Summary of this week in the stock market and where we go from here. (UPDATE)

At the end of this very volatile week in the stock market, with days up and down in a 500 points range, many are wondering whether they should sell or buy stocks. This is compounded by the facts that we are in an indecisive period right now and therefore predicting market direction is even more difficult in the short term. I have said I believe we are headed lower in the next 6-12 months, but I can't tell you when we drop further from here. We had closed below the 11,000 level this week on Monday and Wednesday, but on Thursday and Friday we closed above, closing at 11,269. I had said in my previous posts there was going to be a fight at the 11,000 level once we had broken below the 11,500 level. So, in fact, we did and, this testing of 11,000 level, may not be complete.

In the below chart, of the Dow over a 5 year period, I have added some red arrows to signify many of the significant drops in the Dow value followed by flat indecision periods, identified with blue flat lines. The purpose was to show that there is a period of time after a drop where the direction is uncertain. We are now in that period. As you can see below, it can last for about a month or so. Other factors are at play.

The news will dictate in which direction we go, and I think one could build a very strong case that markets will go down further. For example, this most recent major drop was precipitated by 2 events. The first was the concern over Italy and its debt problems and whether they were going to default, because they are such a large economy, they can't really be bailed out unless the EU started printing money like our Fed did. The second concern was from the Debt Ceiling deadline and the politics involved in almost defaulting here. This precipitated the S&P to downgrade the US from AAA to AA+ rating. Then the market tanked.

We are now in the stage where we have the Congress appointing a special committee to work out details to come to an agreement on where further cuts are going to come from. They must do this by Nov. 23rd. If they can agree on a package, there is no guarantee it will be approved by both Houses of Congress, because there will be no Amendments aloud. It will face an up or down vote.

Also, we have the 2012 Budget which must be approved by Congress by Oct. 1st. All this with the 2012 Presidential election in the background. The chances of having bipartisanship is nearly zero. That is why I see the market going down a lot more from here. As the expression goes, it is all baked in the cake. Wish it weren't so, but it is the stark reality we face. And the Fed has signaled they aren't going to do much more given the economy looks so weak. They said they will keep existing rates through until 2013, which is an unprecedented move on their part.

It took us 2 1/2 years to climb out from the low of 6,500 on the Dow. I believe it will only take a year to go down and retest that low, given the state of politics and the weakness in the Global economy, with many debt laden countries. This will also produce social unrest at levels we have not seen in my lifetime. We are starting to see the early stages of this now.

UPDATE: Monday 5:35am PST.

The Empire Manufacturing Index data was released at 5:30am this morning. The reading came in at -7.70 for August compared to an expectation of 0.0 and the previous dat of -3.76 for July. This month's data is going in the wrong direction for recovery and for a healthier stock market. The reading this morning is not having a negative effect on the Futures market and from all I can see the market will start up this morning.

At 7:00am PST the NAHB Housing data will be released for August. Expectations are for a reading of 15, which would be the same as it was for July.

Tuesday's release of July's Housing starts and Building Permits will be interesting to see. Also tomorrow's data will include Import and Export prices as well as Industrial Production for July and Capacity Utilization for July. These are all lagging indicators. The most important of these are Housing Starts, Building permits and Industrial Production.

Complete market analysis from 6 months to 30 years

To help others see how trends are formed, I will use the same analysis method that I used yesterday on the Dow Intraday Charts. I used these charts to predict the trend to follow. Let's look back at various timeframes, from as little as 6 months, to as long as 30 years. This context should help others understand why I have been sounding the alarm to be cautious now, as we are about to witness a crisis of confidence unparalleled in our generation. But let's not get too much ahead of ourselves. I will start with a 6 month chart of the Dow as the Index for comparison. First the chart, then the discussion will follow each chart. Look for the "W" patterns underlined in Red and notice the slant of the red line and what trend followed immediately after the last leg of the "W" pattern.

As you can see above for each "W" pattern, a Red Line under the 2 bottom points identifies the "W". It shows the direction of the trend to follow. In this case for the 6 month chart, the last "W" pattern formed shows we are indeed going to go down much lower after the next leg goes up. This is based on the steepness of the last pattern. So now at least short term, we know we are going down lower after the next leg goes up. I will show you in a different chart that the next leg up should go to about Dow 10.500 to 10,600 max.

Above is a 1 year chart of the Dow, where I have drawn several red lines at the "W" patterns, showing the slant and following trend. You will notice that there was a slant down of the pattern in the February timeframe, followed by a small drop after that. Then the pattern reversed, and the Dow continued its uptrend until the beginning of May.

This 5 year chart of the Dow above, shows that the Dow had 2 "W" patterns pointing down, and that it was headed lower, which resulted in the lows of March 2009. However, after that, a reversal drove the market back up to the highs in April 2010. Not much you didn't know here, but it is revealing to see that the charts showed where we were headed in advance .

