They say “never short a dull market,” and this was a good example as the market was as dull as can be and finally broke out a bit after lunch. Meanwhile, we had two winners and a loser, see ES and NQ below. NASDAQ volume closed at only 1.5 billion shares.
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 1910.50 and stopped, then again at B, hit first target for 6 ticks, and lowered the stop twice and stopped at that same level, 6 ticks in the money:

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 short at A at 3721.00, hit first target for 6 ticks, and stopped second half over the entry: