Courtesy of Doug Short: The S&P 500 rose at the opening bell and broke out (briefly) above 1,800 — hitting its 0.23% intraday high 10 minutes later. The index then used Friday’s closing price as a trampoline while trading in a narrow range until the final 90 minutes of the day, when a wave of profit-taking dropped the index to a modest closing loss of 0.37%. Reuters, always eager to explain daily market behavior, attributes the late selling to Carl Icahn’s comment that he is “very cautious” about equities.

Here is a 5-minute look at the S&P 500 today with a bit of Friday for context.

Today’s action was on average intraday volatility, with the 0.80% intraday range at the 51st percentile of the 2013 intraday ranges. Volume was was 5% below its 50-day.

The S&P 500 is now up 25.62% for 2013 and 0.37% below the all-time closing high of November 15.

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.

- Phil

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Philip R. Davis is a founder of Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com), a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders. Mr. Davis is a serial entrepreneur, having founded software company Accu-Title, a real estate title insurance software solution, and is also the President of the Delphi Consulting Corp., an M&A consulting firm that helps large and small companies obtain funding and close deals. He was also the founder of Accu-Search, a property data corporation that was sold to DataTrace in 2004 and Personality Plus, a precursor to eHarmony.com. Phil was a former editor of a UMass/Amherst humor magazine and it shows in his writing -- which is filled with colorful commentary along with very specific ideas on stock option purchases (Phil rarely holds actual stocks). Visit: Phil's Stock World (www.philstockworld.com)

© 2013 Copyright PhilStockWorld - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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