And last, but more importantly than all the rest of the charts, this Dow 30 year chart shows where we are headed, and it is lower! The second leg of the "W" pattern was at 6,440, if you remember those lows. It was a very scary time. This chart indicates we are headed lower than that. And if you have been reading my earlier posts, you know many indicators have been sounding alarm bells for a while. I refer specifically to the 30 year chart posted on May 7th (based upon Elliott Wave Theory and Fibonacci numbers), and to the previous warnings on April 10th and April 14th (using Put to Call ratio data and VIX (Volatility) Index data.) It was only in April that the crescendo got so loud that it would be foolish to ignore it .

I hope I have given you a sound basis for believing what is about to happen. The last thing in the world I want to say is "I told you so!" So please evaluate this and plan for the future. Most of you reading this work very hard to make money; you need to work just as hard to keep what those long hours have produced. One last word: The market is set to recover a bit in the following days and maybe weeks, as we go back up to 10,600 or so. This is about where the drop down should begin.

So you have more time to regain some of the losses these past few weeks, and to prepare yourself for surviving the crash. Cash is a real good place to keep your sales of stocks until things get better. I do not believe Gold is going to be the currency of choice. People aren't going to bring their Gold to the grocery store to buy milk and bread. Nor will they use Silver to do that.

Currency will still be around and even more precious, as many will have lost plenty of it, and will be selling whatever they can to raise cash. That is why prices will drop in everything, as they did in the last big housing drop. Cash will be King, as they said during the Great Depression. Those who had it survived. This world market drop will cause businesses to cut more costs, and that means people. So the unemployment rate will surely rise again. Here is one last chart to show the Global nature of this impending crash. I have a chart below of the Nikkei 225 Index. It shows their index is also heading below 7,000. The Nikkei closed on Friday below 10,000 to 9,774, down 246 points, and it hit an intraday low of 9696.

Good luck to all who read this. I love to hear from you, so if you have a comment, please leave it. Let me know if this is useful, interesting and/or educational. Oh, and don't forget to take my Mini Poll survey on the right side of this page. Thanks in advance!

Art Cashin called yesterday Capitulation! But is it?

Art Cashin of UBS and a guest on CNBC said that yesterday's action was as close to Capitulation as it gets and he thought the bottom has been put in. Share volume was about 2 Billion shares yesterday which gave Cashin his confidence level. I am not as sure, as he is, that the bottom has been put in. I still believe we are headed to a Dow of 7,300. Even with yesterday's huge rally, we closed below the 20 day Moving Average on the Dow.

If Art is correct that the bottom is in, I think we are staying in this range between 7,990 and 9,700. That's a nice range to make some money if you are willing to get in. Play this range as it should last for a long time. Remember the wise investor is Buying when others are Selling, and Selling when others are Buying. If the market does go to the level of 7,300, I am confident it will hold and rally up a lot so be willing to buy anywhere near those levels.

UPDATE:6:15am PST
Art Hogan a frequent guest on CNBC also said we have retested the lows and we will be in a range of 8,000 to about 9500 for a while. He was the first to call the bottom back in October. So there you have it from 2 real good pros.

My take on today's market action and looking forward.

Today the markets confirmed what I have predicted last week. I said the rally last week was a Bear market rally and not to be fooled by jumping back in. I suggested buying Ultra Short ETF Funds such as DXD and SDS. Both are up now. In the case of SDS which is a short on the S&P 500 closed Friday at $89.89 and closed today at $104.75. That is a $14.86/share gain for a 16.5% gain. When I asked readers to buy this it was at $87.55. Overall it is up now 19.6%. Looking at DXD, which is an Ultra Short Fund of the Dow, it closed Friday at $79.31 and today closed at $86.20/share. That is a gain of $6.89/share for a 8.7% gain. I recommended buying this Fund at $70.50/share. It is up now 22.2%. Normally I would sell these with these gains, but the market closed at near the lows and I believe we are in for another drop tomorrow. We have gone below the recent lows on the Nasdaq, which is not a good sign for those wanting a rally. Also, the ratio of Insiders Buying is overshadowed by Insider Selling, in terms of actual dollars.

There are no good news stories on the immediate or near term horizon, and in fact, there was one negative news item today, as Hank Paulson, Treasury Secretary, announced he is changing the actions he had announced regarding the TARPS (Troubled Asset Rescue Plan which Congress finally approved prior to the election) "because the facts on the ground require a change in strategy," he said. This did not give confidence to the market. Many now believe he has not foreseen some of the current problems and has lost some credibility with the market. The markets function based upon confidence levels of investors and there appears to be less and less each day.

We are getting close to the 8,000 level and without some encouraging news in the days ahead, I fear we may take a run at the real market bottom, which I have said since September, is at about 7.300 on the Dow. If we do go there, that will be capitulation and we should not go lower.