3:30 p.m. New York time
Half an hour before the closing bell. The S&P 500 futures reached a slightly higher high at 7200.50, then settled into a narrow sideways movement near the high. The price has not retreated to the Expanding Triangle’s upper boundary, which is presently near 7133.
Elliott Wave Theory. Wave D{-5} remains underway within the larger expanding triangle, wave 4{-4}, that began on October 29, 2025. The rise continues to press the upper boundary area rather than clearly breaking free of the triangle structure.
Decision Points. The first question is whether price can sustain trade above 7200.50 and extend the rise, or whether this is another marginal high followed by sideways movement or reversal. A turn down from this area would keep the triangle-boundary interpretation intact and raise the odds that wave E{-5} is approaching. A stronger, sustained rise above the current high would keep wave D{-5} alive and force the upper boundary question back onto the table.
9:35 a.m. New York time
What’s happening now. The S&P 500 E-mini futures continued to fluctuate sideways, neither rising nor falling to a meaningful degree. It touched a peak, 7190.50, and then withdrew.
What does it mean? In terms of Elliott Wave Theory, the futures are stuck on a line connecting the two completed peaks of an Expanding Diagonal Triangle that began on October 29, 2025 and is now nearing the end of its 4th subwave, rising wave D{-5}. The triangle itself is wave 4{-4}, a downward correction one degree larger than the D wave.
Decision Points. The upper boundary of the triangle, now near 7165–7175, remains the key line. A sustained move above it, especially with follow-through beyond 7189.50, the recent high, would signal that wave D{-5} is still pushing higher and may be nearing its final extreme. Failure to hold above the boundary, followed by a decline back into the body of the triangle and below 7125, would favor the alternative: that wave D{-5} has ended and declining wave E{-5} is underway. A further break below 7075 would strengthen that interpretation and confirm that the next leg of the correction is in progress.

[S&P 500 E-mini futures 3:30 p.m., 5-hour 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}
- D{-5} Micro, 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 24, 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 by Timothy K. Bovee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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