Yesterday’s results: No trades suggested.

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 6155 stop 6150.75 if price retraces down from above. No short level today. (Filtered out during FOMC volatility). 

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -14 to +36 with most major world markets Bullish on mild volatility. 

Catalysts: Building Permits & Housing Starts @ 8:30. Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30. FOMC Statement @ 14:00, Press Conference @ 14:30. 

Quick Tip: Trading FOMC

The pattern tends to be range-bound before the announcement and volatile during and afterward. This should help with your trade selection and planning. In fact, if you have solid historical data on your strategy’s performance during FOMC day that is negative, not trading at all may make sense. 

The announcement releases at 2PM ET. You might think the highest volatility is within the 30-minute interval afterward. Historically, it’s the next 30-minute interval when the press conference begins.

When should you trade? Af...

Yesterday’s results: No trades suggested.

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 6098.25 stop 6094.25. Short 6095.00 stop 6099.00 if price retraces up from below. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) lifts from -29 to -14 with sentiment mixed on low volatility. 

Catalysts: Retail Sales @ 8:30. Capacity Utilization & Industrial Production @ 9:15. Housing Market Index @ 10:00. 20-Year Bond Auction @ 13:00. 

Quick Tip: What’s Harder? 

Think for a moment before you answer this question. Do you find it harder to take a loss or a profit? 

The answer says a lot about your trade plan, style, trading psychology, and what you need to work on. 

If your answer was a loss, then your risk management plan needs help. You might be trading the wrong strategy, possibly one with more losers than you can accept or large losers. 

If your answer was a profit, then your risk management is fine, but your open trade management needs work. You might suffer from FOMO. 

If your answer was neither. You’ve ...

Friday’s results: No trades suggested. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No new levels today due to contract rollover.  

The World Index: (+100/-100) drops from -7 to -29 with most major world markets mildly Bearish on lower volatility. 

Catalysts: Empire State MFG Index @ 8:30. S&P Global MFG & Services PMI Flash @ 9:45.  

Quick Tip: Futures Rollover

Futures contracts are buy/sell agreements between two parties. Every contract has a delivery date at which point the transaction ends and goods/money are exchanged. 

Many futures traders have no intention of fulfilling their contractual obligations. They’re either speculating on price direction. For these traders exiting the current contract before the delivery date and entering the next contract further out on the calendar is called rollover. 

For stock index futures the rollover is quarterly near the middle of March, June, September and December. The symbols will change to H, M, U, Z respectively. Starting today we’ll be ...

Yesterday’s results: Shorting 6091.75 stopped out. The long idea didn’t trigger. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Short 6061.00 stop 6065.00 if price retraces up from below. Buy 6098.25 stop 6094.25 if price retraces down from above. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -7 to +36 with all major world markets neutral to Bullish. The S&P Futures are slightly down. 

Catalysts: PPI & Jobless Claims @ 8:30. 30-year Bond Auction @ 13:00. 

Quick Tip: Be Committed

If you’re relatively new to trading you’ve probably experienced overwhelm from all the choices and decisions you must make. 

Which asset class to trade? 

What timeframe? 

Which broker? 

Whose strategy to follow? 

How much to risk? 

The list is long. After guiding more than 4000 new traders through the process of making these decisions over the past 18 years I’ve found there is a hierarchy to these decisions. 

Start with your commitment. Don’t even think “I’ll give trading a try.”

Here’s an example. A friend ...

Friday’s results: Neither trade triggered. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No tradeable levels today. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) dips from +36 to +21 with most major world markets modestly Bullish on low volatility. 

Catalysts: NY Fed Inflation Expectations @ 11:00. 

Quick Tip: Synergy

Earnings season is almost over. Generally, stocks that beat expectations will rise and vice versa. Your portfolio will likely have winners and losers. If all you look at is the total value you’re missing opportunity. 

You should be asking yourself how you’re going to manage each position. Being proactive and planning will get you the calm confidence to execute without doubt. 

Most skilled traders will have profit targets and stop losses for each position. You can be more sophisticated though. Do you have “time” stops? Add-on price levels? Are you selling puts to buy more, or calls to capture extra income? 

If you don’t know what to do or how to do it, consider advice from Dr. Brett S...

Friday’s results: Neither trade idea triggered and they remain on the chart today.

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 6017.25 stop 6012.25. Short 6013.00 stop 6018.00 if price retraces up from below. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from -7 to +14 with most major world markets mildly Bullish on low volatility. 

