Emini daily chart
- The S&P 500 Futures last Friday closed as a doji bar, following Thursday’s bull bar closing on its high. Emini likely sideways over next 2 days.
- The bulls want last Friday to be a pullback that will lead to higher prices in the tight bull channel.
- Bears want the bulls to be disappointed with last Friday’s weak follow-through. They hope the bulls will look to sell out of longs at last Thursday’s bull close.
- If the bears are lucky, today will be a bear bar closing on its low and possibly below last Friday’s close.
- The market has two bear bars closing on their lows over the past eight trading days. While this is good for the bears, they need to develop more selling pressure to convince traders that they have taken control.
- Next, the bears need to for two to three consecutive bear trend bars closing near their lows.
- The bears have the argument of a lower high following February 2nd. However, with the channel up from the March 13th low being tight, the best the bears can hope for is sideways until they can form more selling pressure.
- Overall, traders should expect sideways over the next couple of days. The bulls will try and get a breakout above the February 2nd high. The bears will try and get a downside breakout and close below the March 22nd breakout point high.
Emini 5-minute chart and what to expect today
- Emini is down 5 points in the overnight Globex session.
- The Globex Market has gone sideways for most of the overnight Globex Session.
- As of 5:45 AM PT, the bears are trying to get a downside breakout. Next, the bears want to test the lows of April 14th.
- Since April 14th had a big selloff, followed by a big rally, this will increase the odds of sideways trading today.
- If one looks at a 60-minute chart is clear that the bulls and bears are both trying and get a 2nd leg up or down following last Friday’s selloff and rally.
- The bears got trapped on the reversal up from last Friday. It is possible the market will have to test lower during the U.S. Session and allow the remaining trapped bear out with a smaller loss. This increases the chances of a possible opening reversal if the bears get a brief selloff on the open.
- As I often say, most traders should wait for 6-12 bars before placing a trade. Plenty of traders will trade after the close of the first or second bar of the day. However, several reversals on the open often require traders to make fast decisions.
- By waiting for 6-12 bars, a trader will have the opportunity to gain more clarity on the potential day type.
- Traders should expect a swing trade to begin before the end of the second hour and possibly after the formation of a double top/bottom or a wedge top/bottom.
- The most important thing is to be patient on the open and not be in a rush. Remember, there are 81 bars to the day, so there is plenty of time to trade. It is easy to become too aggressive on the open, and if one gets 2-3 losses, they will spend the rest of the day trying to break even on the day.
Friday’s Emini setups
Here are several reasonable stop-entry setups from Friday. I show each buy entry with a green rectangle and each sell entry with a red rectangle. Buyers of both the Brooks Trading Course and Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns have access to a near 4-year library of more detailed explanations of swing trade setups (see Online Course/BTC Daily Setups). Encyclopedia members get current daily charts added to Encyclopedia.
My goal with these charts is to present an Always In perspective. If a trader was trying to be Always In or nearly Always In a position all day, and he was not currently in the market, these entries would be logical times for him to enter. These therefore are swing entries.
Understanding that most swing setups do not lead to swing trades is important. As soon as traders are disappointed, many exit. Those who exit prefer to get out with a small profit (scalp), but often have to exit with a small loss.
If the risk is too big for your account, you should wait for trades with less risk or trade an alternative market like the Micro Emini.