Posts Tagged ‘es’

A winner on the ES in the afternoon and that was it as we had another 1.5 billion NASDAQ share trading session, this time with a gap up.

Net ticks: +9 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

After adjusting the entry a few times as the market drifted higher in the morning after a gap up, we finally triggered short after lunch at A at 1634.50, hit first target for 6 ticks, adjusted the stop 3 times, and stopped the final piece at 1631.50 at B for 12 ticks:

Very light volume in the markets most of the session, although volume ticked up late and got us to 1.5 billion NASDAQ shares. See ES section for review.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1632.75 and stopped for 7 ticks. He didn’t put it back in, which is unfortunate because it turned around and worked exactly as it should have in the first place, all the way across the Value Area:

Nothing triggered from the calls after a big gap down session that actually tried to fill the gaps (didn’t quite get there) and then rolled to the VWAP for the afternoon on light volume of 1.4 billion NASDAQ shares.

Net ticks: +0 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

A winner in the ES to start the week on a light volume, narrow-ranged session.

Net ticks: +5.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1644.50, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half for 5 ticks in the money:

Two calls, one triggered, and we got a nice winner on the ES. See that section below. Volume lightened up and was only 1.5 billion NASDAQ shares.

Net ticks: +13.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at 1605.00 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks, lowered stop repeatedly and stopped second half 21 ticks in the money:

Same issue as the prior session, although Tuesday saw less volume in the markets (1.7 billion NASDAQ shares). We had a nice setup that swept once and stopped, then worked a little the second time. See ES below.

Net ticks: -1 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at 1640.50 at A and stopped for 7 ticks, then triggered again at B, hit first target for 6 ticks and stopped at the same levels after we lowered the stop twice:

Mark’s opening range call stopped once and worked the second time for about a wash. See the ES section below. Volume was good but the market was very choppy. We really didn’t address any of the Levels on the ES or NQ properly.

Net ticks: -1 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1630.25, stopped for 7 ticks, then he put it right back in and it worked to the first target for 6 ticks and stopped the final leg also at that price:

Our NQ triggered heading into lunch, and after giving it a fair shot, Mark closed it down around the entry, which ended up being a good thing. Nothing else triggered. See that section below.

Net ticks: -1 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

NQ:

Just a reminder that we use half points for ticks on the NQ and not the quarter point measurement that the exchanges switched to in recent years. This allows us to use 6 ticks as a key target as we do on the other contracts. It also keeps the value of a tick at $10, closer to the value of a tick on the other contracts.

Mark’s call triggered long at 3016.50 at A, missed first target by a tick, and after another 20 minutes or so, Mark closed it under the entry by a tick heading into lunch:

Big gap days are not usually much fun. The markets gapped up big, with the ES clearing the R2 level and traded even higher in early action. We then formed an inverted cup and handle, which finally broke over lunch, sweeping us on one trade before it worked a little on the second entry. Ultimately, we filled the gap for the session in the afternoon. See ES below.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1664.00 and stopped for 7 ticks, then triggered again shortly after, hit first target for 6 ticks and stopped second half over the entry:

A winner on the ES to close out the week in what was a slow session as expected heading into the long weekend. Volume closed at 1.3 billion NASDAQ shares. We resume Monday.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at 1642.50 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped second half under the entry:

Big winner in the ES for the session after what seemed like a ridiculously slow first hour (although it set the breakout level several times).

Net ticks: +20 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

After hitting the UBreak/VAH several times and looking frozen for the first hour, our call triggered long at A at 1648.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and I raised the stop several times until the final exit for 34 ticks at 1657.00 at B:

Our call did not trigger on a light-volume Monday with a lack of range. We retraced to the VWAP repeatedly.

Net ticks: +0 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Note the 9-bar setup against the UBreak was the stall out point over lunch:

A boring session with a small winner that only hit the first target and a late-day trigger. NASDAQ volume was 1.6 billion shares, and the ES stuck in a 6 point range for most of the session. See ES section below for the two recaps.

Net ticks: +3.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

The short triggered at A at 1622.75, hit first target for six ticks, and stopped the second half over the entry. The long triggered in the last half hour at B at 1629.25 and ended up closing for a tick given the time of day:

A nice call swept and stopped once before working. Today was much slower than the prior two days in the market, although volume was back up to 1.7 billion NASDAQ shares. We did see a drop late in the session on rumors about Bernanke.

Net ticks: -1.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1527 and stopped for 7 ticks, then triggered again at B, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the final piece at 1525.75 at C:

A clean, single-direction move in the markets to the upside on 1.6 billion NASDAQ shares gave us a nice winner for the session. See ES below.

Net ticks: +9 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s long triggered at A at 1621.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and after raising the stop 4 times, stopped 12 ticks in the money at 1624.75 at B:

Volume was much better early, although it really drifted off in the second half and only closed at 1.6 billion shares on the NASDAQ. We had a winner on the ES, see that below.

