Cycle Day 2 | Post-Xmas Eggnog Edition

The market showed up today with a splitting headache and zero ambition.

After a little too much holiday cheer, price did exactly what Cycle Day 2 is famous for — oscillate, drip, chop, repeat. The lower 6950 ES target was fulfilled per the DTS Briefing (✔️), with NQ exceeding all lower objectives just to make sure no leftover liquidity survived the weekend.

Key takeaway:

• 6950 ES / 6900 SPX emerged as a critical Gamma Guy level, perfectly aligned with the Dynamic DLMB (D-DLMB) — translation: dealers care, traders should too.

• Sellers maintained control through the lunch hour, but conviction was… let’s call it holiday-thin.

• Volatility stayed compressed, opportunities limited, and patience paid better than aggression.

By mid-afternoon the question of the day surfaced:

Has the Santa Rally been derailed… or is it just pausing to refuel the reindeer?

Answer: neither side pressed hard enough to matter.

Into the close, call buying quietly increased, and a $851M MOC buy imbalance (technical term: mouse nuts) nudged price higher — just enough to remind everyone that downside enthusiasm has its limits this late in the calendar.

Final verdict:
A textbook, uneventful, low-volatility Cycle Day 2.
Capital preservation > hero trades.
Running out the clock remains the dominant strategy.

Enjoy the evening — see you for the final acts of 2025. 🎬