Yesterday was most impressive — if tedium is the yardstick.  Even though we found the best opportunity of the day during an online trading session, initiating a long position a tick off the intraday low, it went nowhere after an initial run-up of 8 points.  The implied, theoretical gain of $400 is not bad, considering we risked only a theoretical $50 at the outset.  However, we were denied an additional $800 of profit per contract when the futures failed to even head-fake a run at their actual target of 1159.75, 16 points higher. This was pretty sobering. We are constantly reminding you that there is virtually no bullish buying in this market — only short-squeeze rallies that lift the futures from one resistance level to the next. All of the evidence suggests this is true, but we are still  amazed at how the dynamic sometimes seems capable of propelling stocks upward indefinitely.

There is no real selling either, presumably because individual investors are out of the market, and that has been a factor in the rise of shares. But the by-now predictable pattern of tedious, turgid consolidation until the next short-squeeze has been primed has made market-watching almost unbearable. There is unlikely to be any excitement today either, but if you’re looking for (relatively) easy opportunity, try bidding a tick above a Hidden Pivot support at 1133.25, stop 1132.75. You’ll be on your on if the order fills (which could conceivably happen overnight), but that would pre-empt the 1159.75 target, replacing it with another at 1164.00 — a Hidden Pivot midpoint — and its ‘D’ sibling at 1164.00. _______ UPDATE: The overnight low was 1134.25, so we missed getting on board the gratuitous, 19-point trash rally that followed by three ticks.  The futures eventually detumesced back down to the pivot, but we just watched, unenticed by sloppy seconds.