Net ticks: +3 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1617.75, hit the first target for 6 ticks but didn’t get through so not everyone would have been filled. Because we had the gap below and were stalling out at R2, I closed at 1618.50. There was also a nice setup falling back under UBreak for the gap fill:

One small winner that took forever and eventually would have been a big winner but took too long and stopped out the second half first. The market gapped up and never looked back, especially once it broke the UPT on the ES. Volume was 1.7 billion NASDAQ shares.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Well, that’s pretty much an example of what’s wrong with the market recently. The ES call triggered long at A at 1586.50, hit first target for 6 ticks at B, which took long enough, and then we adjusted the stop on the second half under the entry and it stopped after another 30 minutes, and then finally shot up like we would have wanted in the first place and hit R2:

Another nice setup, another trigger and fail. See ES below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1589.25 and stopped for 7 ticks. Couldn’t break the Pivot and fill the gap inside the Value Area:

Mark’s call on the ES triggered long and he finally closed at even after an hour of no movement (it eventually would have worked). NASDAQ volume was horrible at only 1.3 billion shares. Three other calls did not trigger.

Net ticks: +0 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s long triggered at A at 1586.50, and he closed it at the same price after almost an hour:

To show you how bad things are in futures right now, we have a perfect setup that combines essentially the Value Area, the opening range, and the gap fill and can’t even cover the 6 ticks to get there on a Friday. Unreal. See ES below. We ended up trying again in the afternoon and failed, then slipped back to the VWAP on 1.5 billion NASDAQ shares.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Nice setup triggered at A at 1580.50, couldn’t even reach the 6 ticks up to the gap fill. Note that the Comber gave a 13 buy signal at the low:

A flat session after a flat opening. The ES stuck in just 7 points of range on 1.65 billion NASDAQ shares, and that was with AAPL trading about 20 million more than usual.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1572.75, hit the first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the final piece over the entry:

Another light volume day in the markets with 1.4 billion NASDAQ shares traded. We had an initial stop out (swept the entry) before two winners. See ES below.

Net ticks: +4 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

The short triggered at A at 1556.50 and stopped, then triggered again at B, hit the first target, stalled at the Pivot, and stopped over the entry for the second half. The long triggered at 1563.00 at C, hit first target for 6 ticks, and I raised the stop a few times and finally stopped under the R1 level at D for 11 ticks:

Volume picked up a bit, and the market gapped up and kept going early, then flattened out the rest of the session. See the ES below. NASDAQ volume did get to almost 1.7 billion shares, a big improvement over Monday and Tuesday.

Net ticks: -8 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

We got a Comber 13 sell signal on the ES and used it for a short entry at A at 1578.25, which stopped for 8 ticks. Never violated the risk line, but that was too much risk to show on a 15-minute timeframe. Meanwhile, we then got a 13 sell signal on the 5-minute chart below, which again was the high of the session (second day in a row), but we didn’t roll over much:

All charts for all asset classes in our reports have been shifted to eSignal 11 screenshots effective today. There is a slightly different (but cleaner) look to these charts. They also show as EST.

Not much market volume again. Took an ES short on a Comber sell signal that didn’t work, but we will discuss below. Volume was horrible again.

Net ticks: ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Note that when we make calls in the Messenger, we try to keep them to calls based on the Levels with 6 ticks of risk (plus one for the spread). We don’t typically make calls based on the Comber and Seeker signals because they often require a bit more finesse when it comes to the entry point (not usually a “fixed” number) and a stop (should go over the “risk” level). In this case, since volume was so bad and there wasn’t anything else to call, I made a call looking to roll over after the Comber 13 sell signal. It was a short at 1565.50. That triggered at A and stopped out for the 7 ticks, but as you can see on the chart, it used the risk line perfectly and never stopped out if you used that, which is really the stop you should use on any Comber/Seeker call:

One trigger on the ES. The other calls didn’t trigger. See that section below. Market volume dropped to its lowest yet, barely clearing 1 billion NASDAQ shares in the last 40 minutes.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1544.50 and stopped for 7 ticks:

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at 1539.00 at A and stopped for 7 ticks, then retriggered at the same price at B, hit first target for 6 ticks, stopped second half under the entry just barely over lunch while retesting the VWAP:

One call that worked, one that didn’t trigger. See ES below. The volume dropped off sharply in the markets again, back down to 1.35 billion NASDAQ shares.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1555.25, hit the first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half under the entry. Note that the UPT/Value Area High was the high at B and the low was the LBreak to the tick:

No calls as the rest of the world was on Holiday and volume was therefore extremely light at only 1.3 billion NASDAQ shares. We resume Tuesday.

Net ticks: +0 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

One winner on another 1.4 billion share NASDAQ session to close out the week, month, and quarter. Have a good long weekend and then we’re back to work.

Net ticks: +3 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1559.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half at the entry:

We got the day that we expected in terms of volume. The market gapped down and took all day to get back to even, with the S&P closing down less than a point, and NASDAQ hitting only 1.3 billion. A winner and a loser on the ES, but I was low size due to the situation (and will be tomorrow).

