Fact 1: Pattern
Resversal pattern on hourly chart
Below is the S&P emini hourly chart.(basically the same as S&P chart) A head and shoulders pattern has been formed during the last 5 trading days.
Judging by the scale, this is the first reversal pattern with a scale large enough to be a proper one. And it's quite classic.
(mind the invalidation and confirmations on the chart)
Fact 2: R/S level and time cycle
Below is the S&P weekly chart
With the resistance level and the cycles, this is another strong confirmation with the reversal pattern.
Fact 3: News
The expectation QE2 has yeild too much into price. And now the market is doubting it's original estimation. It doesn't matter now of more or less the market think the QE2 turns out to be. Only the uncertainty itself would cause some risk sell-off.
Fact 4: Timing
The market expects details of QE2 (scale and structure) to come out on the next FOMC, which is on Nov 2nd and NOV 3rd. Any thing doesn't go way better than expected is gonna cause some serious sell-into-fact behaviour.
Conclusion: Everything is ready for at least a minor correction
Personal view:
To project the correction target, simply measure the same length from the head to neckline on the pattern, and move it from the neckline to the downside. That gives the target arround 1150-1140 area. Persoanlly I think 1150 could be view as a pivot level, so it might provide some good support on the way down.
If this correction happens as expected, 1150 may not be the end, but it would very likely be the first target.
Overall, my personal view is that this should be a minor correction, and the S&P should take another attempt to take the Aprils' high afterwards.(that's what the patterns on daily chart suggests)
RIght now, everything is still at early stage, and needs more confirmation. By the end of this week, we sould have a much clearer view ahead of the FOMC, hopefully.