The First Trade… Take a number.

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…
Thursday”s opening dive extended down 28 points through its 2070.00 noon hour low. The balance of the session trended up to test and retest 2080.00. The 2082.25 target of another buy signal was still in-play. The cash session close was at 2077.00, neither breaking it to trigger lower targets, nor recovering above it to confirm that its support had held. No oversold RSIs or other unfinished business was left outstanding below.

Overnight action”s new info…
The buy signal targeting 2082.25 had been threatened by a last-minute 5-point dip, which had ended within 3 minutes to maintain the signal”s momentum. The target”s test defined the overnight high, which reacted down to 2080.00, and then slid to 2075.50 into Europe”s opens. A 6-point recovery was retraced to back under 2077.00, which is being tested now ahead of this morning”s Employment Situation report.

If, then…
I highlighted the 2082.25 target being met to make clear there is no nearby unfinished business above. No upside attraction can be relied upon this morning to prevent or to inhibit extending the decline under 2077.00. So, rallying anyway would be that much more credible for extending higher intraday. Similarly, there is no unfinished business below requiring a retest before enabling a rally. Reacting down to this morning”s payrolls report must be isolated to an otherwise irrelevant timing window — pre-open, or the opening 15 minutes — to avoid gaining traction for a deeper and possibly much steeper slide into the weekend.

First Trade…
There are no preliminary levels ahead of an Employment Situation report. Join me in the chaRTroom at8:55am ET for the pre-market Tour to interpret the market”s reaction and to game out opening strategy.