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

The nice setup into the Value Area over the LPT triggered long at A, but swept initially, then went again at B, hit first target for six ticks, inched higher to exactly the Value Area High at C, and then stopped the second half under the entry:

A trigger on news on the ES (see below), and then a later better trigger that didn’t work. Market volume, after improving yesterday, dropped quite a bit Tuesday, which doesn’t bode well for Wednesday and Thursday as we wind up the quarter and head into the long weekend.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at 1555.25, although the first trigger was on news (Consumer Confidence and New Home Sales) at A at 10:00 am EST. Generally don’t want to enter a trade on news, but the call was made 4 minutes before, so we will count it. Stopped, then triggered again 10 minutes later and stopped again. Ended up in a useless range with no volume:

Mark had a nice winner on the ES for the session as we finally got some better range. Volume was 1.6 billion NASDAQ shares, which is also a slight improvement from last week.

Net ticks: +8.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1553.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and he lowered the stop several times and stopped finally at 1551 at A:

The market continues to struggle in narrow range on little volume as things seems to take twice as long to happen. The ES gapped down, made an attempt to fill the gap, then dropped down to fill the gap from yesterday, then came back up to the current gap to the tick. See that section below.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at 1546.50 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks and that was it. Almost took the short under the S2, but that also only went 6 ticks (to fill the gap from yesterday) before we reversed back up to fill the new gap:

A loser and a winner on the flattest day we’ve seen yet. Holy smokes was that brutal until a bit after the Fed announcement. At one point, I couldn’t even see the VWAP or market directional lines on my charts because it was so flat!

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1550.50 for what should have been an easy slip toward the gap fill and stopped after a long 30 minutes of nothing. Mark’s call triggered long at B at 1553.50 and hit first target for 6 ticks, then stopped second half under the entry:

We had a big gap down and no volume (1.4 billion NASDAQ shares total). The market recovered from the start. Called one ES trade that stopped, but didn’t re-enter due to market volume (the re-trigger worked). See ES below. We continue to hold our futures trading to limit calls as the market is just not showing the volume.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1546.00 and stopped:

I was on the road for the session. Mark had one call, see ES below. There was a nice NQ setup too.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1552.25 and stopped for 7 ticks. He called off the retrigger, which worked nicely, as gaps tend to fill more frequently on Fridays. The gap filled also, and note that the Value Area High was the high of the session:

A better day, but one false start again and an extremely flat opening hour. The ES filled the gap and then rolled hard. See that section below for the recap of the trades. Volume was 1.5 billion NASDAQ shares again.

Net ticks: +4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Swept the trigger short at A at 1547.25, and I said to take a retrigger. Triggered long at B at 1549.75 and filled the gap, closed it for four ticks winner when the market seemed to be stalling at the gap fill after some time. Triggered short again at C (same short trigger), hit first target for 6 ticks, lowered stop twice and stopped in the money at 1545.00 at D:

Another day of light volume, bad range, and frankly just narrow bars in the futures. One call on the ES stopped and we didn’t do any more. It did set the UPT and then break it and work, but action was just too tame.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1542.25 and stopped for 7 ticks:

The Levels were very tightly spaced because of how flat Thursday was. We gapped up early and filled the gap quickly without setting any of the Levels, and you knew it wasn’t going to turn into much else after that. I posted one trade because the ES set the R2, but listed it as half size because I wasn’t expecting much. See that section below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1543.00 and stopped:

We always come into the quarterly contract roll date with little expectations. However, we did have enough of a gap and an early setup to give one trade a try. In the end, the market did what it usually does on options contract roll day…nothing at all. Market volume was a horrible 1.4 billion NASDAQ shares to go with it.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

The opening bar set the UPT from above, so we took the short at A at 1541.75 breaking under that for the gap, but nothing happened. No re-entry as the market was clearly dead:

Nice setup on the ES stopped once, then triggered on news, which is never what we want to see. It was a lazy day overall, although volume hit 1.7 billion on the NASDAQ. See ES below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1536.50 after setting the R2 level, but stopped exactly to the tick for 7 ticks loss. I stated it was valid again, but it triggered in the next bar on the better than expected ISM data and faded back. When it hadn’t done anything for ten minutes, I closed it at the entry:

A trade that we closed at the entry due to lack of market interest and volume, and that was it. See the ES section below.

Net ticks: +0 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A, but closed at B after 45 minutes of the market doing nothing over lunch on no volume. There was just no reason to trade or stick with it. The better entry would have been the long over UBreak at C, but since volume was so poor, we didn’t call it:

Nice winner to start the month in the ES. See that section below.

