Trading Plan for 2/24

2-1/2 days spent dipping back… into and under Friday’s range. None of those legs ever gaining traction. Did sellers finally throw in the towel Thursday?

Pattern points… (Setups and technicals)[pay]
Thursday’s 1360.50 noon hour high wasn’t probed until after the session’s last hour had begun. The break extended higher through the 3:10-3:20 window, which tends to be bullish. The cash session’s close was just above 1360.50 (just higher, despite having probed it up to 1362.75), which is just as bullish.

But the hesitation to blow through the 1362.00 overnight highs does concern me for the potential of another refueling dip before extending the rally. That said, a gap down has room down to 1357.25 before triggering a session-long decline.

Otherwise, Thursday’s recovery appears poised to extend into Friday’s session. The next questions to answer, then, will be what is the timing of retesting Sunday and Monday night’s prior highs, and is that early enough to allow time for its rejection, or late enough to allow extending higher.

[/pay]What’s Next… (Outlook and opportunities)[pay]
The next higher resistance has been 1371.00. This has not changed. It need not be tested before a reversal down gains traction, but it would help for clarity’s sake. Meanwhile, closing above 1371.00 would all but ensure extending higher next week.[/pay]

Look for at least one update overnight or ahead of the Morning Market Tour… My thoughts on the day’s econ calendar are linked here.