🔥 Cycle Day 1 Recap — The Great ATH Hunting Expedition

The first session of the new September (U) contract kicked off with all the grace and excitement of a DMV waiting room.

After a busy weekend rollover, traders settled into their freshly minted ESU26 charts and immediately discovered the market’s primary objective for the day:

🎯 Hunt. Down. New. All-Time. Highs.

The opening hours featured a slow-motion grind higher as buyers methodically worked the tape toward the Monthly Value Area High (7648.50), while sellers appeared to be attending a mandatory team-building seminar somewhere offsite.

The 7585 handle remained the early reference point, but once price established itself above the 7605-7620 sandbox, the path of least resistance remained pointed north.

👽 One-Way Traffic

For most of the session the market resembled a single-lane highway heading toward higher prices.

David noted the increase in two-way traffic during the morning hours, but every minor dip was quickly greeted by the faithful members of the BTFD Society of America.

Pivot support developed near 7630 while traders continued to monitor the developing Point of Control shift.

Translation:

The auction was advertising higher prices and participants were largely willing to pay them.

Not exactly the environment for aggressive short sellers.

⚖️ Value Area High Says “Not So Fast”

As price approached Monthly VAH at 7648.50, the market finally encountered something resembling resistance.

Imagine that.

After spending most of the day climbing a staircase built by market makers, buyers finally ran into a ceiling.

The afternoon developed into a balancing process with key support references forming around:

• 7630 Pivot Support
• 7625 RTH VWAP
• 7623 Session Midpoint

The market spent much of the afternoon conducting what highly trained PTG professionals refer to as:

“Staring at itself in the mirror.”

📊 New Highs Still in Sight

Despite the afternoon slowdown, the larger narrative remains unchanged.

The market continues to behave like a teenager who just discovered an unlimited credit card.

Every dip gets bought.

Every wobble gets stabilized.

Every bearish headline gets ignored.

At midday David noted:

“Markets gunning for a new All-Time High.”

The evidence continues to support that thesis.

💰 MOC Spoiler Alert

Late in the day a $5.8 billion MOC Sell Imbalance appeared.

Under normal circumstances that might have generated some concern.

In 2026?

It barely qualified as a speed bump.

🔄 Looking Ahead

Cycle Day 2 now takes center stage.

Historically this is where the market begins its balancing process, installs the shock absorbers, and decides whether buyers still possess enough fuel to challenge overhead highs.

The wildcard this week remains Wednesday’s FOMC announcement.

Until proven otherwise, the dominant force remains the same force that has dominated most of 2026:

Buy weakness.

Respect support.

And never underestimate the market’s ability to do the thing that annoys the greatest number of traders.

BTFD remains operational.

Carry on.