Catalysts: S&P Global MFG PMI Final @ 9:45. ISM MFG PMI & Prices @ 10:00. Fed’s Waller @ 15:15 and Williams @ 16:30. 

Quick Tip: Abundance Mindset

You probably noticed that the Turning Points shared here frequently don’t trigger. Sometimes a few days can go by without a trade. 

You may be thinking, “This is not enough action for me.” 

On the contrary, this strategy provides far more setups than are freely shared, we’re just trying to get acquainted! Add in the reversal and momentum strategies and there are dozens of opportunities every day in our live futures trading room.

Now you may be thinking “That is too much action for me.” 

It’s all about your mindse...

Yesterday’s results: No suggestions offered.  

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 6017.25 stop 6012.25. Short 6013.00 stop 6018.00 if price retraces up from below. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps -7 to +21 with sentiment mixed on low volatility. 

Catalysts: No known catalysts today. 

Quick Tip: Confront Reality

How is your trading going? That’s a question you should be asking yourself on a regular basis. Think hard, be critical, answer honestly. And don’t worry about talking to yourself, we all learned that it’s OK during Covid lockdown. 

What you’ll find when you question your results critically are some trailheads for improvement. It might be as subtle as the quality of your record keeping or the consistency of your pre-trading routine. 

Or it could be as important as the quality of your strategies. Are they firing on all cylinders? Are you in a drawdown, or close to one? What did you do differently during your last solid performance? 

The only way to improve is...

Yesterday’s results: Shorting 6035.50 stopped out. Buying 5988.00 offered 8.25 points before reversing. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: No great levels today. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) falls from +21 to -29 with most major world markets mildly Bearish on low volatility. S&P futures slightly higher. 

Catalysts: S&P Home Price Index @ 9:00. Consumer Confidence, New Home Sales & Richmond MFG Index @ 10:00. FOMC Minutes @ 14:00.  

Quick Tip: Big Picture 

Regardless of your trading timeframe, daily, swing, or position, using a “big picture” analysis to your entry decision adds edge. It’s the higher timeframe. 

Traditional technical analysis suggests that a multiple of 3 to 6 is appropriate. For example, if you’re a day trader using a 5-minute chart for your entry, aligning with the trend of the 15- or 30-minute chart will help. A swing trader using a daily chart would align with the weekly chart. 

Consider this: if you’re using your entry timeframe trend change to exit ...

Yesterday’s results: Neither trade idea triggered. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5988.00 stop 5982.75. Short 6035.00 stop 6038.25. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) jumps from zero to +21 with world markets neutral and the US firmly Bullish. 

Catalysts: Dallas Fed MFG Index @ 10:30. The market welcomes Bessent as Treasury Secretary. 

Quick Tip: Consistency

Here’s an important quote from Dr. Brett Steenbarger, author of many books on trader psychology and an accomplished S&P futures day trader. 

“You are most likely to become consistent IN your trading if you are consistent in working ON your trading.” 

How? Preparation and review. Sports teams do this. Prepare for the opponent, play the game, watch the game videos 

Are you preparing enough for your trading session? Are you assessing current market conditions and adjusting your expectations to what is probable? 

Steenbarger focuses on volume, percentage moves, and the VIX to prepare his day. There are other metrics ...

Yesterday’s results: Buying 5889.75 was only good for a 5-point scalp. The short idea didn’t trigger. 

Today’s Best S&P Futures Turning Points: Buy 5909.50 stop 5904.75. Short 5975.50 stop 5981.25. 

The World Index: (+100/-100) drops from +29 to zero with sentiment mixed and volatility low. 

Catalysts: Jobless Claims & Philly Fed MFG Index @ 8:30. Fed’s Hammack @ 8:45, Goolsbee @ 12:25, Hammack @ 12:30, Barr @ 16:40. Existing Home Sales @ 10:00.

Quick Tip: New Paradigm

What are your beliefs about successful trading? How have you been taught? 

Technical analysis? – “All I need is a good indicator or two to be a winner, history repeats itself enough for me.” That’s OK. 

Fundamental analysis? – “Indicators are lagging, I want to study and KNOW the asset I’m trading to predict the future with confidence.” That’s OK too. 

Chart analysis? – “Patterns on the chart are predictive of price movement, I trade what I see based on support and resistance, supply and demand, trendlines, and/o...