The Count of the Market

The Trend of the Market

Averages Close at High for the Year—Cumulative Advance-Decline Line 20,034 Issues Below August Peak—New Lows Exceed New Highs Sixth Week—The Week’s Count All but Even

By the Editor

The S. & P. 500 finished the week at 7,811.54, the highest Friday close of the year. Underneath the average, the count of the market has gone the other way. The cumulative advance-decline line made its peak on August 14 at 9,774. In the eight weeks since, it has given back 20,034 issues, and it now stands at −10,260, below where it began the year.

The week’s own count was nearly even: 5,547 issues advanced and 5,514 declined. An average that rises while the count falls is being carried by fewer stocks.

New
Lows

New lows have outnumbered new highs in each of the last six weeks. This week the exchanges recorded 761 new highs against 1,714 new lows. The ten-week average of issues advancing is 44.0 per cent, the lowest reading since the end of March.

None of this says the averages must turn. It says the advance has narrowed, and that the count has not confirmed the high. Whether that is a warning or only a pause, the count will show in the weeks ahead.

Market Charts

The Price of the Market Against the Count of the Market

— Weekly, January 2, 2026 – October 9, 2026 —

Fig. 1.—S. & P. 500 weekly close, drawn as an open ribbon (above), and the cumulative advance-decline line for all U.S. exchanges (below), with readings under zero on the stippled ground, January 2, 2026 to October 9, 2026. Since August 14 the index has gained 0.3 per cent while the line has fallen 20,034 issues.

Per Cent of Issues Advancing

Fig. 2.—Weekly share of issues that advanced, measured from 50 per cent. Hatched bars mark up weeks for the average stock, open bars on the stippled ground mark down weeks. The heavy line is the ten-week average.

New Highs Less New Lows

Fig. 3.—Weekly new 52-week highs minus new lows, all exchanges. Below the line every week since September 4. The heavy line is the four-week average.

MARKET STATISTICS

	S. & P. 500		Advances & Declines			New
	Close	Change	Net	Cumulative	Pct. Adv.	Highs	Lows	Tone

The last eight weeks. Tone compares the week’s breadth with the week’s price move. Back numbers for all 41 weeks since January 2, 2026 are on file.

From the Editor

Why We Call It the Count of the Market

A Note on Col. Leonard P. Ayres, 1879–1946, and the Daily Tally He Began

Leonard Ayres served as chief statistician of the Army in the First World War. He later became vice president and economist of the Cleveland Trust Company, where he wrote its monthly Business Bulletin. With his assistant, James F. Hughes, he kept a daily tally of how many stocks rose and how many fell. He called it the count of the market.

“I think this will make an interesting stock market statistic.”AYRES TO HUGHES, AS HUGHES RECALLED IT IN 1951

The average tells you how far the market moved. The count tells you how many stocks went along. This publication keeps that count every week, in the manner Ayres began it.