Going to Need Another Last Hour Bailout

The chart below shows the S&P 500 on an intraday basis over the last six trading days going back to last Monday (5/21).  We have also shaded the last trading hour of the day in gray.  Looking at the chart, it is hard not to notice the recent pattern of late day market strength.  Since last Monday, the S&P 500 has been up in the last hour of the trading day five out of six times for an average last hour change of 23 basis points.  The fact that investors are willing to buy into the close and take on overnight risk is gutsy, but as the market is showing us today, gutsy is not always the right call.  All bulls can hope for now is another last hour bailout.

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