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... The Fed Chair's second day of testifying offered only a single catalyst for a price reversal, but the session was otherwise range bound. An early overnight rally had twice stopped pessimistically short of touching Wednesday's 3007.50 high, albeit coming to within 3 ticks. This is potentially bullish from a contrarian perspective, but the post-open gap up also stopped short of prior highs. So did a late-morning recovery from probing negative territory, stopping 3 points short of the 2992.50 no-bias objective below. The morning and afternoon dips each recovered, but no traction was gained in either direction. Fluctuating around unchanged into the Position-squaring window -- and around 2997.75 -- suddenly surged to 3005.00. But it was too late to be strong-handed sponsorship. Overnight action's new info... Thursday's late surge initially consolidated, and soon recovered back up to the 3006.50 intraday high. Suddenly spiking higher quickly touched 3012.50, and then suddenly stopped. Ranging sideways since then has fully recovered a couple of dips, without breaking in either direction. The initial high developed in a singular leg, and and without there being any high complexity since then, there's also no "new Globex trend extreme" requiring a retest. If, then... (notes to accompany the Tour recording) Probing Wednesday's high had only become more likely, including a test of 3011.00. Now that's done, and a gap up above all prior highs is currently indicated. Gapping up and extending higher is required to resume the rally this morning, since it gained no traction yesterday. Not rejecting the higher highs would be likely to extend higher into the weekend, and a new high close on a Friday would entrench the rally and help to ensure recovery from a pullback. Otherwise, rejecting this probe of new highs early enough could find the Friday Factors' impending illiquidity forcing a steep reversal into the weekend. First Trade... [Click here to view the Bias parameters] Exiting the open at 9:45 above 3008.00 would be likely to trigger the 3006.00 bias-up signal at 10:15. Exiting the open under 3004.00 would be unlikely to trigger bias-up.

One narrow range begets another. Last night spiked up to 3012.50, and that's been the last sighting of volatility since then. The highs produced no complexity that might otherwise require being retested intraday. The 2009.00 opening gap above all prior highs would require being retested, but that was done already after reacting down to "lower prior highs" at 3006.50. But the 3006.00 bias-up signal did trigger cleanly. It was just probed by 2 ticks, but not until after 10:30 when that might have invalidated the signal if triggered much deeper. Back above 3008.50 should reinstate the upside momentum, once again targeting 3011.00. Perhaps eve higher, for waiting to rally until after counter-trend sponsorship would be less likely to interfere. Meanwhile, being a Friday and being within a couple of narrow extended ranges, extending under 3006.00 (being tested now) would be credible, while leaving 3011.00 as "unfinished business" above.

FRI afternoon signal (triggered at 1:20 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above 3008.00 3011.75 ...would target 3013.75 3017.50 Bias-down: under 3000.75 3003.75 ...would target 2994.75 2997.75 Signal status: NO-BIAS, TESTED BIAS-UP SIGNAL . 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.

Still range bound. Last night's narrow range failed its modest attempt to break lower this morning, holding 3005.50. Is that today's trending attempt? Fridays often contain at least one. And when that attempt is early, and it fails, the balance of the session tends to retrace in the opposite direction. There's not a lot of room above to simply retrace. In fact, the noon hour's exit at 1311.75 is 3-4 ticks off of the overnight high. And 1311.75 has been the likely upside attraction, so now it's neutralized. If the market does intend to trend more intently, then it would likely probe sharply lower session lows. And its probe would likely begin during this afternoon's no-bias environment, with room to the 3003.75 bias-down signal until the window starts lapsing.

Another Friday afternoon setup is to exit the afternoon bias environment probing a new session extreme. This is the only scenario that would be reliable for trending up to fresh highs. This morning's bias-up environment didn't exploit a similar opportunity.

Of course, the session can continue fluctuating narrowly sideways. I'll continue identifying setups in the chaRTroom, and continue cautioning that only those two setups would be attractive.

Thursday night's spike up to 3012.50 fulfilled expectations for testing Wednesday morning's 3007.50 high, and its likelihood for also visiting 3011.00. The balance of the night ranged narrowly sideways. No complexity developed, so overnight highs didn't require a retest. The lack of momentum was in-line with the two prior sessions having ranged sideways, themselves leaving no "unfinished business" above. Sellers didn't exploit the weak upside, other than dipping shallowly to pierce "lower prior highs" down to 3005.50. Which didn't even threaten turning negative. The balance of the session trended back up to test 3011.00. That's the result of a Friday Factor. Firming to fresh session highs through the afternoon bias environment exit is also a Friday Factor, and it is one of my favorite. It makes the balance of the session vulnerable to floating higher through the close. So, a 2-point dip to 3012.00 snapped back up and extended higher effortlessly -- as this setup usually is -- at a gradually steepening slope up to 3018.00. New closing highs on a Friday essentially requires an eventual higher close. So, exiting the weekend in decline would likely be only temporary. Meanwhile, the trend remains up. Details and other markets coverage are discussed in the post-market Wrap recording here. JOIN US AT 9:30 ET FOR THIS WEEKEND'S SATURDAY REVIEW.

MON morning signal (triggered at 10:15 ET) SPX ES Bias-up: above 3013.75 3017.50 ...would target 3019.75 3023.50 Bias-down: under 3005.75 3009.75 ...would target 2696.25 3000.25 Signal status: NO-BIAS, TESTED BIAS-UP 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.