Monday, May 5, 2014

World in Crisis, Part II

In the previous post, we summed up the latest on this complex global crisis pattern that began in late February.  The Ukraine crisis kicked it off, then the Malaysian jet disappearance made headlines for weeks.  The Korean ferry sunk, killing hundreds.  In the U.S. there were late winter storms, killer tornadoes, and a barrage of news stories of people "losing it" and shooting people.

It was discussed that with all of the angst and distress, globally, and within the U.S. that these events appeared to be of the type that signal the main event yet to come-- precursor events.  We expected the "disaster signal" (see 1st chart below) to stay above the line drawn near the bottom right of the chart and to at some point turn up.  Through all these weeks, this signal line has been churning away near that baseline, neither clearly going up toward a new set up, nor falling down in release.  It has been a difficult time of transition for many, yet the big impact for the U.S. has not yet appeared.

(click to enlarge)
 

While there is not yet a clear indication that the "grand finale" is imminent, there is a clue from social mood and the stock market that it is becoming quite close, likely within a few weeks away.  The chart below shows expected stock market movement derived from social mood (Google Hot Trends) versus actual stock market movement.  The two lines on this chart are usually pretty much in sink.  What this is telling us is two things: 1) The market trend is up, and in line to continue to new highs; and 2) The market is not able to go much higher than it currently is without first making a sharp drop down to at least the 1700-1750 area (the social mood signal dropped there in March, but the market didn't follow along-- it can't get away with that indefinitely).  In other words, an 8 to 10 percent correction is required for the market to continue much higher than where it is right now (S&P 1884).  If by chance, markets continue to eek out another 2 percent (1922-ish), the drop will need to be that much greater (10 to 12 percent).

(click to enlarge)
 
According to Robert Prechter's research in Socionomics, the big events tend to come near market bottoms.  Tomorrow's (Tuesday's) daily mood signal is showing a dip.  Is this the beginning of the drop toward the 1700s?  Will tomorrow be the next step closer to this grand finale still a few weeks away (before the market returns to an uptrend)?  If not, we will keep watching for the next indicator.