Net ticks: +12.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1503.50, hit first target for 6 ticks, raised stop a few times and stopped final at 1508.25 for 19 ticks:

A day where Rich and I were plagued with Internet issues and volume was back up to 1.9 billion NASDAQ shares, but the market was very flat all morning, then drifted higher over lunch, then came back to the VWAP. The biggest bars of the day were the last two, where we sold off.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1520.00 and stopped (note that it triggered right on a Comber 13 sell). It based right under the UBreak again during lunch and we discussed taking it again, which worked, but my Internet was down:

Our Levels were spaced pretty wide because of the big range on Monday, so it took a while to get any setups, and we were heading into lunch when it did trigger. I went half size due to time of day, but we count the results equally here. See ES below. NASDAQ volume was only 1.7 billion shares.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at 1484.00 at A and stopped for 7 ticks:

Couple of winning trades on the ES that were called officially. See that section below. Also, note the Value Area play on the NQ.

Net ticks: +11 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

My call triggered long at 1523.00 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped second half under the entry. Mark’s short triggered at B at 1518.50, hit first target for 6 ticks, and he lowered the stop twice and stopped at 1515.75 at C. There was also a nice Value Area setup here that worked that we discussed in the Trading Lab as it happened:

A dull session that gapped up, left the gap behind, and saw half of the day’s range covered in 10 minutes around the 20-minute mark of the session. See ES below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s ES call triggered long at 1525.00 and stopped for 7 ticks:

Same problem as Wednesday. A very nice setup triggered and stopped once before triggering again and working. See ES below. Friday is options expiration heading into a long weekend, so we may not have any futures calls if the action looks flat early.

Net ticks: -1.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1515.50 and stopped for 7 ticks, then triggered long again 10 minutes later, hit first target for 6 ticks, and he revised the stop twice and stopped 5 ticks in the money:

A nice setup on the ES for the gap fill that failed early, and then triggered again after the first hour for options unraveling and worked, so basically a wash.

Net ticks: -1.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1518.00 and stopped for 7 ticks. Triggered short again at B, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped final half at C at 1516.75:

Volume is back. The NASDAQ traded 1.9 billion shares again, and we had another nice day in futures. Could have been a perfect week if the ER had gone an extra tick yesterday. See the ES section below for today’s recap.

Net ticks: +16.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Set the Pivot and then triggered short at 1505.00 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks, and then lowered the stop several times and stopped the final piece at 1498.25 for 27 ticks at B:

A clean winner on the ES for the session and nothing else. See that section below.

Net ticks: +6 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1502.25, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half at the same 6 tick gain:

None of the calls triggered in a market that ended up with end of month behavior as expected, although NASDAQ volume was a solid 2.1 billion shares. There was a nice setup in the market late on the long side that didn’t materialize.

Net ticks: +0 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

A winner and a loser on the ES in another session that saw narrow action for the first hour, although the broad market broke out over lunch despite the Fed meeting. NASDAQ volume was 1.9 billion shares.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1496.25, hit first target for 6 ticks at VAH, stopped second half under entry. Triggered short at B at 1493.75 and stopped for 7 ticks. No re-entry:

Two stop outs on the ES as we continue through earnings season and a lot of dull activity (until the last part of the day when the rumors fly). See ES below. NASDAQ volume was 1.7 billion shares.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1486.50 and stopped, that would have worked on a retrigger but the range was too narrow at the time. Mark’s call triggered short into the Value Area at B at 1484.75 and stopped for 7 ticks, would have been valid again but never triggered:

One stop out on a clean Value Area setup on the ES, and that was it to start the short week. Volume was decent earely but ended up around the usual 1.7 billion NASDAQ shares. The futures spiked in the minutes after the close on some earnings.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call was a nice setup with the Pivot and Value Area High lined up at the same place. Triggered short under that at A at 1476.50 and stopped:

One winner, see ES below, on a day that we did NOT get the options unraveling move in the markets that we anted. NASDAQ volume was 1.6 billion shares.

Net ticks: +4 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1464.25, moved up a bit, and 30 minutes later it was stuck at the gap fill, so I did something unusual, which was to just close it out for 4 ticks:

One loss on the ES on a day with a gap and a mixed market as AAPL dragged down the NASDAQ but everything else did OK. Volume was 1.7 billion NASDAQ shares. See ES section below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s long triggered at A at 1462.75 and stopped just barely for 7 ticks, then worked later exactly across the Value Area:

A horrible session on light volume covering only 5 points of ES range, but Mark pulled out a small winner in the morning. See ES below.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1465.00, hit the first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half over the entry:

ES call triggered twice, stopped once and worked the other. See below.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s ES call triggered short at A at 1457.25 and stopped for 7 ticks. It retriggered at B, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped over the entry:

A nice setup against the Pivot that failed early, but a nice breakdown after that that worked, and that established the range for the day for the market. See ES section below.

