BS"D

Good morning,

Thursday's Slide Surge maneuver, anticipated in yesterday's opening discussion,
gave us another Lesson in Creating Range in a Sideways Market (see commentary
below, sorry for all the mixed metaphores).

Alerted by several TELLS, we were ready, and we rewarded with a substantial bite
out of the Surge. TGIF and Purim Sameach!!!

Enjoy and be well,

P.S. Plunge Slide - Slide Surge, Making Range - DISCUSSION REPRINT
Once again the market is sliding sideways, depressed, in the doldrums.
As we have observed often before, there is no day trading profit for
the BBs in a wary economic, sleepy (small-range) trading period.
To expand tradable range from which to profit, the market makers like
to employ a (early morning or late afternoon) Plunge Slide - Slide
Surge rhythm. Expect to see more of it on the e-mini tape.
[ADD COMMON SUB-MANEUVER: To acquire range, traps wrong foot as many
traders as possible. When the trap is sprung, the range of the next
swing has magically been doubled, without its extreme pulling high-risk
far from sideways safety.]

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DAILY PIVOT MAGIC TRADING JOURNAL - EXCERPT
*********************************************
E-mini ES H0
Thursday February 25,2010

Always check the Overnight before the open.
Sound familiar? During the last hour before the day session open, the early birds set up yet another classic
low-risk sub-maneuver (little net variance from horizontal fulcrum) trick for expanding the trading range/room
for profit taking.

Rather like plunging a cork under water, two high-Volume shoves (Overnight, bottom left chart, pink arrows,
lots of folks in on this trick) set up a decent opening-gap, a safe expansion of range all the way back to the
Close.

Nice trick! But it is also a TELL. Whether in the morning (as I tended to suspect until the "surface tension"
at the S2 exerted it's influence), or in the afternoon (as it in fact developed), the non-Slide portion of
Thursday will be a Surge, a Bull run to close the opening gap.

Hovering at the S2 Resistance seems agreed upon by morning traders, and Price Action Slides sideways, hugging
the S2 underbelly.

B = DVS (blue arrow) enables an S2 crossing. Mid-lunchtime, this is another Bull TELL. Someone broke ranks.

1 = Part of a larger 123 of S2, this pattern (orange oval) qualifies as a Double Bottom, "P" Signal, at the S2.
No Volume yet.

C = Cork is released and pops up with DVS (pink arrow) confirmation. Breakaway gap, and a large white candle
pulls us in. Initial stop advances under the low of the candle. As far as Price Action has traveled in one
candle, I'd personally slip the stop into the gap (good ole risk-conservative me).

D = Another breakaway gap and an average-sized white candle. Our position is in PMT Maximum Profit Giveback
(MPG) violation. With no sign of Momentum deterioration (other than the 5 white candles in a row string),
searching for an excuse to move the stop instead of exiting per MPG rules, we find Asher's convention. Slip
the profit-locking stop aggressively into the gap. Excellent Money Management, leaving only a small amount
of profits At Risk on the table.

E = Extremely late in the move (6 white candle in a row now) DVS warns of failing Momentum. Giant white candle
stretches only tiks short of engaging the Primary Objective, S1/50% Fibonacci Retracement level (purple line).

Our position is in MPG violation. Mental stop at Giveback Level. That's good, because the tape reading is rife
with exhaustion warnings. Prepare to Pivot Scalp exit.

F = Exhaustion gap, and large white inverted (Bear) Dragonfly (second exhaustion sign) spikes above the S1 and
retracts (the PL further hinders forward Momentum). Our position is in MPG Violation. Rules say we must tighten
the stop or exit immediately. Twin Towers (pink arrow) indicates a stall/sag is next. Thus, even aggressively
jumping the profit-locking stop into the gap, which leaves us exposed to the slightest stall/sag, seems futile.
Exit Now! +/- 6.25 points

Cork vigorously pops toward the surface (the Close), but becomes entangled at the S1/50% Fibonacci Retracement
Level. Another example Pivot Magic. Hehehe!

G = Just as the PMT entry clock stops, the cork works loose, without any PMT-acceptable Signal, and DVS (pink
arrow) pops the Price Action cork up to the rock hard Pivot.

By EOD Price Action manages to inch north, almost tapping on the Close. Only a tiny, meaningless, 2-tik gap
remains open.

PERSPECTIVE
(Daily, bottom right chart)
Thursday taped a large red-tipped Doji candle, spiking through the 50% Fib
(red line)-62% Fib (purple line) LT SW Channel floor. Other than to admire
the artistic way the trading range was stretched, not much to add. Thursday
was the anticipated Side Surge, a much ado signifying nothing day in the
e-mini! LOL!

REMEMBER: Trade the Tape, Not my Prognostics!

Asher
=] ;-)>

Pivot Point Daytrading Course
http://www.tradingthingys.com/PMTJ/Commodity%20Day%20Trading.html

Thursday's PMT Chart: