YCharts 2017Stock market technicians (or “chartists”) look at price patterns for clues about where a stock, sector or the stock market as a whole is going. The chart above (using symbol SPY as an S&P 500 proxy) starts back in the beginning of 1996, and tracks the cumulative return of the index and its “rolling” 3-year return. So the next couple of months give us a rare opportunity to see this trend produce essentially a “bear” signal for S&P 500 investors. WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY: Each time this indicator dropped below 30% and continued downward, the S&P 500 went into a tailspin. The first time, S&P 500 dropped more than 25% and the second time it fell more than 45%.

Source: Forbes July 05, 2017 15:45 UTC