Mid-day Update… Re-covered.

I’LL BE AWAY FROM THE SCREENS FOR THE SESSION’S LAST HALF-HOUR, SO MARKET WRAP WILL BE A HALF-HOUR EARLY.

If you saw my comments in the chaRTroom at last night’s Globex open, then you already know the North Korea missile launch hijacked the narrative from an ongoing decline. Its strong-handed sponsorship prefers selling into strength. Which they knew would be coming after weak-handed sellers had finished their knee-jerk reaction to a headline.

So long as there was only one headline. Another missile or escalation would have sucked in more selling pressure.

So, opening at the decline’s 2427.25-2429.00 target was reversed up almost immediately, and mostly relentlessly. The 2433.50 bias-down target was recovered in time to avoid renewing the bias-down. Slightly premature probing above the 2439.00 bias-down signal was retraced, and then recovered to test the afternoon’s 2444.25 bias-up signal.

Yesterday’s 2434.50 area close was attacked and tested almost grudgingly. Almost pessimistically, which would be bullish from a contrarian perspective.

It’s too late to trigger bias-up, or to invalidate the afternoon’s no-bias. That won’t prevent no-bias trending above it before the bias environment begins lapsing. Remember: This is still weak-handed sponsorship, which is often excessive. Probing positive territory is likely, potentially to 2461.00 before strong handed sellers start seeing the strength they prefer selling into. Back under 2441.00 would start to signal that they aren’t waiting.