Following the late 2003 market advance, the stock market resumed a more neutral track at the start of the following year. The stock market started 2004 well, but the price thrust weakened rapidly.
As matters turned out, the relative weakness of the RSI indicator during the cycle presaged the more severe market declme that took place in March 2004.
The cycle was very bullish in its development, with a small dip at the end of an early A segment followed by rising prices right into the end of the period. Sometimes cycles during very bullish market periods show patterns of price movement that make it very difficult to determine the completions of cycles that become more readily discernible in indicators that track the momentum of the price advance.
For example, the RSI dipped a few days before the end of the cycle, failing to confirm new highs made in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index at the start of 2004.
Cycles that end as strongly as the cycle from November to early January are usually followed by very strong market action at the start of the following cycle, which is what took place in this instance. The RSI indicator, incidentally, clearly indicated the A, B sequence of the November-January cycle, which was not as apparent in the price pattern.
This was a slightly bullish cycle, with prices moving up gradually and more market time taking place in advance than in decline. The division into virtually equal A and B segments is very clear, as was the negative divergence between price movement and the patterns of RSI that closed the cycle with a classic negative divergence. The RSI indicator closed the cycle at its oversold zone, again with a double- bottom formation, confirming the start of the next cycle.