Futures were down hard Sunday night (China was down > 10%) and with over 25 million SPY shares trading BEFORE THE OPEN odds were it was going to be bad. The NYAD opened at .01...I don't ever remember seeing a number that low. S&P futures limited down and were halted along with a slew of other issues while the beloved VIX jumped over 50%. Not a happy situation when the market plunges 1100 at the open (unless you're short). With tech leaders falling 8-9% and many of the large caps looking terminal the markets began a slow crawl out of S6 levels up to S3 and eventually S1 (for a while) before turning back down in the afternoon session and closing hard, fast and down on huge volume (4 X normal).
Now the bad news. Historically speaking, plunges like today's tend to revisit before achieving a meaningful and sustained recovery....hence we will be on the lookout for the telltale "hairy bottom" candlestick pattern over the next few days which may signal a possible recovery.
The SPY chart below does not begin to impart the drama that accompanied today's action...
