S&P 500 Snapshot: Intraday Interim New High, Lower Close

Note from dshort: My routine end-of-day S&P 500 updates have been interrupted by a working vacation in the Pacific North West through the end of the month.

Yesterday, early in the second hour of trading, the S&P 500 hit a new interim high 0.54% above the April 2nd closing high. But the index couldn't hold the gains and closed the day with a loss of 0.35%. Before the market closed, Business Insider had already seen the selloff as an opportunity for a bit of sensationalism for their chart of the day: OH NO, It's The Dreaded Triple Top!

The index is now up 12.37% for 2012, which is 0.41% off the interim closing high of April 2nd.

From an intermediate perspective, the S&P 500 is 108.9% above the March 2009 closing low and 9.7% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

Here is a vacation snapshot from Pioneer Square in Portland. Too bad we don't have a comparable sign for market directions.

Below are two charts of the index, with and without the 50 and 200-day moving averages.

For a better sense of how these declines figure into a larger historical context, here's a long-term view of secular bull and bear markets in the S&P Composite since 1871.

These charts are not intended as a forecast but rather as a way to study the current market in relation to historic market cycles.

Source: Advisor Perspectives