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S&P 500 don’t let seasonality hit you on the way out

In our previous update, we observed the SP500 (SPX) ideally reaching $ 6,125 ± 25, $ 6,000 ± 25, and $6,150-$6,200 for a minor 3rd, 4th, and 5th wave, respectively, based on a standard Fibonacci Elliott Wave (EW) Principle roadmap. Since all we can do is “anticipate, monitor, and adjust if necessary,” we adapted an ending diagonal roadmap on June 6 for our premium newsletter members as the price action progressed. This adjustment meant the price targets were modified to “Ideal target zones are, for W-iii: 6025-6060, W-iv, 5960+/-20, W-v, 6125-50.” The SPX reached $6059 on June 11, bottomed out at $5963, and stalled at $6051 on Monday.

However, the index has made little progress since then and is pretty much back to the price levels from around mid-May (5960s). This suggests that a slightly larger top, grey W-iii/c, as shown in Figure 1 below, may have been struck, which aligns with post-election year seasonality starting in 1928. Figure 1. Post-election year seasonality vs. our preferred short-term Elliott Wave count.

Specifically, 2025 is a post-election year for the U.S. presidency, and year-to-date, the index has closely followed the average of all post-election years since 1928, as indicated by the blue arrows. There are some timing differences, such as the late-February low compared to the actual mid-March low (green W-a) and the absence of the late-April (grey W-ii) low, which are to be expected; however, the overall pattern remains similar.

Moreover, closer to home, the seasonality forecast indicated a high between June 8 and June 12 and a low between June 16 and June 22, as illustrated by the red circles in Figure 1 above. As previously mentioned, the index peaked on June 11, hit a low on June 13, and has since returned to its prior level.

So far, so good. Therefore, assuming the correlation holds, we can look further ahead, anticipating a low in the coming days followed by a 4- to 6-week rally.

This should complete the green W-1/a, and we can expect a multi-month pullback for the green W-2/b to SPX5400-5600. Once this target is reached, we still anticipate the index will reach $6700-7100, as the rally from the 2020 low has yet to finish. This seasonally based path from the short- to the long-term aligns with the broader EW count we shared in our recent updates. See, for example, our previous article and Figure 2 below.

Figure 2. The SPX weekly chart with our preferred EW count.

Author

Dr. Arnout Ter Schure

Dr. Arnout Ter Schure

Intelligent Investing, LLC

After having worked for over ten years within the field of energy and the environment, Dr.

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