Investors need to look hard for signs of where stocks are going from here and most market indicators are suggesting that the bull market that has carried U.S. stocks a long way from the lows of March 2009 is just about out of steam.

This current correction began quietly on July 8th but didn’t really accelerate until ten days ago and  escalating worries about the U.S. economy and Europe seem to be forefront.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has fallen 7.7% to 1353 in the two months since its multi-year peak of 1465 on September 13, 2012 — dragged lower by flagging corporate-profit performance and, of course, the rampant anxiety about the tax-and-spending Fiscal Cliff standoff in Washington.

One of the market’s measurements for investor sentiment suggests growing investor worry, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic.

The stock market’s pattern this summer of 2012 looks similar to what transpired back in the summer of 1987.