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... Friday's Employment Situation report was greeted optimistically, but not so optimistically as to be bearish from a contrarian perspective. In fact, the 10-point rally from 2918.00 to 2928.00 greeted Friday's open at 2934.00. Then it extended to 2949.00 into the afternoon bias environment. But no traction was gained and the balance of the session ranged sideways as the cash session closed at 2946.00. The afternoon's bias-up had just triggered and its 2951.75 target was left outstanding. Also left outstanding was an intraday retest of Wednesday's 2961.75 overnight high. Overnight action's new info... Reports of difficulties in China trade talks were confirmed Sunday when Trump tweeted that tariffs will rise on Friday. Globex gapped down 28 points to Thursday's 2918.00 close and collapsed another 24 points from there to 2893.50. A bounce resolved down to 2883.50, and a more gradual reaction up to 2903.50 has defined a trading range that persisted through Europe's opens. If, then... (notes to accompany the Tour recording) Any downside with a greater purpose than simply backing-and-filling would require gapping down sharply -- at the very least, under Friday's 2931.50 post-open lows. That doesn't seem to be a problem based on current indications. Of course, opening too much deeper without gaining traction along the way can inhibit sponsorship, let alone reinforcements. The overnight collapse's catalyst isn't organic. Rather, it is in reaction to China trade talks developments. Fading reactions to those headlines has been highly reliable. Exiting the open back above 2920.00 would start to signal that sellers weren't gaining traction. Recovering 2931.50 would still be necessary for putting into play a retest of last week's highs. Otherwise, breaking under 2886.00-2892.00 through a relevant timing window would next target 2846.00-2851.00. First Trade... [Click here to view the Bias parameters] Price is too far removed from this morning's bias parameters to escape renewing the bias-down signal.

Post-open surge holds the overnight open. The post-open surge pierced Sunday night's 2917.75 opening print by 6 ticks, then reacted down to 2913.75. A sell signal is sitting one tick lower. Back above 2920.00 would resume the rally, next targeting 2927.50. Significant overnight resistance had formed at 2904.00. The open blipped-down to touch 2894.00. Breaking under it through the open would have been problematic to a recovery. Its reaction up quickly triggered the 2903.25 buy signal, extending since then up to 2919.25. A correction has room down to 2907.00 before suggesting something deeper underway. Something deeper would suggest that buyers weren't strong-handed, and fresh session lows could be tested or broken. Otherwise, no correction is needed before resuming the rally. But resuming the rally without a correction must still exceed 2927.50 through a relevant timing window to confirm that strong-handed sponsorship has absorbed the drop.

MON afternoon signal (triggered at 1:20 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above 2922.00 2922.50 ...would target 2927.50 2928.00 Bias-down: under 2912.50 2913.25 ...would target 2906.25 2907.00 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.

Consolidating the morning's recovery attempt. The open's blip-down to 2894.00 had reacted up sharply to test 2911.00. Forming a Rising Wedge from there greeted the bias environment at 2917.50. The window began lapsing at its 2924.50 high. Flat-to-lower ranging since then has held 2915.00 as support. The market is still deep into negative territory from Friday's close. It's still at or above Thursday afternoon's 2920.00 high. Its recovery would suggest that strong-handed buyers are targeting a retest of last week's highs. So, wasn't 2920.00 recovered through a relevant timing window? This morning's bias environment did start and finish lapsing above 2920.00 between 11:30-noon. But an interim dip down to 2917.50 still overlapped 2920.00, so its recovery is not complete. Exiting this afternoon's bias environment above 2920.00 or closing above it would still be credible. Until then, the recovery attempt is vulnerable to being reversed.

Sunday night's 2883.50 low is irrelevant, despite being 63 points under Friday's close. Much more important is that Thursday afternoon's 2920.00 high was recovered through the close. A new rally leg may not be underway, but retesting last week's 2961.25 high may be in-play. Avoiding a deeper meltdown Monday largely depended on holding above 2892.00-2894.00. It could have been probed if recovered during a relevant timing window. But only its upper-end was touched, and only by the session's first minute. The balance of the morning trended up to 2924.50. The afternoon's no-bias environment restrained itself from breaking higher until coming within view of lapsing. Then its 2922.50 bias-up signal broke higher with a vengeance. The next higher candidate for correcting the recovery was tested at 2934.75 before entering the final hour. Fluctuating equally around 2934.75 up to 2938.25 reacted down to 2932.00 before the close. No new "unfinished business" was left outstanding. The gap back up to Friday's close doesn't require being filled. But just avoiding a reversal down -- which is not at all assured -- would confirm new highs are in-play. 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 2939.00 2939.50 ...would target 2946.00 2946.50 Bias-down: under 2927.00 2927.75 ...would target 2920.75 2921.50 Signal status: BIAS-DOWN, BIAS-DOWN TARGET EXCEEDED . 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.