S&P 500 (ES)
Prior Session was Cycle Day 1: Balancing Session
Mid-Morning – The First Act of Target Tagging
By 10:27 AM:
“Both upper AND lower target zones fulfilled.”
– The type of line that makes all the cycle geeks simultaneously nod like, “Yep, textbook.”
DTS briefing hit the wire. Manny dropped the Trade of the Day, Scenario #1:
Support Buy 6844–6848 (ES)
Buyers defend the zone, delta flips, stacked bids… textbook stuff.
The targets? 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 pts.
Manny pulled +10 @ 6862 and +15 @ 6867 — chef’s kiss.
David: “Trade of the day… confirmed.”
The room: collective yup.
For greater detail of how this day unfolded, click on the Trading Room RECAP 12.4.25 link.
…Transition from Cycle Day 1 to Cycle Day 2
Transition into Cycle Day 2: Capital Preservation Fryday
“Ultra-precision tap achieved. Candles armed. Bulls and Bears, please take your positions.”
Price tagged the Cycle Day 1 Low at 6836.25 with surgical finesse — the kind of clean, exact touch that makes a neurosurgeon mutter, “Damn, even I don’t get margins that tight.”
Right on top of the 6834 average decline projected in yesterday’s DTS. Textbook. immaculate. Chef’s kiss.
Now we roll into Cycle Day 2, the land of push–pull equilibrium, where the market stretches like it’s prepping for a sprint but doesn’t want to pull a hamstring. Contraction continues to coil, and the energy building under the hood feels like someone’s warming up the rocket engine.
Meanwhile, the macro backdrop is a messy kitchen:
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Fed cut expectations still alive and humming despite a funky dip in jobless claims (a Thanksgiving-distorted data casserole).
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AI mega-caps are wobbling under their own gravitational mass — traders whispering that maybe, just maybe, they’ve flown a little too close to the sun lately. Icarus
Bulls’ Mission Briefing:
Polish the helmets, tighten the chinstraps, and reclaim 6865–6880.
This is the ignition belt — clear it, hold it, and the upside engines roar back to life.
This is where Bulls remind the Bears, “We rent the penthouse. You can have the lobby.”
Bears’ Spellbook Entry:
Time to gather the coven.
Light your candles.
Draw your little liquidity pentagrams.
A clean flush below 6800 opens the trapdoor to long liquidation and gives the bulls the antler-shakes.
Bottom Line:
It’s Capital Preservation Fryday — the kind where seasoned traders sip coffee with one hand and hover over the flatten-button with the other.
But… the setup whispers potential fireworks into the close.
We are this close to All-Time Highs.
“Let’s Light This Candle.” 🚀🔥
Of course, nothing changes for PTG…Simply follow your plan. Take only Triple A setups and manage the $risk. ALWAYS HAVE HARD STOP-LOSSES in-place on the exchange.
PTG’s Primary Directive (PD) is to ALWAYS STAY IN ALIGNMENT with the DOMINANT FORCE.
As such, scenarios to consider for today’s trading.
Bull Scenario: Price sustains a bid above 6865+-, initially targets 6880 – 6895 zone.
Bear Scenario: Price sustains an offer below 6865+-, initially targets 6845 – 6840 zone.
PVA High Edge = 6867 PVA Low Edge = 6854 Prior POC = 6865
ESZ
Nasdaq (NQ)
Prior Session was Cycle Day 1: The Pigeons Flew, the BTFD Battalion Deployed
Cycle Day 1 delivered one of those chef’s-kiss “normal” declines — clean, orderly, and precise enough to make an auction theorist misty-eyed.
The session low printed at 25488.75, right where the average decline crowd had their limit orders stacked like chipmunks hoarding acorns.
And right on cue, the BTFD Brigade didn’t hesitate. The moment the pigeon sellers overstayed their welcome, buyers stepped in with the confidence of someone who’s seen this movie… twelve times.
From that low forward, buyers maintained control all session, pressing with a firm bid into the close and hinting — rather aggressively — that higher prices into Fryday’s session were firmly on the menu.
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Session Range: 263 handles
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Volume: 485k contracts
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Mood: Buyers sipping lattes, bears staring at their shoes
…Transition from Cycle Day 1 to Cycle Day 2
Transition into Cycle Day 2: CD2 strolled in wearing its best MATD-consolidation kimono, chanting affirmations like everything’s serene… while absolutely nobody in the room is buying it.
Bulls sit cross-legged acting like they’ve transcended earthly impulses; bears sip herbal tea pretending they’re not dying to smack bids the moment someone flinches.
Spoiler: these two factions haven’t achieved enlightenment — they’ve achieved mutual delusion.
We’re playing for measured, surgical entries only today — the kind you take when price finally exhales after holding its breath for six straight sessions. And let’s be honest: this entire week’s compression is less “gentle equilibrium” and more “samurai monks sharpening katanas while maintaining eye contact.”
Balance is begging for resolution.
Fryday’s Capital Preservation Day may very well arrive with a wink, a plot twist, and a trapdoor under someone’s PnL.
Stay nimble, stay centered, and — as always — stay tuned.
Of course, nothing changes for PTG…Simply follow your plan. Take only Triple A setups and manage the $risk. ALWAYS HAVE HARD STOP-LOSSES in-place on the exchange.
PTG’s Primary Directive (PD) is to ALWAYS STAY IN ALIGNMENT with the DOMINANT FORCE.
As such, scenarios to consider for today’s trading.
Bull Scenario: Price sustains a bid above 25645+-, initially targets 25765 – 25798 zone.
Bear Scenario: Price sustains an offer below 25645+-, initially targets 25561 – 25544 zone.
PVA High Edge = 25631 PVA Low Edge = 25561 Prior POC = 25596
NQZ
Economic Calendar
Trade Strategy: Our tactical trade strategy will simply remain unaltered…We’ll be flexible to trade both long and short side from Decision Pivot Levels. Continue to focus on Bull/Bear Stackers and Premium/Discounts. As always, remaining in alignment with dominant intra-day force increases probabilities of producing winning trades.
Stay Focused…Non-Biased…Disciplined ALWAYS USE STOPS!
Good Trading…David
“Knowing is not enough, We must APPLY. Willing is not enough, We must DO.” –BR
*****This trade strategy report is disseminated for “education only” and should not be viewed in any way as a recommendation to buy or sell futures products.”
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