3:30 p.m. New York time
Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 E-mini futures rose after the opening bell to a session high of 6888, then reversed sharply. The decline has now carried below the overnight low, reaching the mid-6850s.
Elliott Wave Theory’s principal analysis has been that rising wave B{-6} was continuing. This morning’s decline introduces the first meaningful challenge to that view, as the move lower is both impulsive in character and breaks prior short-term support.
At this stage, the decline can be interpreted in two ways. It may mark the beginning of declining wave C{-6}, which would be expected to unfold with sustained downside momentum. Alternatively, it may represent a deeper pullback within the still-active B{-6} rally.
The distinction has not yet been resolved. A single break of support, while significant, is not sufficient on its own to confirm a trend change. Confirmation would require a failed bounce followed by a lower high and continued downside movement.
Decision Points. A recovery back above the 6875–6888 zone would favor the view that rising wave B{-6} remains in force. Conversely, a bounce that stalls below that zone and turns lower would strengthen the case that declining wave C{-6} is underway.
Until one of these conditions is met, the chart remains in transition and the analysis unchanged.
9:35 a.m. New York time
What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures rose from 6874 to 6888 in the five minutes that began with the release of the Consumer Price Index and immediately fell back to the 6870s where it had begun. The CPI reported that prices in general rose 0.9% in March, compared to 0.3% in February. Energy prices rose by 10.9%, and gasoline prices by 21.2%.
What does it mean? The rise was cut short and so was any decline, which tells Elliott Wave Theory that rising wave B{-6} continues, but without a lot of directional energy.
Decision Points. The immediate resistance zone remains the CPI spike high at 6888; a sustained move above that level would support further extension of wave B{-6}. On the downside, support lies in the 6840–6850 range, which has contained the post-release pullback; a break below that zone would signal that the upward correction is weakening. A decline through 6780 would shift the balance toward the start of declining wave C{-6}.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures at 3:30 p.m., 115-minute 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} Subminutte 10/29/2025, 6953.75 (down}
- C{-5} Micro, 1/27/2026, 7043 (down}
- B{-6} (none), 3/30/2026, 6353.25 (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 page Analytical Methods for a rundown on where to go for information on Elliott Wave analysis.
By Tim Bovee, Portland, Oregon, April 10, 2026
Disclaimer
Tim Bovee, Private Trader tracks the analysis and trades of a private trader for his own accounts. Nothing in this blog constitutes a recommendation to buy or sell stocks, options or any other financial instrument. The only purpose of this blog is to provide education and entertainment.
No trader is ever 100 percent successful in his or her trades. Trading in the stock and option markets is risky and uncertain. Each trader must make trading decisions for his or her own account, and take responsibility for the consequences.
All content on Tim Bovee, Private Trader by Timothy K. Bovee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on work at www.timbovee.com









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