Courtesy of Doug Short.
The S&P 500 closed the day with a modest loss of 0.22% on the lowest volume of the year, 30% below the 2012 average. Low volume in advance of a three-day weekend is normal, but a 30% below average is a bit remarkable. The good news is that the index closed the week with a gain of 1.74%, snapping a string of three weekly declines.
The index is now up 4.79% for 2012, which is 7.13% off the interim closing high of April 2nd.
From an intermediate perspective, the S&P 500 is 94.8% above the March 2009 closing low and 15.8% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.
Below are two charts of the index, with and without the 50 and 200-day moving averages.
For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here’s a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.
These charts are not intended as a forecast but rather as a way to study the current market in relation to historic market cycles.
