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... Volume was lower during Thursday's session due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday. After a post-open plunge and its corrective bounce, the balance of the session ranged narrowly flat-to-lower. The morning's bias-down left "unfinished business below" at its 2493.25 bias-down target. That was essentially redundant to already requiring a retest of oversold RSIs at Wednesday's 2494.00 low. The 2499.00-2500.00 close was several points into negative territory, so the generally distributive pattern remained intact. Overnight action's new info... Thursday's sole trending attempt had been a knee-jerk reaction to headlines related to N. Korea. So was Thursday night's sole trending attempt, more successful than just an attempt. New missile threats triggered a 9-point slide to ultimately touch 2492.00. Both Wednesday's and Thursday's "unfinished business below" at 2493.75-2494.00 were neutralized. That was well before midnight, and trending back up since then has recovered to yesterday's 2499.00 cash session close. If, then... Wednesday's low had formed where it did because of the support offered by last week's 2495.50 "lower prior highs." Retesting that support post-open is likely to break lower, at least 6 points to probe under 2490.00, potentially 10 points down to 2485.00-2486.00. Retesting Wednesday's support overnight instead of intraday may have avoided all of that, but only if Friday's open extends the rally into positive territory. The open is positioned to do just that, by having bounced back to unchanged from the overnight drop. So, not exploiting the recovery opportunity could be exponentially more bearish than if the overnight recovery had simply failed. Exploiting the recovery could be rewarded by probing new highs, potentially to a bullish new trend high close on Friday. First Trade... [Click here to view the Bias parameters] Exiting the open at 9:45 above 2502.75 would be unlikely to trigger the 2498.00 bias-down signal at 10:15. Exiting the open under 2496.00 would be likely to trigger bias-down. Phonetic dictation... good morning and welcome it is Friday it's time for Friday's Morning Market to her interesting action overnight this is as we say in the states with a rubber meets the road basically we came into the session following yesterday's Russia Shawna session with the Jewish New Year with a lot of participants right there and set volume is expected Lilo that didn't prevent Post open plunge here just prevented it from extending or from recovering they didn't recover and Charlie we didn't get back to Wednesdays close entire session spent in negative territory not a productive session nothing predictive about it it did that would have probed under Wednesday's low which already required to retest because of its simultaneously so really nothing new none of them didn't change anything and buy anything I mean the ongoing distributor pattern and be the other internal observations we've been making that suggest things that there's a pull back on speculation in favor of safety and some of those other things unfinished business Wednesday it doesn't matter what the missile threats North Korea it was created by lower basically being the multi from the prior week numerical representation having already been influential likely to break through the lower end of that multi-session range which is 2490 well that would isolate and the balance of the session at least the morning with gravitate Trend up that would be the reward for having isolated this overnight programming neutralized the attractions below without in impacting intraday action for the open and consider the proximity to new highs to the highs the proximity says get just a little bit of a shove and there should be no problem probing new highs and this being a Friday new trend I close on a Friday in trenches the rally and suddenly all the other observations potentially barish observations become offset or neutralized countered doesn't it sounds pretty even or neutral but it's not because neutralizing barish influences actually is bullish Cuts both ways because considering the opportunity here to have isolated these retest for the retest of Wednesday the opportunity to have isolated to the overnight look at the 99 that overnight dip and if that is not exploited than the opportunity to produce new eyes becomes as much as it would have been bullish and it would have been pretty foolish could still be pretty boys so opening basically in positive territory at least through the open into positive territory that's the beginning of a scenario for the day if not for the market rejecting this opportunity opportunity to recover this overnight opportunity not exploiting that also preferably not gapping down yet to significant or that closed we're probably dropping potentially 85-86 999 Rudy's in a in a bullish opportunity having held 81321 fullback it's a retest having held at 80 80 closing but many 165 would be the last opportunity for this setup to prove that it has completed a pullback the pound bounced yesterday off of support that if broken under 1:35 would extend the pull back down to 132 certainly trying to avoid that and then they are see I don't have any signal here it's been pretty fast moving so for our opportunity in this venue just not anything that I'm going to be looking at trying to manage other than to point out a lot of pressure expended maybe from having stop pessimistically short of really thoroughly retesting its objective and it certainly was but not decisively before reacting not surprising precious metals in gold or silver we're not looking for any kind of recovery to gain any traction any attempt at recovering already from this pattern is premature and doomed to failure the bond long blond really stretch this out just to its maximum maximum potential without falling off the edge of the world basically while still maintaining the potential for another correct there's room it's just noise otherwise crude oil and it would basically you can go back to that have already been tested their test already neutral are there support already neutralized so that creates a sort of an air pocket 975-4880 but the point is that we have a proxy here at 50 breaking under 50 essentially all but also breaking out of these lower prioritize and their price just under 50 basically without jeopardizing the rally and it's not a good one and potentially totally destroying the pattern or if any of the distributive for this to maintain a good luck today.

