The First Trade… Holding the range.

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

CHARTROOM LINK(s)
o Win XP-Friendly entry
o non-xp friendly (ilinc)
(pre-open Market Tour begins at 8:55 ET)

Through the prior close…
Trading overnight 8 points above Wednesday”s high to 2093.00 didn”t qualify as rewarding its intraday recovery for having gained traction. Dipping no lower than 2073.00 during Thursday”s open, and then only ranging sideways through the morning”s bias environment, only delayed the actual reward until Thursday afternoon”s bias environment. That was shallower to only 2089.00, and exiting the bias environment slid immediately to within 1 tick of 2077.00. The afternoon”s 2091.00 bias-up target became “unfinished business above.”

Overnight action”s new info…
Firming through the night repeatedly held tests of 2082.00, but extended higher to test 2085.00 after Europe”s opens. That only stretched the rubber band, which snapped back down under Thursday”s last-minute low. The probe has since extended down to 2074.00.

If, then…
A “session-long rally” setup is off the table since today”s open isn”t yet indicated to gap up. So, rallying anyway would be likely to reverse back down before the close. The most bullish scenario may be a rally effort limited until late-afternoon to 2091.00 — resembling a lot of flat-to-higher choppiness — and then breaking higher. None of which would be relevant if the open isn”t holding tests of support. I”m not aware of any scheduled high-profile events this weekend that might be anticipated as catalysts for widespread defensive selling.

First Trade…
Exiting the open at 9:45 above 2077.00 would be unlikely to trigger the 2073.75 bias-down signal at 10:15. Exiting the open under 2073.00 would be likely to trigger bias-down. Exiting the open above 2089.00 would be likely to trigger the 2087.25 bias-up signal.