Market Pulse
Mixed observation times, Oct 20–Oct 25, 2026 (5 days apart)
Market Memory

S&P 500 (SPY) rose 0.59% on Oct 26, 2026. How unusual is that?

Historical context, not a forecast. Every figure on this page describes what happened after past moves. None of it says what happens after this one. Historical market behaviour does not predict future results.

Latest move
+0.59%
759.97 → 764.42 · close of Oct 26, 2026
How unusual
53.5th
larger than 53.5% of all daily moves since 1993
Similar days found
1,557
within 0.25% of today's move
smallest moveslargest moves53.5th percentile

This series is the exchange-traded fund SPY, used as a proxy because its daily history is longer than the index series available to this site. Its moves track the index closely but are not identical.

On the record. S&P 500 (SPY) rose 0.59% on Oct 26, 2026. A move that size or larger has occurred on 46.5% of trading days since 1993 (3,951 of 8,491). In the three months after the 1,544 most similar days, the median change was +2.9% and 68% of them ended higher. Historical context, not a forecast.

Among rises only, today's is larger than 53.0% of them. 3,951 of 8,491 sessions since 1993 moved this much or more in either direction.

Similar days

Three ways of choosing "similar", each stated. The default is the return band; the others are there because a single rule is a choice, and a reader should see how much the answer depends on it.

Comparison mode

Same direction, within 0.25% of today's move.

What happened next

For each comparable session, the change from its close to the close 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months later. Rows are trading sessions. An analogue too close to the end of the data to have a full horizon is left out of that horizon, so each row's sample size is its own.

What happened after the comparable sessions, by horizon
AfterSessionsMedianMeanShare higher25th pct75th pctWorstBest
1 day1557+0.05%+0.04%53%−0.38%+0.50%−5.28%+4.81%
1 week1556+0.29%+0.13%57%−0.81%+1.28%−12.13%+10.04%
1 month1551+1.02%+0.52%62%−1.46%+3.02%−28.91%+18.13%
3 months1544+2.90%+2.10%68%−1.31%+6.53%−33.75%+29.96%

"Share higher" is the historical frequency among prior similar events, not a probability for today.

Historical distribution

A distribution, not a prediction. The one-month outcomes after the nearest analogues, and every horizon as dots.

One-month outcomes after all 1551 comparable sessions (return band)
0median-28.9%+18.1%670

Distribution of 1551 outcomes from −28.91% to +18.13%; the tallest bar holds 670.

Outcomes after the comparable sessions as dots, by horizon; the bar is the median. Samples above 100 are thinned evenly to 100 dots; the table holds the full figures.
1 day1 week1 month3 months−33.75%+29.96%

Similar historical dates

The nearest historical analogues and what followed each
DateMove+1 day+1 week+1 month+3 months
Mar 30, 2023+0.59%+1.41%+1.36%+2.93%+9.80%
May 15, 2019+0.59%+0.93%+0.20%+1.47%−0.41%
Apr 25, 2017+0.58%−0.06%+0.09%+0.86%+3.72%
May 7, 2014+0.59%−0.11%+0.63%+3.99%+2.23%
Mar 20, 2014+0.58%−0.83%−1.69%−0.38%+4.65%
Jul 1, 2013+0.59%−0.09%+2.34%+4.56%+4.12%
Jun 27, 2013+0.59%−0.41%+1.20%+4.66%+5.35%
Dec 10, 2010+0.58%+0.06%−0.14%+2.37%+4.47%
Feb 18, 2010+0.59%+0.21%−0.22%+4.56%+0.77%
Sep 22, 2009+0.58%−0.83%−1.00%+1.08%+3.98%
Feb 11, 2009+0.59%+0.07%−6.48%−8.98%+6.08%
Oct 22, 2007+0.58%+0.81%+2.38%−3.92%−11.08%
May 2, 2007+0.59%+0.54%+1.08%+3.04%−2.08%
Dec 26, 2006+0.59%+0.66%+0.06%+0.33%+0.28%
Dec 8, 2004+0.58%+0.35%+1.76%−0.29%+2.06%
Mar 18, 2003+0.59%+0.77%+0.26%+1.10%+16.46%
Apr 3, 2000+0.58%−0.74%−0.27%−6.94%−2.62%
Feb 14, 2000+0.59%+1.13%−3.25%+0.22%+4.14%
Oct 21, 1999+0.58%+0.85%+4.31%+10.47%+11.97%
Oct 20, 1998+0.59%−0.35%−0.00%+7.24%+14.81%

Nearest 20 by size of move, newest first. Select a row for the conditions on that date.

How different is today?

The same conditions measured on the day of each analogue, against today. A move of the same size in a different regime is a different event.

Today against the median of the analogues
ConditionTodayAnalogue medianToday is
20-day realised volatility (annualised)9.7%12.1%below
20-day trend-0.2%1.8%negative
Drawdown from the high-1.9%-3.2%below
Volume, z-score vs 20 days-3.3 σ—
  • Today's volatility is lower than in most historical analogues.
  • The 20-day trend today is negative; among the analogues it was mostly positive.
  • Today's drawdown is shallower than in most historical analogues.
  • Current conditions differ from the historical cases in ways the table shows and in ways it cannot.

Where the numbers come from

Daily closes from Twelve Data, series SPY, 1993 through Oct 26, 2026. Moves are day-over-day percentage changes in the close. The full method, the definitions and what this tool does not claim are on the methodology page. Provenance for every dataset is in the source manifest.

Last verified: Oct 26, 2026 · 4:48pm ET · latest close in the data: Oct 26, 2026 · 8,493 rows from 1993 · checksum 3019a7096db9e5af

Historical context, not a forecast. Every figure on this page describes what happened after past moves. None of it says what happens after this one. Historical market behaviour does not predict future results. Nothing on this page is investment advice. Full disclaimer.

Share the context

WEALTH SIGNALS&P 500 (SPY) rose 0.59% on Oct 26,2026.Only 46.5% of sessions since 1993 had a larger move.1557 similar days:Median 1-month change: +1.02%Range: −28.91% to +18.13%Historical context, not a forecast.wealthsignalnyc.com/market-memory/WEALTH SIGNALS&P 500 (SPY) rose 0.59% onOct 26, 2026.Only 46.5% of sessions since 1993 had a largermove.1557 similar days:Median 1-month change: +1.02%Range: −28.91% to +18.13%Historical context, not a forecast.wealthsignalnyc.com/market-memory/

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