Quiet Tape — NVDA Waiting in the Wingsby Tony Rago Quiet overnight session and we’re still sitting in the same zone coming into the open. I’m expecting more of the same today—rangebound price action with low volume. NQ bulls are holding the prior week low, so I’ll be watching how we trade around 29,202. ES bulls need to get and stay above 7,700 if they want to show some strength. And of course, NVDA reports earnings after the close, so that could be the catalyst that finally shakes us out of this range. Until then, there’s no reason to force anything. Let the market open, establish the opening ranges, and see which side wants to take control. If we stay rangebound, we’ll trade the range. If we get expansion, we’ll be ready to go with it. Let’s see how we open and go from there! 👉 Full breakdown is inside

Slow Tape — Take It One Setup at a Timeby Tony Rago Expecting another slow tape today, and I’ll be pleasantly surprised if we finally break out of this range. I’m perfectly happy trading the range for the time being, but you cannot overstay your welcome in this environment. These are the days where you get your day made, recognize that the opportunity was there, and move on. Hanging around and trading out of boredom is where things can go sideways quickly. So keep it simple and take it one setup at a time. If the market gives us expansion, we’ll be ready for it. If it stays rangebound, we’ll work the range and call it a day. No need to force the issue—let price prove it’s ready to move. 💪 👉 Full breakdown is inside today’s Pre-Market Playbook. Check it out here and trade it smart. Until next time,Tony

Slow Summer Tape — Let It Openby Tony Rago New week, new opportunities to make money! No news on Monday, and with this being the last week of August, we could see more slow days on the calendar. ES is hanging around last week’s lows while NQ is looking to push through its lows and test 29,000. This is one of those tapes where there’s no need to manufacture action if it isn’t there. We’ll see how they want to trade this morning. It could be slow, so don’t overdo it. Let the market open, give the opening ranges some time to develop, and then we’ll see which side wants to take the ball. Keep it simple, stay patient, and trade what we see. 👉 Full breakdown is inside today’s Pre-Market Playbook. Check it out here and trade it smart. Until next time,Tony

Bulls Defend — Now Can They Take Control?by Tony Rago Bulls defended the key levels yesterday — 29,250 and 7,662 — and we’re off the lows heading into the open. I’ll be watching 7,700 on ES and 29,533 on NQ for clues as to who has the ball. Bears have dominated the tape this week, and they would love to close things out near the lows or print new weekly lows before the week is over. It’s Friday, and with very low volume and slow price action, the afternoon could really crawl if you’re trading. No need to force anything if the setups aren’t there. Let the opening ranges develop, see which side wants to take control, and trade what price gives us. Let’s see how we open and go from there! 👉 Full breakdown is inside today’s Pre-Market Playbook. Check it out here and trade it smart. Until next

Weakness Continues — Bulls Need to Step Upby Tony Rago Weakness continues, and price is trading below the prior day’s lows before the open. Bulls need to reclaim 7,700 on ES and 29,412 on NQ to get something going. If they can’t muster a bounce and reclaim those levels, the risk opens up for a deeper move toward 7,650 and 29,000. Crude over 87 could make that downside move even more difficult for the bulls, so I’ll be keeping an eye on crude as we see how the tape develops. This is another one where we need to let price tell us what it wants to do. If buyers step in and reclaim the key levels, we can look for some upside follow-through. If they fail, there’s no reason to fight the trend—let the market work its way toward the next levels. Let’s see how we open and go from

Bulls Trying to Build on the Bounceby Tony Rago Bulls are trying to push off yesterday’s lows here pre-market. They need to show up today and get back above 7,750 and 29,750. Good start before the open, but now we need to see if they can build on it once we get into RTH. I’ll be watching 29,612 and 7,733 as key levels to hold from here. If buyers can defend those areas, we could see some continued upside. The key today is making price prove the buyers are actually back. A pre-market bounce is one thing—the RTH tape is where we’ll find out if there’s real follow-through. I’ll let the opening ranges develop and watch how price reacts around these levels before making any big assumptions. Let’s see how we open and go from there! 👉 Full breakdown is inside today’s Pre-Market Playbook. Check it out here and trade

Pullback — Now Who Takes Control?by Tony Rago   Bulls ran out of juice above 7,800 and could not push through 30,250, so we’ve seen a pullback into 7,726 and 29,750 so far. Overnight inventory is very short, but this is also the kind of dip many buyers have been waiting for rather than chasing higher prices. Could be a directional day today, and the opening range should tell us a lot about which side wants to take the ball. Bulls need to reclaim 30,000 and get back above 7,762/7,777, while bears want to hold this down and push toward 7,688/7,677 and 29,500/29,412.   The setup is pretty clean coming into the open: let price show us whether the dip gets bought or the rally gets sold. With short inventory, we could see some movement in either direction, so I don’t want to get too locked into a bias before

NQ Playing Catch-Upby Tony Rago New week, new opportunities to make money! NQ bulls are playing catch-up to ES, and they did close the week above 30,106, so now they need to defend that level on a test, with 30,000 as the line in the sand. Today I’ll be watching how ES deals with 7,800. If bulls can’t hold that level, it could pull NQ back toward 30,000 or lower. The weekly pivots are sitting at 7,793 on ES and 29,990 on NQ, so those areas should give us some additional clues about who has control. It’s still a summer tape, so I’m watching for either a range to establish itself or a full-on break of the prior day’s highs or lows. No reason to force a bias before price shows us which scenario we’re dealing with. Let the opening range develop, watch the reaction at the key levels, and