Net ticks: +1 tick.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1455.00 and stopped. It spent 20 minutes above the trigger, so I don’t take that again. Mark’s call triggered short under LBreak at B at 1450.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and adjusted the stop twice and stopped 10 ticks in the money:

Net ticks: -18.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at A at 1452.50 and stopped for 7 ticks. His long triggered at B at 1455.75 and stopped for 7 ticks. He took both again, with the long triggering at C and stopping again. The short triggered at D, finally hit a first target for 6 ticks, and stopped over the entry:

A trigger and a stop out on the ES. See that section below. This was a very slow trading session with little consistent movement, although NASDAQ volume was 1.6 billion in the end. Always interesting when the NQ plays out the whole day under the Value Area, while the ES is mostly above it.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1459.50 and stopped for 7 ticks:

Not the best start to the year for futures as the market gapped up so big, we didn’t have much for Levels to use for setups. The same trade triggered three times, stopping twice, but working the third time. See ES below. Volume in the market was good though, so hopefully that holds and we can get back to normal trading.

Net ticks: -11.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1446.50 and stopped for 7 ticks. Triggered again at B and stopped. Triggered again at C, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half over the entry:

Two winners on the ES, although no real follow-through once again as volume started to dip and we really didn’t get an options unraveling move, which is interesting. Doubtful that we will get one Friday, and there might not even be any calls.

Net ticks: +7.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

My call triggered short at A at 1430.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped final piece 4 ticks in the money. Mark’s long triggered at B at 1436.25, hit first target for 6 ticks eventually, and stopped second half under the entry:

Three triggers on the ES, one worked and two didn’t. See ES section below.

Net ticks: -8.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s short triggered at A at 1438.25 in the morning and stopped. A later call triggered short at B at 1436.50 and stopped quickly, then retriggered at C, worked to the first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the final piece also in the money by 5 ticks:

One loser on the ES and Mark chose not to take it again (second trigger worked).

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1417.00 and stopped for 7 ticks:

No calls on a Friday for the futures contract roll. This day every quarter tends to be very dangerous as the big players are just moving their trading to the new (H3 – March 2013) contract. Given that it is also a Friday in December, things were very dull. The ES traded in a 5-point range until the last hour when things finally slipped. You’ll note in the charts that we barely touched any key levels.

Net ticks: +0 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

Late in the day, we had a 9-bar setup move down to S1 that led to a bounce:

A loser and then a winner on the ES for net gains on a gap and go day that saw better volume than the prior session. We closed with 1.6 billion NASDAQ shares as we wait for tomorrow’s Fed announcement.

Net ticks: +3 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1425.25 and stopped for 7 ticks. He put it back in again and it triggered shortly thereafter, hitting the first target for 6 ticks and, after 3 raised stops, finally stopping the final piece at 1428.50 for 13 ticks:

A very limited day in the market on light volume. Mark’s ES trade triggered twice, worked once. See that section below. NASDAQ volume was only 1.4 billion shares.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1419.00 and stopped for 7 ticks. Triggered again at B, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half under the entry:

One call that worked, and that was it. Market had a small gap down and filled within ten minutes. Volume was decent at 1.8 billion NASDAQ shares. See ES below.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1410.50, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half under the entry:

A winner in the ES on a narrow market day where volume dropped back off early. We traded only 1.5 billion NASDAQ shares.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at 1406.00 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks and stopped the second half over the entry:

A nice start to the month and week with two clean setups on the ES and both worked. See that section below.

Net ticks: +11.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

We gapped over the UPT and used it as the low of the first bar of the day, so an easy call is short under that at A at 1420.25. We hit the first target for 6 ticks and then accelerated on news and eventually stopped the final piece at 1417.25 for 12 ticks at B. Mark then called the setup against the Value Area High and Pivot, short at 1414.25 at C, and this hit the first target for 6 ticks and stopped the final piece over the entry:

It’s end of month and Friday and the market was completely dead for the first hour. Despite my better judgement, I went ahead and put a breakdown short in the Messenger just in case. The results were predictable to close out the month. See ES below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1411.25 and stopped for 7 ticks:

A great trading session for futures, tarred only by the one stop out, but two nice winners beyond that as we finally got some action (even though NASDAQ volume was only 1.6 billion shares still).

Net ticks: +12.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1388.25, hit first target for six ticks, adjusted the stop a few times and finally stopped at B at 1385.25. Triggered long at C at 1391.00 and stopped for 7 ticks. Re-triggered at D, hit first target for 6 ticks, and closed final piece at 1394.25 heading into lunch (unfortunately, it shot up right after):

As expected, market volume was incredibly light starting back up from the Thanksgiving weekend, and the futures were barely ticking most of the session. One nice setup in particular did nothing, showing how bad it was. See ES section below.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s short triggered at A at 1396.25 and stopped for 7 ticks. His long, which was a beautiful setup against the Pivot, triggered at B at 1402.25, but stopped for 7 ticks. Most days, that would have worked:

I thought we might get one good trading day, but instead, volume dropped sharply, only hitting 326 million NASDAQ shares after an hour, and closing at only 1.5 billion. So, nothing worked. See ES below.

Net ticks: -10 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A under LBreak at 1378.50 and stopped for only 3 ticks based on the call as typed. Set the UBreak at B and then triggered long at 1385.25 and stopped:

We had a big gap up and then a little push early with a winning ES trade and then things went flat for the rest of the session, which isn’t uncommon on the first day of a new options cycle.

