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

Expansion — Now Can Bulls Hold It?by Tony Rago Well, we got the expansion out of that quiet consolidation. Big move almost like a relief valve finally letting go, and it happened on relatively low volume with minimal participation. Now comes the important part: can the bulls hold the line and close the week strong? If they can, we’re looking at back-to-back big weeks for the bulls and potentially new all-time highs for ES. That’s a strong tape, but after a move like this, I want to see how buyers handle the next test. I’ll be watching for a pullback into 7,812/7,800 on ES or 30,106/30,000 on NQ to see if those levels can turn into support. Barring any headline that rocks the tape, I’m expecting a lower-volatility bullish session, but we still need price to prove it. Let the opening ranges develop and see who wants to take control.

Summer Tape — Let It Come to Youby Tony Rago Quiet overnight session, and I’m expecting another slow-grind summer tape today. The breakout levels are clear: 30,000 on NQ and 7,800 on ES. Until we get through those areas, there’s no reason to assume we’re suddenly going to see a runaway move. My plan is to let the first 15–30 minutes establish a range and see where we are before committing to anything. If we get another rangebound session, I’ll focus on trading that range and taking the base hits that are there. If we break the opening range and an imbalance develops that we can take advantage of, we’ll be ready for that too. The key is not forcing a breakout just because we want one. Let price prove it’s ready to move, wait for our setups, and then go to work. Be patient and let the tape come

Rangebound — Bulls Need to Break Outby Tony Rago CPI came in inline with estimates, and price is still hanging inside the same range we’ve been living in since last week. Today, I’m focused on where price is relative to the weekly opens: 7,777 on ES and 29,851 on NQ. If the bulls can hold those levels from above, we have a shot at breaking out to new weekly highs. Until then, we’re still dealing with a market that’s waiting for its next catalyst. As always, I’m going to let the market open and see where the opening ranges land before making any big assumptions. The key is watching whether buyers can defend those weekly opens and build from there, or if sellers finally push price back into the range. No need to force the breakout—let price prove it. Let’s see how we open and go from there. Let’s get