E-Mini S&P

Price action was pretty turgid Wednesday night, although sellers could turn things ugly with one nasty little shove in the E-Mini S&Ps.  Gold was holding its own but also under threat from selling forces that presumably are short-term.

It was all downhill yesterday, DaBoyz having wrung as much fear and panic from bears as they could before the opening bell. I doubt that bears will have much to celebrate in the days ahead, however, since the selloff, ostensibly the worst of 2012, has actually been pretty feeble so far.  Notice how the futures had to be dragged lower, kicking and screaming, to breach even a single important low on the chart. And although a second at 1333.75 looks ready to give way, even if it does there will have been too much hesitation about it.  We should be ready to put our skepticism aside, however, if a downdraft overnight or Thursday morning pushes aside external lows #3 and #4 (see inset).  In any case, as we went to press there were no compelling correction targets where camouflageurs might look to bottom-fish.  If you're keen on finding one, though, I'll suggest doing so on the 20-minute chart or lower.

Our continuing search for some finer nuances of Hidden Pivotry led us to this day's intensive examination of the charts of April Gold and the March E-Mini S&Ps. Although we found no compelling reason to trade either at the time, this conclusion was buttressed by thoughtful analysis of 'dueling' impulse legs that were everywhere to be found. Our expectation of further tedium was borne out when stocks and bullion finished the day with a sleep-inducing performance that proved unworthy of our diligent attention.

Early Tuesday night, there was only faint movement in Gold and the E-Mini S&Ps. The latter appears to have bears on the ropes, and night owls are therefore encouraged to exploit whatever 'camo' opportunities emerge as the evening wears on. Regardless, and as noted in today's ES tout, nothing should be attempted if the futures do not pull back in a way that meets our criteria for a proper recharge.

I put out a trade recommendation in the chat room yesterday to take advantage of a crystal-clear correction target at 1337.25. Alas, the futures trampolined from 1337.50 -- and did so with such ferocity that even on the one minute chart there were no easy handholds for attempting a camouflage entry. The rally racked up a 10-point gain in mere minutes, recouping losses that had taken nearly seven hours to accumulate.  As of around 7 p.m. EST, there was almost no pullback in after-hours trading, a fact that made bears' distress all too apparent.  They're not likely to get much slack as the night wears on, and so Rick's Picks night owls should seize any opportunity that comes, predicated on a B-C pullback that meets our criteria (see inset). Want to learn how to nail price reversals like a pro?  You can learn to do it in as little as six weeks. Click here for information about the upcoming Hidden Pivot Webinar and receive a $50 discount.

Chalk up a frustrating day for traders who came to their monitors yesterday with nothing in their quivers save Hidden Pivots and a winning attitude. There are days when our technical runes warn us not to expect much in the way of opportunity, and yesterday was just such a day. We should have known as much before we let the stock market put us in a trance during the second half of what was to become a tediously meaningless session. An hour earlier, during a weekly tutorial session held online for graduates of the Hidden Pivot Course, there were technical signs all over the charts suggesting that we might better use the remaining hours of the day by going fishing. And we don’t mean bottom-fishing as traders, but rather, fishing for trout or salmon -- or even for bass, assuming one would be so foolish as to risk making an otherwise pleasant outing in a Boston Whaler as frustrating as one spent waiting to pull the trigger on a trade.  (Yes, we do give the bass in particular credit for being smarter than most of us. But other traders?  They are mostly – and fortunately for us -- headless chickens, and if you can’t out-think them on a given day, it’s probably time to seek another line of work.) Anyway, over the next couple of hours, the market delivered on its technical promise to be as boring as possible, and so it went -- until exactly 3:35 p.m. EST. That’s when one of our favorite trading vehicles, the E-Mini S&Ps, exploded with the spike that you see in the chart.  This wilding spree came as no surprise to us, having been precisely anticipated in the Rick’s Picks chat room via the following recommendation at 2:29 p.m. “ES double-D pivot at

Come tomorrow, the 1353.00 pivot will have held for a week, hinting that the short-covering that has been driving stocks from one plateau to the next is not of the rampaging variety; rather, it is of the quietly psychotic variety, premeditating each new leap on the basis of whatever the latest, fabricated GDP/payroll numbers and "good" news from Europe will allow. Absent any truly horrifying geopolitical news -- and I'm not sure that even that would restrain buyers -- we should expect the futures to break out shortly and head for the 1362.50 Hidden Pivot noted here earlier.  Traders can test the water near that price with a tightly managed short, but camouflage is advised because of the rally pattern's less-than-stellar pedigree.  Want to learn how to nail price reversals like a pro?  You can learn to do it in as little as six weeks. Click here for information about the upcoming Hidden Pivot Webinar and receive a $50 discount.

The 1353.00 target precisely contained the most recent short squeeze, but if it gives way today or tomorrow, that would suggest that there is plenty of buying power remaining to be spent.  The next logical stop would be a Hidden Pivot at 1362.50 noted here earlier, and although it will offer a promising spot to try getting short, camouflage tactics should be used to initiate the trade, since the target comes from an imperfect pattern on the weekly chart.  In the meantime, as of late Sunday night there didn't appear to be any good handholds for getting long, even on the lesser charts, because of the gap-up opening that began the session.

This impromptu session from Thursday morning runs a little more than an hour, touching on B of A, the E-mini S&Ps and Comex gold. But of greatest interest, perhaps, in the final 15 minutes, is a detailed (and bullish) look at the HUI Gold Bugs Index. My suggestion is to fast-forward to this segment (unless you’re interested in the real-time ‘camo’ portion related to other vehicles).