Net ticks: +6.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1373.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and after raising the stop, stopped the second half 7 ticks in the money:

Well, I have to apologize for this one. I made a mistake in the entry and didn’t notice until after the trade triggered. See ES below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

On the chart, I liked the way that the ES was basing just over S1 from Thursday into Friday (basically the Thursday low was Friday’s S1 blue line). I wanted to go short under that (1345.00), which worked to the 6 tick partial. However, I put the numbers into the Messenger to go short under LBreak (1343.25 at A), which was a little lower and triggered and stopped. Anyone that took the course should have recognized the difference (the S1 was both calculated and conventional charting combined, as we teach), but I blew it. Never done that before, so I apologize:

A stop out and then the same trade triggered again and worked on the ES from Mark. See that section below. Range was back and forth and we closed flat, but volume has been improved this week nicely, hitting 2 billion shares on the NASDAQ again today. Friday should be dead for options expiration, so there might not be much to do.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

ES never even touched a level today, wow.

Mark’s call triggered short at 1348.25 at A, stopped for 7 ticks, then triggered again at B, hit the first target, and stopped over the entry:

A nice winner on the ES as the market gapped down and set the S2 from underneath in the opening 2 minutes of play, so we took a long moving back through that and it worked quite well. See ES section below.

Net ticks: +15 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1369.25, hit first target for 6 ticks, and we adjusted the stop five times and finally stopped at 1375.25 at B:

Two attempts to break the early lows swept and stopped and that was enough, although the third attempt would have worked. See ES below.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1387.25 and stopped for 7 ticks. Retriggered shortly after at the same price and stopped again:

A nice winner on the long side of the ES. See that section below. Market volume was back up after Monday’s light session.

Net ticks: +15 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Set the UPT perfectly and then Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1420.25 moving through it, got a partial for 6 ticks, and after a few stop adjustments, stopped at B at 1426.25:

Mark’s ES call about an hour in worked, see that section below.

Net ticks: +5.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at 1427.00 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks and stopped final piece 5 ticks in the money:

A nice winner on a gap-and-go day. Check the ES section below. The market gapped up (over the UPT, which is key for the gap-and-gos) and pushed up early. The afternoon was a bust again as we clung to the VWAP. NASDAQ volume was 1.6 billion.

Net ticks: +10 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

My call triggered long at A at 1414.25, hit first target for 6 ticks, raised the stop a couple of times, and finally stopped at 1417.75:

The volume was heavy early on, but we knew that trading would be sketchy at best with most of New York still reeling from Sandy. I tried one ES short into the Value Area that stopped and I nixed taking it a second time (would have worked). This could be a little slow until Monday, and maybe even after Tuesday’s election.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1410.50 and stopped for 7 ticks:

:

Two calls, two winners on the ES. See that section below.

Net ticks: +9 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1412.25, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped second half two ticks over the entry. Triggered short at B at 1409.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and lowered stop twice and stopped 8 ticks in the money:

Mark’s ES call stopped out twice, worked the third time, although he called off the third trigger heading into lunch. See ES section below.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s long triggered at A at 1446.25 and stopped for 7 ticks, and then triggered again at B and did the same:

One trigger, one winner to close out the week. NASDAQ volume was a light 1.5 billion shares. See ES section below.

Net ticks: +5.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s called triggered long at A at 1430.75, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the final piece in the money at 1432.00:

A winner in the ES on a light volume day that traded just over half of average daily range. NASDAQ volume was 1.4 billion shares.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered short at 1433.75 at A and hit the first target for six ticks, then stopped the second half over the entry:

Not an exciting ending to the month, although we expected that since it is also end of quarter. There were a total of 5 trades that triggered on the ES. Two winners and three losers. See that section below.

Net ticks: -11 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

My call for the gap fill triggered long at 1436.00 at A and stopped for 7 ticks. Mark’s short at 1429.50 triggered at B and stopped for 7 ticks, and then again at C and stopped for 7 ticks. The long triggered again at D, hit first target for 6 ticks and stopped the second half under the entry (if you took it in the middle of lunch). After basing under that level, it triggered again at E, hit first target for 6 ticks, and raised the stop to finally close at 1438.25:

One stop out and one bigger winner from Mark in the ES today for net gains. See that section below. Volume dropped sharply from what we were seeing earlier in the week, but that’s no surprise considering we’re heading into the end of the quarter on Friday. NASDAQ volume was only 1.4 billion.

Net ticks: +6.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s short triggered at 1431.00 at A and stopped. His long triggered at 1434.75 at B, hit first target at B, and raised stop a few times and stopped the final piece 1440.00 at C for 21 ticks:

A couple of calls but only one trigger on what was a slightly disappointing day that could have seen triple-witching options unraveling, but instead saw the ES stuck in just over a 5 point range again.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at 1455.75 at A and stopped one tick short of the first target (although our UPT was the wall there) before eventually rolling over and stopping. A retrigger would have worked on the same call:

Nice winner on the ES to close out the week. See that section below.

