(all charts - monthly candles, 20yr historic overview)
Greece
The horror of the Greek market, nothing to add here...the picture says it all.
France
The trend is down, next level is 2750, then 2500...and the big 2000. A drop to 2000 would be a drop of 35/40% !
Germany
Even the mighty German Dax is rolling over, next key level is 5500 -a drop of 1000pts..around 15% or so. If that fails, then 5000. The ultimate issue would then be..' a break of 5000?', if yes, then 3500 would be next - which is some 45% down from current levels.
UK
Rolling over, next level 5250..then 4750..if fails...then empty air until 3500 - back to the 2009/2003 collapse wave lows.
Hong Kong
Still holding up very well, and currently displaying a little bull flag. First support at 18k, then 16k, then 13k. Right now, even 16k looks very unlikely.
Spain
The Spanish train wreck continues. Lets be clear, the Spanish market has been in crash mode since the February peak. The IBEX saw a classic fail at the 10MA, next key support is at 5000. That is a good 1800pts lower, around 25%. I would safely assume that if the Spanish economic depression is not soon reversed, the IBEX will eventually break the 5k level, and go the way of the Greek index, breaking 3k..and eventually sub'1000. An outright deflationary collapse.
USA
The Dow May candle is now red of course, is this the start of a major new down cycle - like summer 2010 and 2011? The next soft support is the 10MA at 12379, next main support is the wedge/channel of 10800, by end summer that will be around 11k. So, we have a clear 2000pts downside across the next 3-6 months.
A break of 10400 (October 2011 low), would be the first major warning of a deflationary collapse. Of course, that is almost 3000pts lower from the Tuesday peak. This is one reason why such warning levels are arguably useless from a practical point of view for the long term investor. A warning that only triggers after a 25% market decline...no, there is not much use in that.
The 'big money bears' will have stops at the recent 13338 Tuesday peak. For those using good short-stops, it really is a very clear trade right now.
Italy
Like the Spanish market, Italy is now about to confirm it is moving into a crash mode. Of course, the market is already down 60% from the high, it has not exactly been a great place for the retail investor since the 2000 and 2007 peaks.
A break of 13k opens the door to a huge 30% further downside. There really isn't any clear levels under 10k, but that's a long way down, there is no need to be concerned with that right now.
Japan
The nation of the deflationary collapse, peaked in March - after appearing to show an initial sign of a breakout to the upside. Instead, we now have a wave lower underway, first key level is the 10MA of 9100, and then the double low of 8200/8100. A break under 8000 opens up a fall to 7k. I'm unaware of what key levels under that are, although the big 5k would obviously be one.
The MACD (green bar histogram) cycle is now flat, and even a further small fall across May and into June would confirm a summer rollover.
China
Lastly, a look at China, which is possibly the most interesting of all the world indexes. China is sitting at the very border of either a major fail, or a major breakout. Which will it be this summer? A fail..would likely take the SSEC to the 1700 level - a fall of 25% from current levels. A fail at 1700...opens the door to a further 700pt to the ultimate psy' level of 1000. In my many years of following the world economy, I've yet to see a 'soft landing'. I'd guess if China were a plane, right now might be a good time to be putting on the parachute and preparing to bail from 2452ft. Its a far safer height than trying to exit at 1000 !
Summary - the ten world indexes
1. Already collapsed - Greece
2. In state of collapse - Spain, Italy
3. Confirming 2-3 month rollover - France, Germany, UK, Japan
4. On the edge - China, USA
5. Flat, still possibly bullish - Hong Kong
I've tried (really!) to be fair in this brief assessment. We have 3 EU indexes already in a mess, with 3 further EU markets rolling over - along with Japan. If both USA and China show weakness in the coming weeks, we could see them put in confirmation rollover candles by late June. Hong Kong, is literally an island unto itself, perhaps it can merely hold level, whilst the others start unravelling?
Looking ahead, the rest of May, and into June/July
We have seen major down waves in summer 2009, 2010 and 2011..and here we are again, facing another such wave. By late July, are we looking at the Spanish IBEX 5000, French CAC 2500, with the USA indexes - Dow 11k, SP'1100 ? Right now, that would appear to be the logical outlook.
If the Bernanke -and other central bankers want to halt this new decline, they better step in with new QE immediately! However, as I said to another trader this week, the Federal Reserve has never been pre-emptive in its actions. It has always been reactionary, and I'd cite QE1, 2, and op-twist as support for that view.
I have to believe the Bernanke will again be reactionary, and wait for Sp'1150/00 in the coming few months, before he feels the justification - and has the overall political/media/Federal Reserve board support, for a further dose of insane money printing to kick asset prices back upward.
