3:30 p.m. New York time
Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures resumed their fall during the session, reaching a low so far of 7712.25.
Elliott Wave Theory. The analysis remains unchanged. Rising wave D{-5} continues, although ambiguity remains. The farther the price falls from the September 22 high of 7848.50, the stronger the possibility becomes that wave D{-5} ended there and falling wave E{-5} has begun.
Decision Points. A sustained decline with a continuing pattern of lower highs and lower lows would add evidence that wave E{-5} is underway. A reversal and renewed rise toward 7848.50 would favor the existing D{-5} count, while a move above that high would confirm that rising wave D{-5} remains underway.
9:35 a.m. New York time
What’s happening now? The S&P 500 E-mini futures continued to fall after Monday’s session ended, reaching an overnight low of 7716 and then reclaiming some of the loss.
What does it mean? The distance covered remains relatively small, insufficient to change the Elliott Wave Theory analysis or resolve the ambiguity.
Rising wave D{-5}, which began on March 30, is still underway and is in its third and final subwave, rising wave C{-6}.
And here’s the ambiguity. It’s possible that wave D{-5} ended on September 22 at the most recent high of 7848.50, and that the still-small declines that followed are falling wave E{-5} and its first subwave, falling wave A{-6}. At this point, neither possibility has been disproven or confirmed, so I’ll stick with the most recent analysis until a new one becomes more certain.
Decision Points. A move above 7848.50 would eliminate the present ambiguity and confirm that rising wave D{-5} remains underway. Continued declines would strengthen the case that D{-5} ended at that level and E{-5} has begun, although a move below 7716 alone would not be sufficient confirmation. A sustained pattern of lower highs and lower lows would provide increasingly persuasive evidence for the E{-5} count.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures 3:30 p.m., 1-day bars with volume]
Waves Now Underway
These are the waves currently in progress under my principal analysis. Each line on the list shows the wave number, with the subscript in curly brackets, the traditional degree name, the starting date, the starting price of the S&P 500 E-mini futures, and the direction of the wave.
- S&P 500 Index:
- 5{+3} Supercycle, 7/8/1932, 4.40 (up)
- 5{+2} Cycle, 12/9/1974, 60.96 (up)
- 5{+1} Primary, 3/6/2009, 666.79 (up)
- 5{0} Intermediate, 2/11/2016, 1810.10 (up)
- 3{-1} Minor, 3/23/2020, 2191.36 (up)
- 1{-2} Minute, 7/31/2025, 6468.50 (down)
- S&P 500 E-mini futures
- 5{-3} Minuette 8/1/2025, 6239.50 (up)
- 4{-4} Subminuette 10/29/2025, 6953.75 (down)
- D{-5} Micro, 3/30/2026, 7353.25 (up)
- C{-6} Submicro, 7/29/2026, 7324 (up)
Reading the chart. Price movements — waves – – in Elliott Wave Theory analysis are labeled with numbers within trending waves and letters with corrective waves. The subscripts — numbers in curly brackets — designate the wave’s degree, which, in Elliott Wave analysis, means the relative position of a wave within the larger and smaller structures that make up the chart.R.N. Elliott, who in the 1930s developed the form of analysis that bears his name, viewed the chart as a complex structure of smaller waves nested within larger waves, which in turn are nested within still larger waves. In mathematics it’s called a fractal structure, where at every scale the pattern is similar to the others.
Learning and other resources. Elliott Wave analysis provides context, not prophecy. As the 20th century semanticist Alfred Korzybski put it in his book Science and Sanity(1933), “The map is not the territory… The only usefulness of a map depends on similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map.” And I would add, in the ever-changing markets, we can judge that similarity of structure only after the fact.
See the menu pageAnalytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, September 29, 2026
Disclaimer
Tim Bovee, Private Trader tracks the analysis and trades of a private trader managing his own accounts. The content reflects my interpretation of market structure, including Elliott Wave Theory and related tools.
Nothing in this blog constitutes a recommendation to buy or sell stocks, options, or any other financial instrument, or to pursue any particular strategy. The purpose of this blog is education and entertainment.
No trader is ever 100 percent successful. Trading in stock and options markets involves risk and uncertainty. Each trader must make decisions for his or her own account and accept full responsibility for the outcomes.
Charts and tools are used to support my personal analysis. Any data displayed is illustrative of that analytical process and is not presented as a source of market data for redistribution.
All content on Tim Bovee, Private Trader byTimothy K. Boveeis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Based on work atwww.timbovee.com










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