Trading Plan for 9/21

First impressions are always the best… Somebody should have told the market that this morning. Its opening drop was recovered to fresh highs — at least, to retest Friday’s prior highs. But that was all retraced back to the morning’s low for no net gain for the day. And any attraction above had been neutralized. [pay]

Pattern points… (Setups and technicals)
Tuesday’s last timing window trended down throughout. The afternoon’s bias environment started lapsing after 2:30, and the attack on 1214.00 slid to 1195.00. That’s nearly 19 points, in 90 minutes.

The slide’s sponsorship would have to be pretty pessimistic. Yet, the low stopped 1 tick short of touching the morning’s 1194.75 low, whose oversold RSIs had required its retest. That is in spite of having come within 3 ticks almost 45 minutes earlier.

Impatient buyers prevented neutralizing the oversold RSIs in all that time. This is not the stuff of a durable bottom. It’s not likely to be resolved like Monday’s bearish close, by dipping sharply overnight and then recovering before the open. But it won’t take much downward pressure after Wednesday’s open to trigger an attack on 1190.00.

Meanwhile, there is no unfinished business above. Other than some potential for a bounce to test 1205.00 resistance, no further strength is likely without putting into play 1221.00. Closing under 1187.00 could set a very negative tone through Friday morning.

What’s Next… (Outlook and opportunities)
Freshman 10: Have you set a reminder for Thursday’s special introductory workshop at 6:00pm ET? You don’t have to be new to get plenty out of it… Market Wrap: Don’t forget the post-close recording is now found in the sidebar, beside the Market Tour. [/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.