As last week ended, buyers looked to be developing thrust for a push to the 2324.00 target shown. This would equate to a 400-point rally in the Dow Industrials that would put the blue chip average well above the supposed 20,000 barrier.  Friday’s stall precisely at the 2276.00 ‘midpoint Hidden Pivot’ implies that if and when buyers move the futures decisively above it — meaning by at least three points — getting to 2324.00 will become an odds-on bet. We’ll look to trade this forecast in both directions:  first by getting long for the ride north; then shorting at or very near the target with a tight stop-loss. The top of Friday’s moderate rally exceeded the target by 1.00 point, but that is not quite sufficient for us to infer that a run-up to 2324.00 is a done deal. However, assuming the uptrend resumes on Monday and the midpoint resistance becomes support, we’ll attempt to get aboard with as little risk as possible, presumably by using a ‘mechanical’ bid or a ‘counterintuitive’ entry trigger.  If you want to see these tactics at work in real time, tune to the chat room, since there are usually at least a dozen traders in the room who have mastered them. If the trade becomes a ‘go’, it will be posted on The Scoreboard in timely fashion so that all subscribers can take advantage. _______ UPDATE (Jan 9, 8:37 p.m. ET): The futures are in a weak decline in after-hours trading after buyers failed to surpass 2276.00. I posted a ‘mechanical’ buy intraday but subsequently scratched it rather than face a possible swoon engineered by DaBoyz overnight or on the opening bar. They will need a running start to hit new highs in any event, but they’ll need to do it without an assist from the newsfeed, since there are no announcements of particular interest on Tuesday’s Econoday calendar. _______ UPDATE (Jan 10, 1:09 p.m.): This erstwhile rabid badger has repeatedly demonstrated that it is easily tradable via ‘counterintuitive’ signals. My suggestion would be to get while the gettin’s good, since the algos are going to discover our little secret sooner or later. The fact that the trick still works is ample proof that they are not yet onto it. It also adds to the evidence that we can and should initiate counterintuitive trades when C=A).  FYI, this morning’s juicy opportunity came off a counterintuitive trigger around 9:00 a.m. at 2264.25 (A=2258.25 on 1/6/ 60-minute). Present target: 2278.35. ________ UPDATE (7:12 p.m.): Even with a running start and a short-squeeze opening bar, the futures somehow still failed to reach the modest, 2278.35 rally target we we used today to keep us on the right side of the market.  Technical signs remain bullish, but I’ll suggest trading this vehicle only if you’re looking to test your ‘counterintuitive’-entry skills against nonsense. If the futures pop in the first hour to 2282.50, you can short there with a three-tick stop-loss.