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

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... Already posturing defensively ahead of Friday's Employment Situation report helped to absorb its news. Trending down 21 points from the 3004.00 overnight high to greet the news at 2983.25 proved more pessimistic than its reaction. Falling 12 points through the first hour got to 2971.25, fulfilling the room for noise under its 2973.00 renewed bias-down objective. Bouncing back up to 2989.50 through the noon hour extended higher into the final hour to touch the rally's original 2997.75 target. Friday's final hour drifted back down to 2988.25, where a last-minute surge did nothing relevant. Overnight action's new info... Friday's last-minute surge from 2988.25 was largely retraced by a blip-up at Sunday night's open attacking 2995.00. But only momentarily before extending lower through midnight. Bouncing from 2978.75 greeted Europe's opens at 2993.00, and extended higher to 2988.75. Its reaction down has been holding 2993.00 as support. If, then... (notes to accompany the Tour recording) Oversold RSIs at the 2971.25 low will require its eventual retest. That is competing against Thursday night's 3004.00 high, a "new Globex trend extreme" that requires intraday retest. But Friday's close was not in the orbit of either. Friday afternoon's rally did gain traction for its effort. This setup typically rewards its sponsorship overnight and/or through the following morning, albeit less reliable over the weekend, but still likely if not already trending down at Monday's open. Last night's action will qualify as trending down if maintained through the open. But I'll give the rally a benefit of the doubt if it the open is making a fresh recovery above 2989.00. First Trade... [Click here to view the Bias parameters] Exiting the open at 9:45 under 2981.50 would be likely to trigger the 2984.00 bias-down signal at 10:15. Exiting the open above 2985.50 would be unlikely to trigger bias-down.

And holding support. After already having tested its 2977.00 bias-down target, the 2984.00 bias-down signal triggered late. That still put into play a retest of 2977.00. Which is already done. My pre-open update already noted the likely test of 2977.00, which the open quickly tested down to 2975.50. At least a bounce to 2984.00 was put into play by the reaction off of 2977.00. The bounce's target was met at 10:15 to invoke the grace period, which ultimately held to trigger late no-bias. It's too late to renew the bias-down signal by exceeding its 2977.00 bias-down target. But it's still a bias-down environment. So, any fresh low under 2975.50 would target a retest of Friday's 2971.25 low down to 2965.50. Meanwhile, the 2984.00 bias-down signal should define the bias environment's upper-end. Recovering it after the window begins lapsing could resume the rally to test "unfinished business" at 3004.00 and higher.

MON afternoon signal (triggered at 1:20 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above 2982.00 2985.50 ...would target 2989.00 2992.50 Bias-down: under 2970.25 2974.00 ...would target 2963.25 2967.00 Signal status: NO-BIAS . BIAS VIDEOS... INTRO // EXAMPLE 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.

Neither bias signal touched. The open's jostling between this morning's 2977.00 bias-down target and 2984.00 bias-down signal persisted into noon. The noon hour probed slightly lower to 2974.50 but didn't extend down. This afternoon's 2974.00 bias-down signal wasn't touched, and now this afternoon has triggered no-bias. Bouncing to 2979.50 is reacting down, with potential to test 2974.00 while it should define the window's lower-end. Still not recovering at the bias environment's exit would remain vulnerable to extending lower, back to Friday's 2971.25 low and down to 2965.50. Bouncing into the bias environment's exit would suggest that this morning's backing-and-filling was done.

SPECIAL REQUEST: I'm looking for fresh user comments (i.e. blurbs, testimonials, comments) and would appreciate very much if you would take a couple of minutes share your thoughts. Please email me or reply to an Email Alert. Thank you!

Rallying Monday morning wasn't likely if the open were not greeted already in really mode. Which it wasn't. Sunday night's slide from Friday's 2990.50/2995.00 close had reached 2978.75. It was probed at the open down to 2975.50. The balance of the session ranged choppily sideways, attacking 2985.00 and later probing fresh lows twice. Those probes of fresh lows held, as did probes above the 2981.50 opening print. As important as the probes is the probes' timing. Two probes under the open's low were isolated -- to the noon hour, and to the afternoon bias environment exit -- but neither extended down. And neither was much exploited by buyers, bouncing shallowly both times. Rallying Tuesday morning would require gapping up to and through Friday's 2990.50/2995.00 close. Any shallower pre-open strength would at least remain vulnerable to reversing down through Tuesday morning. SPECIAL REQUEST: I'm looking for fresh user comments (i.e. testimonials, comments, blurbs) and would appreciate very much if you would take a couple of minutes share your thoughts. Please email me (or reply to an Email Alert). Thank you! Details and other markets coverage are discussed in the post-market Wrap recording here. Monitor overnight Globex trading in the chaRTroom here.

TUE morning signal (triggered at 10:15 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above 2978.25 2981.50 ...would target 2983.25 2986.50 Bias-down: under 2969.50 2973.00 ...would target 2962.25 2965.50 Signal status: LATE NO-BIAS, TESTED BIAS-DOWN SIGNAL . BIAS VIDEOS... INTRO // EXAMPLE 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.