Anchors Held the Range While Gold Took the Hit
What the Week Was Actually About
This was not a trending week. From Monday through Friday, the market spent most of its time chopping inside established ranges, testing levels from both sides, and then closing near where it started. That kind of price action is exactly where discipline either pays you or bleeds you. If you were trading toward the anchor and staying flat in the middle, you had a workable week. If you were forcing trades in the dead zones, you gave money back for no reason. The Gunslinger reads this week were built for patience, and patience was the skill being tested every single session.
What the Anchors Called and What Happened
NQ came into the week with an armed long reading on Monday morning, pointing toward 29,150. Price was accommodating early, and the level was in play. By Tuesday morning the read flipped short toward 29,450, then Wednesday morning it was flat at the midpoint, which is the Gunslinger telling you the structure is not clean enough to lean on. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning both reloaded the long toward 29,150, which showed the anchor was identifying the same support cluster repeatedly. Thursday afternoon switched to short toward 29,500. Friday morning confirmed short toward 29,650. The week closed at 29,523, with a session high of 29,704.50 and a session low of 29,468. The Friday short armed toward 29,650 was directionally correct in that the high of 29,704.50 was rejected and price closed below that level. The middle of the week was genuinely flat. NQ respected its structure more often than not, but there were no clean runaway moves. The flat reads on Wednesday morning were honest, and that honesty kept you out of a choppy trap.
ES had its clearest moment on Monday morning, armed short toward 7,650. The week ended with Friday closing at 7,715 and a change of negative 39.75 on the day. The Friday morning read was armed short toward 7,750, and with the session high printing at 7,764.50 before pulling back to close at 7,715, the short bias had merit at the anchor level. Tuesday morning's short toward 7,675 aligned with price action that was grinding lower. The armed long readings on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning toward 7,675 pointed at the same support. By Thursday afternoon the read flipped to long toward 7,750, which was the high range of the week. ES had several moments where the direction was right but the range was tight enough that patience mattered more than conviction.
GC was the instrument that moved the most meaningfully this week, and it was also where the reads showed the most complexity. Monday morning was an armed long toward 4,390. Tuesday morning was flat at the midpoint. Tuesday afternoon flipped to a short toward 4,520. Thursday morning was flat again. Thursday afternoon armed short toward 4,520. Friday morning armed short toward 4,510. Gold closed Friday at 4,477.20 with a session high of 4,537.80 and a session low of 4,412. The change on the day was negative 62.70. The late-week short reads toward 4,510 and 4,520 were pointing in the right direction as gold sold off hard on Friday. The earlier long read toward 4,390 on Monday morning was the one that did not find follow-through in the same direction, as gold spent the mid-week period elevated before rolling over. That Monday call was a miss relative to where price ultimately went.
CL had the most directional tension all week. Monday morning short toward 89.50, Tuesday morning short toward 90.50, Tuesday afternoon short toward 90.50, Wednesday afternoon long toward 86.50, Thursday morning short toward 86.00. Then Friday morning flipped to an armed long toward 90.50. Crude closed Friday at 91.22, session high 92.17, session low 88.72, change negative 0.08. The early-week short reads were working as crude tested lower territory. The Friday long armed toward 90.50 was in the right zone given the close at 91.22, though the negative daily change shows there was no real momentum behind it. The mid-week flip to the 86 range reads reflects the anchor adjusting to where price actually was at the time.
Where the Reads Were Honest and Where They Were Not
The flat reads deserve recognition. There were six instances this week where the Gunslinger came back with flat at the midpoint on a specific instrument. Those flat reads on NQ Wednesday morning, GC Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and CL Tuesday morning and Thursday morning were the reads doing their job. The structure was not clear enough to arm a direction, and publishing flat is harder than publishing a direction. That discipline is something worth noting.
The Monday morning GC long toward 4,390 is the call that did not align with where gold actually went by the end of the week. Price moved higher before reversing sharply. If you were trading toward that anchor and managing the position appropriately, the structure was there. But the weekly outcome for gold was a significant down move, and that Monday read was pointing the other direction.
What to Watch Coming Into Monday
NQ is sitting at 29,523 with structure built around the 29,500 area all week. The Friday short read was pointing toward 29,650, and the session high was 29,704.50. If Monday opens into that zone again, the Gunslinger will tell you whether that short structure is still armed. ES closed at 7,715 with pressure from the Friday sell. Watch whether 7,750 becomes resistance again or gets cleared. GC sold off 62.70 on Friday and closed at 4,477.20. The anchor will need to reprice the zone coming into next week given that range expansion. CL closed at 91.22 with a long read still in the air toward 90.50. That level is close to current price and worth watching for how Monday opens. Trade toward the anchor. Stay flat in the middle.
New to futures? The beginners course starts where the anchor does:
MOJO CODE™ is a proprietary trading indicator system. Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss.
Keep it profitable,
ProTrader Mike
Comments