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Minimum objective is fulfilled.

The inverted session-long decline’s requirements are similar to the session-long rally: Each timing window probing its prior timing window’s high, with one exception.

Today’s exception was the afternoon’s bias environment. The final hour just probed above its high. It’s probing fresh highs, too.

Higher highs aren’t required. They’re likely, but likelier on any day other than Fridays because of the oddities of Friday afternoons. Risk of reversing down can’t be dismissed, not as much buying pressure that was expended already, with no requirement above and weekend illiquidity ahead.

Meanwhile, the 3:10-3:20 timing window just trended up above prior highs, after the bias environment was exited above the noon hour’s high. Buyers gained traction for their efforts. That’s less reliable on a Friday, but it does warn to be cautious if selling.

Another way to trap weak-handed sellers.

When this afternoon’s 1897.00 bias-down signal triggered at 1:20, its 1891.25 bias-down target had been met already. Still, being a bias-down environment, the bias signal should define its upper-end.

If 1897.00 defines this afternoon’s bias environment, it’s as an inflection point. Breaking through it held 2 pullback limits on the way to testing yesterday morning’s 1907.00 high. And now another recovery’s fresh highs is attacking 1912.00.

Yesterday’s dips expended a lot of energy during windows that weren’t going to gain traction for the effort. But this morning’s dip waited until the noon hour’s entry  (instead of at the bias environment’s exit) to break lower. And that break’s selling pressure was satisfied soon afternoon.

So, instead of not reversing the trend down, sellers have been satisfied. The noon hour was just entered above the bias environment’s high after exiting the bias environment above the noon hour’s range, making fresh highs likely.

Sellers still not back in charge.

Sellers did only one thing today. It was pretty big, but their timing marginalized that thing’s relevant. And buyers are exploiting it.

Sellers absorbed the massive gap up and post-open rally. The morning’s probes of fresh highs all overlapped 1904.75 without extending above it. They were rewarded by a reaction down to within 2 ticks of this afternoon’s 1886.00 bias-down target.

But the downlegs timing didn’t reflect strong hands.

Reacting down from the morning’s high didn’t break the relevant 1892.00 level until after the bias environment had lapsed. Testing both of the afternoon’s bias-down parameters was recovered before the 1:20 bias signal triggered. Even no-bias trending above the afternoon’s bias-up signal was retraced well before its extension would have carried a much harsher penalty than just dipping back down to 1899.75.

It’s getting  a little late for any new trending, but the reward is fresh highs and potentially 1909.75. Reacting down could be productive, but probably not durable.

Final hour trending to new post-open extreme.

2:30’s 1877.00 print wasn’t necessarily contained within the noon hour’s range, but bias environment exit was overlapping the noon hour’s high instead of exceeding it. Anyway, its surge up to 1879.00 reacted down sharply to enter the final hour under the noon hour’s 1868.50 low.

Along came the tie breaker, i.e. the 3:10-3:20 timing window, which broke under the morning’s 1865.75 low. Sellers gained traction.

That extended down to 1861.50. If sellers got ahead of themselves, then they did a good job of correcting it, stopping optimistically short of touching the overnight low within 2 ticks, and reacting up to the 1877.00 bias environment exit — natural resistance.

Absent gapping up above today’s 1886.00 and 1889.75 highs, tomorrow morning is likely to probe under today’s lows.

Intraday down trend persists.

Exiting the bias environment above a prior high or at least without having probed a fresh low could have signaled a short-squeeze coming. But the bias environment’s 1875.00 exit was bouncing 5 points off a fresh low.

The bounce extended up to 1881.00, but that was still 3 points short of the prior high — which, coincidentally, was this afternoon’s 1883.75 bias-down signal. So, no short-squeeze.

In fact, fresh lows retested the 1870.00 low by more than 1 point. That was during the 3:10-3:20 window, which is being exited by a bounce to 1974.00. Back under 1871.50 would start to signal one more downleg targeting 1864.00.

The pessimistic sentiment seems pretty stretched. But that’s not always bullish from a contrarian perspective. Extreme sentiment can become a perpetual motion machine capable of accelerating the decline’s pace if not rejected soon.