Technical indicator delivers first “buy” signal on the S&P 500 in years
When richly valued, high-flying stocks reverse course and play the biggest role in creating stock market distress, it can often be very difficult to pick out a time when the selling might be exhausted. Is a 40x forward price-to-earnings multiple for these types of stocks the bottom? 30x? 25x? Honestly, who knows.
So at times like these, it can be useful to look for technical solutions to technical problems. And one may have just arrived!
The S&P 500’s Relative Strength Index (RSI), a gauge of the magnitude and persistence of price movements, closed in “oversold” territory on Monday and Tuesday (that is, below 30). An RSI “buy” signal is generated when the index crosses back above 30, and, well, that’s what we got:
The S&P 500’s last 14-day RSI buy signal, on a close-to-close basis, was generated on October 30, 2023. Past is certainly not prologue, but the benchmark US stock index ripped 16% higher in the three months that followed.