S&P 500 Snapshot: Flat Finish Friday

Before the opening bell, the stage was set for a Friday rally. Some strong bank earnings set futures higher, and optimism was compounded by the 8:30 news of healthy bounce in September Retail Sales. The S&P 500 opened higher and rallied to its 0.78% high about 50 minutes into the session. The index then sold off to a lunch-hour low, erasing the morning's advance. Would Yellen's 1:30 speech reverse renew the rally? Nope. The 500 traded sideways in a narrow range and ended the session flat ... up 0.02% to two decimal places.

The yield on the 10-year note closed at 1.80%, up five BPs from yesterday's close.

Here is a snapshot of past five sessions in the S&P 500.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Here's a weekly chart of the index, which looks to be in a slow rollover following its August 15 record close. 

(Click on image to enlarge)

A Perspective on Drawdowns

Here's a snapshot of selloffs since the 2009 trough.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Here is a more conventional log-scale chart with drawdowns highlighted. 

(Click on image to enlarge)

Here is a linear scale version of the same chart with the 50- and 200-day moving averages. 

(Click on image to enlarge)

A Perspective on Volatility

For a sense of the correlation between the closing price and intraday volatility, the chart below overlays the S&P 500 since 2007 with the intraday price range. We've also included a 20-day moving average to help identify trends in volatility.

(Click on image to enlarge)

​