Hey trader,  Monday’s session hammered this home from a different angle. The S&P 500 had just printed a 152-handle daily bar, the NQ looked identical, and both were bleeding into the afternoon. Context forced another adaptation. I told the room: “A lot of times I like to buy things that are tested from above. On

Bounce Earned — Or Borrowed?by Tony Rago Nice bounce overnight, and the first question is always whether the move already did the work without us. NQ is up roughly 500 handles off the lows, while ES has rebounded about 100 — solid relief after the pressure we saw earlier. Now it’s on the bulls to

Feels Like a Crash — But Isn’tby Tony Rago Bears are still pressing, and what’s funny is this move isn’t even a 3% pullback — yet it feels heavy because of the speed and volatility behind it. ES remains a sell-the-rallies tape until bulls can reclaim 6,900 and, more importantly, get back above 6,912 to

NQ Leads the Weaknessby Tony Rago NQ is clearly the weaker tape this morning and it’s been dragging ES along with it. For bulls to regain traction, NQ needs to get back above the 25,530 weekly open — that’s the line where control starts to shift back toward buyers. Until then, pressure remains. Under 25,312,

All Eyes on the Big Numbersby Tony Rago Price is hovering above 7,000 on ES for now, while NQ continues to struggle holding above 26,000 — and we’ve seen this movie before. That 7K handle on ES is the clear bull/bear line in the sand. If buyers can defend it, NQ should find a bid

New Month, New Gameby Tony Rago A new month brings a fresh slate — and overnight volatility is already setting the tone. Big swings in the globex session often bleed into regular trading hours, and that raises the odds of a more dynamic tape today. I’ll be keying off the weekly opens at 6,938 on

Hey Trader,  Wednesday morning, the NQ printed a first-hour bar almost 500 handles wide. The DeepSeek selloff had arrived. Nvidia was down 17%. The tape was moving 10 points in a blink. And traders in my room wanted to know what to do. My answer was simple: nothing. “When the NQ gets a 50 ATR,

Friday Volatility — Trade What You Seeby Tony Rago It’s Friday and volatility is elevated, so this is a session that demands respect. PPI hit this morning and the market reacted bearishly, setting the tone early, but we’re not done with catalysts yet — PMI drops at 9:45, which means the first 30 minutes could

Earnings at the Wheelby Tony Rago META, MSFT, and TSLA all reported at the bell, and now it’s on the regular session to show its hand. Post-earnings reactions can bring fast rotations early, so a whippy open wouldn’t be a surprise as positioning gets sorted. AAPL is still on deck at the bell and has

More Highs Into Fed Dayby Tony Rago We’re coming in with more overnight highs as we head straight into Fed day, and that shifts the focus away from prediction and toward reaction. Days like this are rarely about trying to game the decision — it’s the fallout from the press conference that usually sets the