This is a nice case study in the usefulness of mating momentum indicators (if you could call averaging out candlesticks a la 'Heiken-Ashi' an indicator...).
'Heiken-Ashi' translates to 'average bar' in Japanese, and aside from being aesthetic as hell they're also a great way to cut out noise. Since the Heiken-Ashi [HA] candles are formed from an average of the open, high, low, and close of the prior candle they are able to reliably display the general "temperment" so to speak of the local price action. The formula is simple: Wicks up top with a clean bottom is bullish, vice versa for bearish, and anything with a wick on both ends shows indecision.
In combination with Bollinger Bands [BB] one can not only identify the markets mood, but also its volatility and relative mobility within the bands. Thicc BB means high volatility, and in addition to slim BB being the inverse; it often indicates a pending move (especially on lower timeframes). As well, the two 'channels' in the BB and their respective boundaries provide targets for entries as well as being indicative of the trend.
Using the SPX as an example two things readily appear: 1.) A bear trend has been established [HA] 2.) It's got a few hundred more points of 'room' to fall before its hits anything significant in the BB structure, which it historically bumps into bull or bear....but especially bear.
That's about it, technical analysis can be that simple.
The difficulty in trading is often the problem solving involved in risk management, not technical analysis.
That being said, none of this is advice of any sort; I don't even know how to read: Trade responsibly.