With the latest surge, the S&P 500 has experienced 17 Momentum Thrusts since 1980. Excluding the signal from earlier this week, eight of these have been accompanied by Breadth Thrusts and eight have not. The difference in the market’s reaction to such moves could hardly be more stark. When accompanied by breadth thrusts, momentum thrusts see strength persist. In these cases, the S&P 500 has never been lower 1, 3, 6 or 12 months later. On average the S&P 500 has been 15% higher 6 months after these momentum thrusts and 25% higher 12 months after the thrust signal. Without a breadth thrust, surging momentum can be climactic and the S&P 500 can struggle to make any headway. The average return 12 months after such signals is less than half the average of all periods since 1980. We don’t hang our hat on any one indicator or single signal. But the combination of breadth and momentum thrusts experienced over the past few weeks suggests investors should be looking for stocks to go higher, not lower, from here.