Net ticks: +8.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s ES call triggered long at A at 1462.75, hit the first target for six ticks, and stopped the final piece at 1465.50 at B:

A nice setup in the morning on the ES didn’t end up triggering until the afternoon. Market volume was still weak coming back from the Holiday, closing out at 1.4 billion NASDAQ shares, but hopefully that will rise as the week moves along.

Net ticks: +5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at 1405.00 at A, hit first target for 6 ticks and moved stop up and stopped in the money:

The lightest non-Holiday volume day of the year. One ES call triggered short on news and stopped, and we didn’t add any more in a sweep-y mess. NASDAQ volume ended at 1.2 billion shares. This might be the rest of the week. Certainly, Friday is going to be awful.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Mark’s short triggered at A at 1403.75 and stopped for 7 ticks:

A narrow ranged day in the markets (6 ES points) with only 1.6 billion NASDAQ shares. Mark’s ES call stopped twice, see ES section below.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber on the 5-minute chart from today’s session:

ES:

Triggered long at 1402.00 at A and stopped and at B and stopped (both times for 7 ticks):

Another winning session on the ES to close out the week. The trade had to be in the morning, because the market went flat for the rest of the session. Volume was 1.7 billion NASDAQ shares.

Net ticks: +9 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by taking a look at the ES and NQ intraday with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Comber. Note that the Comber 13 sell signal nailed the HIGH of the session on the 5-minute chart TO THE BAR again:

ES:

Mark’s long over the opening range bar triggered at 1382.50 at A, hit 6 ticks for the first target, and he updated the stop twice and stopped the final piece at 1385.50:

A winning session on the ES as the market saw better volume. NASDAQ volume totaled 1.8 billion shares at the close. See ES section below for the trade recap.

Net ticks: +12 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Comber, and VWAP:

ES:

Triggered long at A at 1362.50 over the LPT after gapped down, hit 6 ticks for a partial, stop was adjusted twice and stopped at 1367.00 for 18 ticks to final exit:

A loser and a winner to close out the week. Volume was strong early, then drifted off, spiked back up on news out of Europe over lunch, and then drifted off again for the afternoon on a summer Friday.

Volume has been up and earnings and GDP are behind us, so I’m expecting better action next week with less gaps.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s take a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Comber, and VWAP:

ES:

Mark’s call triggered long at A at 1365.75, stopped just barely for 7 ticks, and then retriggered right after that, hit first target, raised stop under the entry and stopped at 1365.50:

We had a big gap in the market that took us well above our key Levels, making setups for futures difficult (the ES only touch the R2, and that was the low of the session). One stop out and the retrigger worked, see ES below.

Net ticks: -1.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start with the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Comber, and VWAP (now using Comber on these):

ES:

Triggered short under opening lows at 1352.50 at A, stopped for 7 ticks, then retriggered at B, hit first target for 6 ticks, and adjusted stop to final exit at 1351.25:

We had a winner again the ES, and the second half stopped in the money. Another call in the afternoon that was set up beautifully didn’t trigger. See ES section below.

Net ticks: +5.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Seeker:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1335.75, hit 6 ticks for a first target, and stopped the second half 5 ticks in the money:

Started out the week with an ES call that turned into a gain using our market directional tool. See that section below.

Net ticks: +8 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Triggered long over the early midpoint at A at 1335.50, hit first target for six ticks, raised stop and stopped at 1338.00 at B:

Options expiration is never an exciting day and is usually a good time to lower trading size, and this was no exception. We closed out the week with the only negative day of the week, with one ES short that triggered twice and stopped both times. See that section below.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, we’ll start with a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1361.00 and stopped for 7 ticks. Retriggered again at A ten minutes later. Further triggers were cancelled:

Several calls early, but it was the ES short that triggered and worked. See that section below.

Net ticks: +4.5 ticks.

As usual, we will start with the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Seeker:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1369.25, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped final piece at 1368.50:

Nice winner in the ES on the short side after the market gapped up and broke lower to fill the gap. It was a classic Value Area play. See ES section below.

Net ticks: +12.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start out by taking a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Seeker:

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1350.75 breaking into the Value Area, then hit the first target for 6 ticks, then lowered the stop several times and stopped at 1346 at B for 19 ticks to final exit:

An interesting day. The ES only barely touched a single level for the whole session, finding support at LBreak. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a day like that. Short trade triggered and stopped early, market volume was too light after that to bother. The only action in the afternoon was a spike down on the release of the Fed minutes from the last meeting. See ES section below.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by looking at the ES and NQ intraday with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Triggered short at 1334.00 at A and stopped:

Volume ended up being worse than last week, and although stocks moved well, the futures market was extremely dull and spent most of the session stuck in the Value Area. Although we encourage less size in a light-volume environment, our raw data totals only account for net ticks. Mark’s ES short triggered twice and stopped both times (see ES below). The long idea never triggered.

