The First Trade.

Proper context can start the day with a solid win and make all the difference.

Through the prior close…

In the end, retracing all of Thursday morning”s 24-point slide had expended too much energy. The bias environment was exited above the noon hour”s range, a range that had developed in negative territory. That”s at least enough to marginalize sellers. Then entering the final hour above the noon hour”s range would have triggered a short-squeeze. Fresh highs were probed, but not maintained long enough. The balance of the session drifted back to unchanged. Oversold RSIs were left outstanding at the 1918.25 low, and 1943.50 resistance held another test.

Overnight action’s new info…
Thursday”s last dip from 1945.25 initially extended down to test 1936.00. Then the recovery resumed, trending up to within 1 tick of 1950.00.

If, then…
Gapping up is half the battle to rejecting yesterday”s close under 1943.50. Gapping up sufficiently is the other half. Maintaining the gap up is the other other half. That”s right — three halves. That”s how difficult it is to attract strong-handed sponsorship at this stage. A corollary is that the three halves are well-rewarded by forming a “session-long rally” setup that trends up through almost every timing window. Another corollary is that not triggering this bullish setup after fully positioning for it would be equally bearish. Presumably, sitting still today is not an option.

First Trade…
Preliminary levels aren”t considered ahead of Employment Situation reports.