No News Is Good News

Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements:

Foreign Markets, Fair Value and Volume:

• In Asia 11 out of 11 markets closed higher: Shanghai Comp +0.39%, Hang Seng +1.65%, Nikkei +0.97%
• In Europe 12 out of 13 markets are trading higher: CAC +0.95%, DAX +1.48%, FTSE +0.09%
• Fair Value: S&P -0.82, NASDAQ +6.79, Dow -34.81
• Total Volume: 1.26mil ESH & 156 SPH traded in the pit

Today’s Economic Calendar:

Today’s economic calendar includes Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET, New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET, and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count 1:00 PM ET.

S&P 500 Futures: Choppy Waters

Chart courtesy of @Chicagostock – $ES_F After buyers got stuck > 2650 last Friday w this weeks p/b, they have been fighting to hold onto this channel and hold 2630. Need to overcome series of lower highs this week to get back to last Friday’s 2671 close & ultimately squeeze Dec 12 2686 high.

On Wednesday night’s Globes session, the S&P 500 futures traded up to 2645.50, then pulled back to trade 2636.50 on yesterday’s 8:30 CT futures open. After the open the ES traded down to 2630.00, and then back and filled before trading all the way up to 2647.50. After the high was in, the futures sold off down to the 2632 area, and then rallied, making a lower high at 2645.25. From there, the ES got hit by a wave of sell programs that knocked the futures all the way down to 2626.00 in a matter of minutes.

After making the new low, the ES made a series of higher highs just above the vwap, up to 2638.25. There was another small pullback, then the ES traded up to 2642.25, up +4 handles on the day. At 2:00 the MiM started showing over $600 million to sell, and the ES was trading  at 2638.60. Total volume was low, only 1.1 million contracts traded. On the 3:00 cash close the ES traded 2641.50 and settled at 2634.00 on the 3:15 futures close, down -4.25 handle or -0.16%.

In the end, the overall tone of the ES was ‘mixed’, nothing overly bearish or bullish. In terms of the ES’s overall trade, only 1.2 Million futures contracts traded, which would be on the very low side of what we have been seeing.

Daily HotSpots

HotSpots are times during the market trading session that for the past XX days have consistently moved in one direction or the other. These HotSpots are published each morning pre-market. The next day, a results post is also published and weekly a summary post.

CAUTION: This data is under development and provided only for research and teaching purposes

If you have questions about HotSpots you can contact us at info@mrtopstep.com.

Lookbacks:

The lookback period (number of days) is set at 21,13,11,8 and 5 days. A heat-map is generated for each of these lookback periods, the best trade from day is scored.
The period of time that has consistently produced the best results becomes the hotspot for that look back. There are also different look-back types like Taylor and Taylor Plus.
Taylor cycles are usually 3-day cycles. A Taylor-5 look-back would use the last 5 trading days skipping back by 3 trading days. Taylor Plus uses calendar days so weekends and none
trading days are counted as part of the skip count. If a lookback period falls on a none trading day, it is not used so a TaylorPlus will continue skipping back until 5 trading days are found for the heatmap calculation.

Get all of todays HotSpots here

SIGN UP HERE TO GET THE FULL MRTOPSTEP OPENING PRINT!

As always, please use protective buy and sell stops when trading futures and options.

_{Disclaimer: Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. Any decision to purchase or sell as a result of the opinions expressed in the forum will be the full responsibility of the person(s) authorizing such transaction(s). BE ADVISED TO ALWAYS USE PROTECTIVE STOP LOSSES AND ALLOW FOR SLIPPAGE TO MANAGE YOUR TRADE(S) AS AN INVESTOR COULD LOSE ALL OR MORE THAN THEIR INITIAL INVESTMENT. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.}