Not yet extending the suppressed open does keep door open for a bounce. The open didn't do anything bullish. It didn't avoid 2495.50, it didn't trend up through the open, and it didn't recover positive territory. Nothing bullish, except delay extending down. That delay invoked the grace period, since the 2498.00 bias-down signal was still being overlapped at 10:15. It was still being overlapped at 10:30, too, triggering noN-bias. Not bias-down which would require holding 2498.00 as resistance. Not no-bias, which would have put into play an offsetting test of the 2505.00 bias-up signal. But noN-bias, with no bias influence. Back above 2499.00 would start to suggest a morning rally underway, regardless of there being no other indication for it. Originating from an unstable base would doom it to failure. Otherwise, back under 2497.00 would target fresh session lows under 2495.50, and potentially an air pocket under 2490.00 and lower.

FRI afternoon signal (triggered at 1:20 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above  2502.00 2499.75 ...would target  2507.00  2505.00 Bias-down: under  2496.50  2494.50 ...would target  2491.75  2489.50 Signal status: NO-BIAS 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.

Narrower range than yesterday. Thursday morning's post-open plunge had been productive, triggering bias-down and creating an attraction below. That initial shake-up didn't force its corrective bounce to resolve intraday. At least, not any more than slipping slightly into the close. Last night's plunge certainly hasn't forced its corrective bounce to resolve. Not, yet. Perhaps this afternoon will slip into the close, too, like yesterday. Unlike yesterday, not only slightly. Slipping into the close for a second consecutive session -- ahead of the weekend's illiquidity, and with support chipped away -- could be substantial. The most relevant question about an afternoon slide wouldn't be how deep, but how soon. Strong-handed sponsorship would make itself obvious as the bias environment begins lapsing, or sooner. By the same token, not yet breaking lower before the final hour would become vulnerable to a weak-handed bounce into the close.

Lower participation persisted through Friday, producing a narrowing 4-point range and a late break higher. The overnight plunge to 2492.00 had neutralized two attractions outstanding below. Bouncing out of the plunge overnight to unchanged at 2499.00 could have launched a second plunge after the open by having stretched the rubber band. But another dip had already snapped back a little before the open, robbing post-open sellers of that momentum. Only one more setup could have triggered another plunge -- exiting the open under 2495.50 for which there is no bullish reason to have revisited intraday. Post-open action didn't trend up immediately, but neither did it give way. That left the balance of the session with only a vulnerability to breaking lower. Testing and retesting 2495.50 only chipped away at its support. It also left the session with potential for bouncing. Nothing that would be considered durable. In fact, the only intraday bounce originated too late to be sponsored by strong hands. Ultimately, the cash session recovered all of Thursday's close to 2501.00. A literal last-minute 4-point plunge was mostly recovered. Again. Details and other markets coverage are discussed in the post-market Wrap recording here.

Join us in the chaRTroom at 9:30 for this weekend's Saturday Review. Its link will be emailed in the morning.

MON morning signal (triggered at 10:15 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above  2505.00 2503.00 ...would target  2510.75  2508.75 Bias-down: under  2498.00  2496.00 ...would target 2491.75  2489.75 Signal status: NO-BIAS 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.