No. 20, May 15, 2026 · The Count of the Market

The Trend of the Market

Averages Close at High for the Year—Cumulative Advance-Decline Line 7,581 Issues Below February Peak—New Highs Exceed New Lows Sixth Week—The Week’s Count Narrow

By the Editor

The S. & P. 500 finished the week at 7,408.50, the highest weekly 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 February 20 at 6,585. In the twelve weeks since, it has given back 7,581 issues, and it now stands at −996, below its starting point.

The week’s own count was narrow: 3,108 issues advanced and 7,739 declined. An average that rises while the count falls is being carried by fewer stocks.

New
Highs

New highs have outnumbered new lows in each of the last six weeks. This week the exchanges recorded 1,736 new highs against 879 new lows. The ten-week average of issues advancing is 49.2 per cent, the highest reading since early March.

None of this says the averages must turn. It says the advance has narrowed, and that the count has not confirmed the high.

Market Charts

The Price of the Market Against the Count of the Market

— Weekly, January 2, 2026 – May 15, 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 May 15, 2026. Since February 20 the index has gained 7.2 per cent while the line has fallen 7,581 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. Above the line every week since April 10. 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 20 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.