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

NEW DAILY SCHEDULE First, watch the pre-open Tour recording HERE <<== Then, meet in the chaRTroom here by 9:15 ET for updates and Q&A

Through the prior close... Thursday's opening surge touched the morning's 2269.25 bias-up signal's resistance, then immediately reversed down. And not meekly, resembling Wednesday's opening plunge. But Thursday morning's drop lasted longer than just the open, falling to 2259.50. Bouncing out of the bias environment exit didn't last much longer than the open's surge, and didn't resolve much differently -- another plunge probed last Wednesday's pivotal low by 2 points down to 2253.00. But the fourth consecutive bias environment's 2:30 exit began a bounce again, this time back up to 2260.50. Oversold RSIs were left outstanding at the low. Overnight action's new info... Thursday's late afternoon bounce extended higher into the Globex open to attack 2266.00. Hovering there through Europe's opens eventually resolved up to a fresh high at 2268.00. Its reaction down is now trying to hold 2265.00 as support. If, then... Simply touching last week's 2255.00 pivotal low all but requires testing the 2248.50 actual low. They're not always done by the same leg, so an interim bounce isn't unusual. Last night's bounce could delay the lower low if maintained through the morning bias environment -- similarly, rejecting the bounce could soon retest yesterday's low and lower. Relentless overnight trending doesn't assure extending higher post-open, and is often reversed. Regardless, this being a Friday, let alone expiration, the open's trending could be predictive of the entire session. So, triggering bias-up, or not, could tell us where the entire session is headed. First Trade... [Click here to view the Bias parameters] Exiting the open at 9:45 under 2263.25 would be unlikely to trigger the 2265.00 bias-up signal at 10:15. Exiting the open above 2266.75 would be likely to trigger bias-up.

Post-open surge threatens new high. The overnight rally up to 2268.00 greeted the open at 2264.00. Essentially. A last-minute blip-down to 2263.00 spiked back up to attack 2268.00. Anyway, the spike didn't slow post-open, and extended to probe the 2272.00 bias-up target by 3 ticks. 2272.00 held through 10:15 to avoid renewing the bias-up signal. This is still a bias-up environment, so a pullback has room down to its 2265.00 bias-up signal. In fact, a probe under 2268.50-2269.50 is threatening as much. Regardless of a deeper pullback this morning, new highs are threatened, too. Just maintaining the open's surge through 10:15 suggests any dip will recover. Back above 2270.25 would signal the rally is resuming, next targeting 2278.25.

FRI afternoon signal (triggered at 1:20 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above  2277.75 2272.75 ...would target  2283.25  2278.25 Bias-down: under  2271.00 2266.00 ...would target 2265.75  2260.75 Signal status: NOn-BIAS, BIAS-DOWN TARGET MET FAQ INTRO VIDEOS #1 and #2 1. At 1:20, trading above the bias-up signal or under the bias-down signal would put into play a test of its bias-up or bias-down target. 2. Not triggering either bias signal at 1:20 would be "no-bias," and the bias signals should define the bias environment's range. -- A test of the opposite bias signal would be targeted if one bias signal was tested before triggering no-bias. 3. Touching the bias signal within 3 minutes either way of 1:20 would invoke a grace period through 1:30 to trigger a late signal. -- "Late" signals don't require testing the opposite bias signal, but it's still likely. 4. Still testing the bias signal at 1:30 after invoking the grace period would trigger "noN-bias," with no bias influence.

Morning's dip recovers only positive territory. Narrow sideways ranging between 2267.50-2270.50 persisted into the noon hour. The bottom suddenly dropped out several minutes later. Two downlegs tested 2263.00 and 2260.00. Which held coming out of the noon hour. The 2266.00 bias-down signal was being tested at both 1:20 and 1:30 to invoke the grace period. The 2260.75 bias-down target had been tested, before bouncing back up to 2266.00 -- which was still being tested at both 1:20 and 1:30. This is a noN-bias environment. Extending above 2268.00 would signal the rally was resuming, targeting fresh highs. Under 2263.25 would start to suggest drifting down into the weekend, targeting yesterday's lows and then lower.

Trending up through expiration's open did not define the balance of the session. Already meeting and holding the 2272.00 bias-up target was inhibiting to some degree. But that's not what triggered dropping back down to 2260.00, essentially filling the gap back to Thursday's close. Ultimately, positive territory was maintained throughout. The open's anchor is still an attraction above, as is the requirement for a new trend high close, and likely test of 2278.25. It's interesting that the rally couldn't exploit the opportunity for another new trend high close on a Friday, which would have further entrenched itself. Unfinished business below remains outstanding from oversold RSIs at Thursday's 2253.00 low, and at the prior week's 2248.50 actual low. There continues to be no particular timing requirement for either. Details and other markets coverage are discussed in the post-market Wrap recording here.

Saturday Review at 9:30 ET -- its link will be emailed overnight.

MON morning signal (triggered at 10:15 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above  2276.00 2271.00 ...would target  2280.75  2276.00 Bias-down: under  2266.25  2261.50 ...would target 2260.50  2255.50 Signal status: LATE BIAS-DOWN FAQ INTRO VIDEOS #1 and #2 1. At 10:15, trading above the bias-up signal or under the bias-down signal would put into play a test of its bias-up or bias-down target. 2. Not triggering either bias signal at 10:15 would be "no-bias," and the bias signals should define the bias environment's range. -- A test of the opposite bias signal would be targeted if one bias signal was tested before triggering no-bias. 3. Touching the bias signal within 3 minutes either way of 10:15 would invoke a grace period through 10:30 to trigger a late signal. -- "Late" signals don't require testing the opposite bias signal, but it's still likely. 4. Still testing the bias signal at 10:30 after invoking the grace period would trigger "noN-bias," with no bias influence.