Timing the market isn't easy. That's why we generally prefer to take a 'value' approach. Buy things when they're cheap, and eventually you should profit when the market revalues them.
But if you want to get a sense of when turning points might be approaching, sentiment indicators are worth looking at. These are about getting a feel for the mood of the market and investors. Usually, when investors are getting too gloomy or too confident, the market will do the opposite of what they expect. My colleague David wrote about some of the more market-oriented ones in today's Money Morning: Three signs that stocks are about to start sliding again.
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