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Contributed Commentaries

A history of bear market rallies.

Graham Summers

Kitco Commentaries | Opinions, Ideas and Markets Talk

Featuring views and opinions written by market professionals, not staff journalists.

Commentaries & Views

Yesterday we put this recent stock market rally in the context of historical bear market rallies.

By quick way of review.

  1. It is extremely common for stocks to rally, and sometimes by quite a lot and for as long as two months, during a secular bear market.
  2. During the Tech Crash, the S&P 500 experienced four rallies, ranging from 10% to 25%, and lasting two weeks up to 2.5 months.
  3. During the Housing Crash, the S&P 500 experienced four rallies, ranging from 10% to 15% and lasting one to two months each.

In this context, the current rally in stocks is 9 weeks old (a little over two months) and has seen the S&P 500 rally some 17%.

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This begs the question… if this is indeed a bear market rally… when will it end? Put another way, when does the next leg down begin?

Historically, the 40-week moving average (the same as the 200-day moving average) has been a line of GREAT significance during bear markets. During the Tech Crash, the S&P 500 was never able to break above this and stay there.

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A similar dynamic played out during the Housing Crash. Here again, the S&P 500 was unable to reclaim the 200-DMA/40-WMA.

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So where are stocks trading today in relation to this line?

The S&P 500 is just about to test its 200-DMA/40-WMA. If history is any guide, it won’t be able to reclaim this line and stocks will begin their next leg down in the next few weeks.

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Best Regards

By Graham Summers

Contributing to kitco.com

Contact Graham@gainspainscapital.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.