With all possible counts for a basic advance from the 2011 lows having expired and a right shoulder (9/17/14) printed and confirmed by middle section counts we know that the bull market is complete. However, it never hurts to have some affirmation along the way that rallies like Friday's are nothing more than hiccups in the bear market.

The key to knowing if Friday's rally was the beginning of a new basic advance is in understanding the nature of Thursday's low. The low on Thursday was confirmed by the high of a flattened top (or point E of a non-symmetrical descending middle section) on 11/30/07. It counts 1,249 days to the high of the previous basic cycle (black) on 5/2/11. Thursday's low was exactly 1,249 days beyond the high in 2011. This is the first of two steps in identifying the sort of low that the bears would be worried about.

Thursday's low was also forecast with a count from an important low on 10/18/00. It counts 2,549 days to the high of the multiple cycle (green) on 10/11/07. All important lows must be confirmed with forecasts from both the basic and multiple cycles. Thursday's low was exactly 2,548 days beyond the high in 2007.

But here's the rub for the bulls. The multiple cycle forecast is a low-high-low count and not a middle section forecast. All important lows have always been confirmed with middle sections. The fact that one of the forecasts used a method other than a middle section should be a big red flag for anyone who expects higher highs in the Dow.

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