Net ticks: -14 ticks.

As usual, we will start with a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Trigger was short at 1342.75, which triggered at A and stopped for 7 ticks immediately, then triggered 10 minutes later at B and took about 30 minutes before it finally stopped. Trade was cancelled going forward due to the horrible market volume:

Volume ended up being even worse today in the market than Monday. We did go ahead with two calls early despite the volume. The first one worked and the second one did not (although the second setup was terrific). See ES section below.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start with a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Seeker. Note that even in this light volume day, the Seeker gave a 13 sell signal at the high of the session (and the Value Area High):

ES:

Triggered short at A at 1359.00, hit the first target for six ticks, and stopped the second half over the entry. The market then recovered and we had a nice setup with the ES moving back into the Value Area and the Pivot being the exact high from the morning action, so we triggered long over the Pivot at B, but nothing happened for over 30 minutes and it finally stopped for 7 ticks:

As expected, a waste of time with no one around trading for the Holiday week. Tuesday is only a half day, so we most likely won’t have any calls. The market is closed Wednesday. We resume Thursday, although I don’t expect any action until Monday.

We did make one call early just to test, but there was no action.

Net ticks: -7 ticks.

As usual, we will start by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Seeker:

ES:

Triggered short at A (by a tick) heading into the Value Area and stopped:

We got the Supreme Court ruling on the ACA, and it really didn’t generate the market excitement either way that I was expecting, at least until the last 45 minutes or so. Volume closed out weak again at 1.6 billion NASDAQ shares, and we had a couple of nice setups that couldn’t get going at all. See the ES section below for the recap.

Net ticks: -1.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start with a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Mark’s out-of-the-gate ES short triggered at 1315.00 at A and stopped. That trade was not valid again. The next short triggered at 1312.00 at B, hit first target for six ticks, and we closed the second half at 1308.50 for 14 ticks when the market died and volume dropped off at C. Later triggered a new trade short under 1308.00 at D which stopped. Finally, the breakout over S1, LPT, LBreak triggered long at E at 1320.75, hit first target, and stopped the second half under the entry:

Another very light volume day (by my count, fifth lightest of the year) with predictable results. The first move through our ES trigger stopped and the second one hit the first target. Another trade late in the day did nothing and I closed it out at even. See ES section below.

Net ticks: -4.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Mark’s called triggered short at 1308.50 at A and stopped, then triggered again, hit the first target for 6 ticks, and stopped the second half over the entry. In the afternoon, a long idea triggered at 1309.25 at B and we closed it 15 minutes later at the entry price with time running out and nothing happening:

Triggered short at 1322.50 at A and stopped. Triggered long at 1327.00 at B and stopped. Short retriggered at C, hit first target for six ticks, and moved stop over the entry and stopped. Couldn’t even fill the gap. There was a nice cup and handle in the afternoon that we discussed in the Lab, but we didn’t call it because volume was so bad:

Two ES calls, one in the morning worked, and one in the afternoon didn’t when volume fizzled once again. See that section below.

Net ticks: +1.5 ticks.

As usual, let’s start by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Triggered long at 1347.00 over early highs at A, hit 6 ticks for first target, Mark adjusted stop a few times and stopped the final piece at 1349.75, 11 ticks in the money. Later in the afternoon after we addressed the VWAP on volume, second call triggered short at 1350.25 at B and stopped:

Volume was light again (NASDAQ volume closed at only 1.4 billion shares) so we kept it to a simple trade again on the ES for a winner. See that section below.

Net ticks: +5.5 ticks.

Let’s start as usual by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Triggered long at 1334.50 at A, hit first target at 1336.00 for a partial at B, and then Mark raised the stop twice and stopped out of the final piece 5 ticks in the money:

Just one trade call for triple options expiration, and it was a small winner on the ES. Ranges were narrow and even though volume was up early (just options prints) at 450 million shares after an hour on the NASDAQ, it died down and closed at the usual 1.5 billion shares at the end of the day, which means everything after the first hour was worse than normal.

Net ticks: +2.5 ticks.

First, let’s have a look at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, Seeker, and VWAP:

ES:

Triggered long at 1328.75 at A, hit first target for six ticks at B, moved stop under entry and stopped:

Three triggers on the ES with a loser and two winners, although we didn’t get the options unraveling move that we were hoping that would have made the second trade a much bigger gain. See that section below.

Net ticks: +5.5 ticks.

Let’s start by looking at the ES and NQ with our market directional lines, VWAP, and Seeker:

ES:

Triggered short under the Lower Pressure Threshold, sweeping it at A at 1309.25 and stopping, leaving it valid for retrigger as posted in the Messenger. Triggered long at B at 1316.50, hit first target for six ticks, and stop was adjusted up and closed the final at 1317.75. Short retriggered at 1309.25 again at C, hit first target and beyond, stop adjusted and stopped at 1307.25: