The S&P 500's six-day losing streak, the longest string of declines in 2012, is now over. The index closed the day with a gain 1.60%, which was close to the intraday high. We're now back above the 1,300 level. The index is up 4.64% for 2012, which is 7.26% off the interim closing high set on April 2nd.

That was an apparently too-good-to-be-true year-to-date gain of 12.84% in 13 weeks.

From an intermediate perspective, the S&P 500 is 94.5% above the March 2009 closing low and 15.9% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

Below are two charts of the index, with and without the 50 and 200-day moving averages.

 

 

 

 

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.

These charts are not intended as a forecast but rather as a way to study the current market in relation to historic market cycles.