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... Wednesday's thinly-traded narrow range resolved just hours before Thursday's open. Gapping up 12-13 points to 2928.00 then trended higher relentlessly into the afternoon to attack 2941.00. Its proxy served to trigger an actively bullish WedEX. Thursday afternoon's final hour entry and proxy window gained traction, which the position-squaring window neither exploited nor rejected. Overnight action's new info... Globex initially consolidated Thursday's gains while ranging flat-to-higher up to 2942.50. That became slightly more pronounced into and out of Europe's opens, extending briefly to 2945.50. Its complexity creates a "new Globex trend extreme". The reaction has now retraced back into yesterday's range to test the 2938.00 earlier Globex low. If, then... (notes to accompany the Tour recording) This dip back into yesterday's range is testing the earlier Globex low, and breaking it through the open would reverse the trend down for at least the morning. There is meanwhile now another upside attraction or influence in addition to this afternoon's bullish WedEX. It's the overnight probe of fresh highs that formed a "new Globex trend extreme," which requires intraday retest. Thursday afternoon's traction doesn't immunize Friday morning from a pullback. And a morning pullback wouldn't necessarily interfere with the afternoon's plans. Regardless, keep in mind that expiration -- Quad Witch, no less -- can accentuate, accelerate, or prematurely abandon otherwise reliable signals. This being a Friday, the morning's bias tends to persist through the noon hour. First Trade... [Click here to view the Bias parameters] Exiting the open at 9:45 under 2937.50 would be unlikely to trigger the 2940.50 bias-up signal at 10:15. Exiting the open above 2943.25 would be likely to trigger bias-up.

Gap up maintains, until it doesn't. The pre-open drop back down to the earlier 2938.00 Globex low was absorbed. Its test had developed too early from too high to attract reinforcement. Probing back above yesterday's 2940.75 high neutralized the threat of a bearish morning. At least, that bullet was dodged, and now another shot has been fired. Probing back above yesterday's high surged through the overnight high's 2945.50 "new Globex trend extreme" to neutralize its attraction above. Extending to within 2 ticks off this morning's 2947.50 bias-up target 2-3 minutes pre-open then collapsed to 2942.25 2-3 minutes post-open. Bias-up ultimately triggered as 2942.25 held above the 2940.50 bias-up signal through 10:15. The bias-up signal was probed by 2 points through 10:30, but still overlapped throughout. That doesn't qualify as invalidation -- which would have been extremely unlikely, having avoided even its threat until well past 10:15. The 2947.50 bias-up target is in-play. Could the delay extend? Back under 2939.25 would suggest that yesterday 2936.00 last relative low will be tested. But the bias environment must lapse under its 2933.50 bias-down signal to invalidate its bias-up signal.

FRI afternoon signal (triggered at 1:20 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above 2938.75 2944.50 ...would target 2946.25 2952.00 Bias-down: under 2932.00 2937.75 ...would target 2926.75 2932.50 Signal status: NO-BIAS . NEW: 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.

The attraction is holding back today's highs. This morning's 2940.50 bias-up signal triggered cleanly. The attempt to invalidate it failed, while probing back under yesterday's high, and 2947.50 is now "unfinished business." A bounce into the noon hour reached only 2944.00 before reversing back down. And now the afternoon's 2937.75 bias-down signal is being touched. If  bullish WedEX isn't influening price higher, then it should at least attract this wrong-way trending back up. Today's WedEX has not yet done either. Back above 2941.25 would start to signal another recovery attempt underway. Otherwise, fresh session lows could test yesterday afternoon's last relative low at 2936.00 just as noise

Friday's open was a totally different picture from a pre-open attempt to reverse the trend down. Breaking under the 2838.00 earlier Globex low would have been bearish for the morning. But surging back up to the 2945.50 overnight high didn't prevent probing under 2838.00 anyway. The difference is that Friday's selling pressure amounted to 10-11 points off the highs. Applying that much selling pressure to an open under 2838.00 would have damaged the ongoing uptrend. Instead, Thursday afternoon's 2936.00 last relative low ultimately held as support. Similarly, all of Friday afternoon trended down from 2944.00 to 2935.00. It is an easily discernible series of lower lows and lower highs, forming an intraday downtrend. A lot of selling pressure was expended, while still failing to gain traction for the effort. The bullish WedEX by proxy certainly wasn't influential, so an aggressively bullish Monday morning is not at all reliable. Nonetheless, any immediate strength Monday would be credible retracing and reversing Friday afternoon's decline. "Unfinished business" at the morning's 2947.50 bias-up target remains outstanding, too. Join us at the Saturday Review to discuss paths up and vulnerabilities to extending down anyway... Details and other markets coverage are discussed in the post-market Wrap recording here. SATURDAY REVIEW BEGINS AT 9:30 AM ET.

MON morning signal (triggered at 10:15 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above 2935.25 2941.00 ...would target 2941.75 2947.50 Bias-down: under 2926.25 2932.00 ...would target 2921.25 2927.00 Signal status: BIAS-DOWN, BIAS-DOWN TARGET MET . NEW: 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.