S&P 500 Emini Day Trading Gap Friday September 18, 2009

S&P Emini 500 Futures opened 1 point below the prior close at 1062.75.  That meager gap filled in the next couple of minutes.  Prices climbed over the next 30 minutes, then vaulted to the day’s high of 1071.50 upon release of the Philly Fed minutes at 10 a.m.  It took the next hour and a half for traders to digest the news and decide on direction.  At 11:30, the index entered a marked down trend that lasted through the lunch period.  Prices printed the day’s bottom, 1056.25 at 1:30 then retraced 62% of the move down by 3:30.  The last half hour of trading broke the up trend line off the bottom, but rallied to close at 1062.00, down 1.75 points.  The closing  daily candlestick prints as a red doji,  but the down action can hardly be called significant.  Volume was greater than average again with 2.5 million contracts trading, and the trading range of 15.25 points was close to average.  Tomorrow is options expiration, which often provides for higher trading volatility.