Fact: The S&P 500 Hasn't Moved Up Or Down 0.5% For 9 Straight Days

Here's an interesting fact courtesy of Ryan Detrick of LPL Financial: The S&P 500 index hasn't gained or lost more than 0.5 percent in a single day for nine straight sessions.

S&P 500 futures have been stuck in a trading range over the last eight days, bouncing between a low of 2151.25 to 2172.50 which marks the index's all-time high.

In fact, the last six highs in the index occurred just above the all-time closing highs of 2067.50 from 2168.00 to 2172.50.

Is The S&P Stuck In A Bubble?

According to LPL Research, it isn't yet known if the S&P 500 is stuck in a bubble and this won't be known until well after the fact.

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Meanwhile, the 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of the companies that make up the S&P 500 index recently broke out to an 11-year high after several attempts of trading near the level.

"If all you had was this chart, you could argue prices are extended and maybe a bubble could be forming," LPL Research noted.

However, looking at a different chart could lead to a completely different outcome.

The S&P 500 index peaked in August 2000 — roughly 16 years ago. Looking at a 16-year annualized return shows a most recent reading of 2 percent marking the lowest level since July 1982 and August 1953. Both of these periods correspond to the early stages of a major bull rally.

"Therefore, either now is the worst time to be long stocks since the tech bubble, or the best buying opportunity since 1982," the report stated. "That’s confusing, isn’t it? In reality, we are probably somewhere in the middle of these two extremes — and not in a bubble. We continue to think we are late in the economic cycle, but the odds of a recession over the next year or two may still be rather low."

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