The Final Significant Correction of the Bull Market

It has been posited on this blog since early 2018 that the Bull Market would continue until 2022, simply utilizing the power of the Fibonacci Sequence in determining the likely duration. When equity prices continued past the 8-year mark, 13 was the next number of years in the sequence, and that year has arrived. I am not taking credit for this call yet, because 2022 has only just begun. With the extent and duration of stock market speculation, leverage, and historically high valuations, it would seem this should be it- the Grand Supercycle Bull Market, spanning more than two centuries, should top this year. It is now up to the market to prove this assertion correct. If this analysis really is correct and equities are beginning a multi-decade bear market, the bull market reversal and initial decline off the top should be unlike anything market observers have seen before. Records will be broken in downside breadth, gauges of fear and rate of change in the sheer swift nature of the initial bear market kickoff. In the meanwhile, the bull market is still ongoing and below I present an analysis of the current wave (4) correction.

Intermediate Wave (4) is now underway, in what is anticipated to be the final correction of significance in the Bull Market that began in March 2009. In Elliott Wave Analysis, there are a number of different structures corrections can take. Considering that wave (2) was a flat correction, wave (4) is likely to either be a triangle, zigzag or combination correction. A simple triangle appears to have been ruled out due to the new highs registered in January, and the subsequent decline below the December lows, ruling out a possible running triangle. It would appear the two most likely outcomes are another expanded flat, or a combination for wave (4). Given Elliott's guideline of alternation, and the fact that wave (2) was a flat, wave (4) should be a combination correction. Below is a double-three composed of a flat followed by a triangle. This would serve to frustrate the majority of market pundits as market direction will become unclear. When the correction is over, Wave (5), the final impulse wave of the Grand Supercycle Bull Market, would then commence and take equity values to new all-time highs.   

Elliott Outlined the tendency of impulse waves to form a channel connecting the ends of waves 1 and 3, running parallel to a line connecting the ends of waves 2 and 4. At the recent low on January 24, price briefly undercut the lower trendline, only to stage one of the biggest intraday upside reversals on record. The market clearly recognized this support zone. I would therefore be remiss if I ignored the possibility of the entire wave (4) correction completing at this low, or possibly a higher low in a truncated wave 5 of C of (4). Under this scenario, the market would test the lows, perhaps respecting the lower trendline before reversing upwards and impulsing straight to new highs in wave (5).