The futures spent last week moving lower, but not significantly, and not in a way that was easily tradeable. Nervous blips against the downtrend occurred with annoying frequency, producing only frustration no matter which side of the market a trader was on. Still, a cursory glance at the chart (see inset) suggests the ratcheting price action was a bullish consolidation, even if a hellish dive-out-of-nowhere can never be ruled out as Sunday evening approaches. There was nothing of particular interest on the economic calendar for the week ahead, and the news environment looks similarly uninspiring.  This will raise the odds that old tariff news will be trotted out as the reason stocks have fallen, if that is what they do. China has many good reasons to come to the negotiating table. They have played so dirty for so long that a few concessions would hardly dent the rather large edge they’ve built into their trade policies. Trump should not ease his grip on their balls, and it doesn’t look like he will. Although this will cost us all, at least for a while, it will have  been worth it if it results in a more level playing field for global trade. _______ UPDATE (Sep 11, 5:07 p.m. EDT): After spiking on a short squeeze that began the day, the futures spent the rest of the session in a weak consolidation pattern. I say ‘weak’ because it occurred beneath an ‘external’ peak recorded last Thursday rather than above it. On balance, I’d suggest watching from the sidelines when stocks open._______ UPDATE (Sep 12, 5:46 p.m.): Zzzzzzzz. A likely pop above the 2896.25 midpoint resistance shown is what it will take to send this gas-bag to the  2927.50 target. A more-than-slight breach would portend additional waftage to 2936.25.