• The longest such streak (since 1999) was the 24-day run that ended on 9/21/01. The second longest streak was 22 days, which ended on 3/21/01. There have been two other streaks of 21 days each, ending on 10/3/00 and 4/29/02, respectively.

• Except for the post 9/11 streak, which marked a climactic V-bottom low in the equity market, other spans seemed to define the first leg of a downdraft that "paused" for anywhere between 4 and 14 days before it resumed.

• Visually speaking, the pattern that developed when those prior one-day-wonder streaks ended was a "flag," which in technical analysis terms, often implies that a move -- in this case, the downtrend -- is about half-way over. 

• For what it's worth, the same also holds true for the two shorter streaks of 16 days that ended on 1/28/03 and 4/1/05, respectively.

• Based on past history, then, it seems that once the current streak ends ( i.e., we see two or more winning sessions in a row), the risk is that it won't be long before the market begins another push lower.

I would add one item to Mike's comments:  The wild swings in the markets, +/- 2%, with violent up 200 or 300 point days  don't typically come in healthy Bull markets -- these spasms are symbolic of  Bear markets.