Today’s CPI Print Will Drive the Action
But this week has plenty left in store.
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Our View
As you know, I have been writing about the high price of crude oil for several weeks. The reason is with rates so high and inflation raging, it could be a precursor to a stock market selloff.
After falling earlier in the year, crude oil caught a bid at the end of June and has gone up ever since. It’s up 9 of the last 11 weeks and is up another 2% so far this week. Brent crude traded north of $92 a barrel yesterday — its highest price since November — and then took out that high this morning.
While the oil companies are doing great, the higher prices of energy will weigh on the stock market. Over the last couple of weeks, the PitBull has said there is no way stocks can keep going up as oil rallies, that “he just doesn’t see it.” Meaning many of the top stocks he follows are not going up or participating.
Another scary tidbit, 80% of all US dollars in existence were printed in the last 22 months (from $4 trillion in January 2020 to $20 trillion in October 2021). Putin and Xi are licking their chops and what’s going on with Iran and Israel? Any reduction in the flow of oil will put more pain on the US consumer and risk sending the US economy into a tailspin.
I hate writing about this stuff, but I also don’t think we should be overlooking it either; it’s too front and center.
Our Lean
Yesterday’s trade was slow, but that should change with today’s CPI number. In all honesty, I don’t know what is going to happen. What I do know is the ES’s trading ranges have been shrinking, as has the outright trading volume. @RealTraderDave said we could see a hot number. I want to see what happens after the CPI report comes out and just trade the levels.
Speaking of levels, bulls want to see 4500 hold, even though that level is very close and we could see some volatility today. If it holds and we rally, my upside levels include 4528-30 and 4550-56.
On the downside, a break of 4500 could put 4478-80 in play, then 4440, 4415 and 4390-4400.
MiM and Daily Recap
ES 15-min recap
The ES traded down to 4519.50 on Globex and opened Tuesday’s regular session at 4523.75. The ES traded 4521.75 and then rallied up to 4532.50, pulled back to the 4524.50 level at 10:11, and then dropped down to 4514.50 at 11:12. From there, it rallied up to 4529.50 at 1:09, traded down a few points to 4526.50 and then shot up 4539 at 1:25 after the iPhone event started and then dropped down to 4507.25 at 3:30 as the early imbalance showed $143 million to buy.
After the low, the ES traded up to 4512.25 and traded 4512.50 as the 3:50 cash imbalance showed $803 million to buy. The ES traded 4513.50 on the 4:00 cash close and settled at 4513.75 on the 5:00 futures close, down 25.75 points or 0.57%. The Nasdaq future settled at ? down 174 points or 1.1% on the day.
In the end, it was not an easy day for the markets, as the weakness in the Nasdaq overwhelmed the S&P. In terms of the ES’s overall tone, it was “follow the leader” — the NQ. In terms of the ES’s overall trade, volume minus the ESU/Z spread was low again. With the spread volume, we hit a total 1.85 million.
Don’t forget. The S&P, Russell and Nasdaq’s US indexes will rebalance on the close this Friday, September 15th. Changes were announced after the close for Russell 8/18 (prelim), 9/1 (final); S&P 9/1; S&P Select Sectors/Industries 9/8; and Nasdaq 9/8.
Technical Edge
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NYSE Breadth: 55% Upside Volume
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Nasdaq Breadth: 56% Upside Volume
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Advance/Decline: 47% Advance
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VIX: ~$14.50
ES — December Contracts
Can we hold 4500 on the downside and clear this week’s high of 4543.50? If so, the 4550+ range is in play. Below 4484, last week’s low, and things get messy.
ES Daily
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Pivot: 4500
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Upside Levels: 4528-30, 4550-55, 4572-75
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Downside levels: 4478-84, 4440, 4415, 4390-4400
NQ — December Contracts
Bulls will want Apple to participate on the long side today.
NQ Daily
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Upside Levels: 15,700, 14,780-800, 15,850, 15,950
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Downside levels: 15,330-350, 15,200, 15,030-50
Guest Post — PTG / Taylor 3 Day Cycle
Author: David D Dube’ (a.k.a. PTGDavid)
Website: https://polaristradinggroup.com/
Prior Session was Cycle Day 1 (CD1): Normal CD1 as price declined establishing a new cycle low at 4507.25. Prior range was 31 handles on 1.056M contracts exchanged.
…Transition from Cycle Day 1 to Cycle Day 2
This leads us into Cycle Day 2 (CD2): Price has pulled back to a more neutral zone within the 5-day value area. Consolidation continues as today’s BIG Event is the CPI print at 8:30 am. We’ll mark 4515 (5d POC) as today’s Line-In-Sand (LIS) with a “jump-ball” for directional bias. As such, scenarios to consider for today’s trading.
Bull Scenario: Price sustains a bid above 4515, initially targets 4530 – 4535 zone.
Bear Scenario: Price sustains an offer below 4515, initially targets 4505 – 4495 zone.
PVA High Edge = 4532 PVA Low Edge = 4515 Prior POC = 4528
*****The 3 Day Cycle has a 91% probability of fulfilling Positive Cycle Statistics covering 12 years of recorded tracking history.
For more detailed information for both bullish and bearish projected targets, please visit: PTG 3 Day Cycle and/or reference the Cycle Spreadsheet below:
Link to access full Cycle Spreadsheet > > Cycle Day 2 (CD2)
Thanks for reading,
PTGDavid
Open Positions
Bold are the trades with recent updates.
Italics show means the trade is closed.
Any positions that get down to ¼ or less (AKA runners) are removed from the list below and left up to you to manage. My only suggestion would be break-even (B/E) or better stops.
** = previously mentioned trade setup we are stalking.
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JPM — Many are long from $143-145. This is a longer term swing. Trimmed $153s, then $157.50+ on 7/24.
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Down to ½ position vs. Break-even stop. Can make small, ~10% position trim if we see $160+
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If worried about a larger correction, can sell/trim north of $150 and look to re-establish lower (if we get it).
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XOM — Long from the monthly-up area at $108.50 — Trimmed ¼ at $112.50+ and ¼ at $115+. Break-even stop and can sniff for $119-$120 for next trim. Can consider pre-market trim before or even after CPI print as XOM is trading ~$118
Economic Calendar
Disclaimer: Charts and analysis are for discussion and education purposes only. I am not a financial advisor, do not give financial advice and am not recommending the buying or selling of any security.
Remember: Not all setups will trigger. Not all setups will be profitable. Not all setups should be taken. These are simply the setups that I have put together for years on my own and what I watch as part of my own “game plan” coming into each day. Good luck!
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