working through a nested series of initial subwaves, wave 1{-3} down to wave 1{-5}. One degree lower, rising wave 3{-6} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave 5{-7},

Within wave 5{-7}, uptrending wave 5{-8} is in its final stage, uptrending wave 5{-9}.

Within wave 5{-9}, wave 4{-10} is underway and is in its final subwave, wave C, is underway. [Updated with this afternoon’s changed analysis.]

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)
  • 5{-2} Minute, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • S&P 500 Futures
  • 1{-3} Minuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-4} Subminuette, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 1{-5} Micro, 4/7/2025, 4832 (up)
  • 3{-6} Submicro, 4/21/2025, 4832 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.

By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, May 21, 2025

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