Trading Plan for 4/1

If fresh highs were not probed during Thursday’s pre-holiday session… then buyers wouldn’t have been criticized for not being productive. By the same token, actually probing fresh highs before the 3-day weekend doesn’t give buyers any greater traction.

Pattern points… (Setups and technicals)[pay]
Thursday’s opening action displayed once again the vulnerability at this stage of the pattern to probing and reacting down from fresh highs. But it was a shallow fresh high at 1559.50 — not even a new high, just the highest intraday print yet — so its immediate reaction down to 1554.75 didn’t fall too far or for too long.

That early reaction down helped to diminish selling pressure. So, a reaction down from the late-morning test of 1562.50 was also relatively shallow, holding 1558.25. Another shallow new high, another shallow retracement. The balance of the session could only range flat-to-higher, since it had become too late for counter-trend action.

Ultimately extending to fresh highs, but without RSIs turning overbought, suggests that price only drifted higher. This is not accumulation. Ending the day at 1561.75-1563.00 — essentially at equilibrium to the 1562.50 objective — suggests that the next trending attempt will also be retraced.

[/pay]What’s Next… (Outlook and opportunities)[pay]
This being a holiday weekend, there is no Saturday Strategy Session. Please don’t hesitate to post any chart analysis requests to this blog post’s comments section… Have a very happy Easter![/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.