Trading Update: Monday March 23, 2026
E-mini end of day video review
S&P E-mini market analysis
E-mini daily chart
- The E-mini formed a bear breakout last Friday, breaking below the 6,660 round number. While this was good for the bears, the context was not ideal due to the consecutive sell climaxes at support on the daily chart.
- This increased the odds of a reversal up and test back to the November 2025 lows, which the bulls achieved right before the open of the US session.
- The bulls are hopeful that today’s gap up is strong enough to increase the odds of a 2nd leg up.
- Even if the bears form a Low 1 short today, there will probably be buyers below. The odds are that today will be disappointing for both the bulls and the bears. This means that today is unlikely to form a bear bar closing on its low.
- There are trapped bears who sold last Friday, and they will likely use any test back down to buy back shorts at a lower price. This will increase the odds of the market finding buyers over the next few days and the bulls getting a 2nd leg up.
E-mini 5-minute chart and what to expect today
- Today formed a bull trend from the open, and the market rallied for the first 20 bars.
- The rally had a lot of overlapping bars with bull gaps getting closed. This increased the odds that the rally was likely to form a bull leg in what would form a trading range.
- The bears managed to get a parabolic wedge top and a strong downside breakout.
- Bars 24-26 were strong enough to keep the market always in short, and for traders to expect a 2nd leg down. This increased the odds of a test of the open of the day and the bar 2 low.
- As of bar 36, the bears have formed consecutive sell climaxes. This increases the odds of a minor reversal and sideways trading for a few bars. The bulls are hopeful that because of all of the trading range price action, they will be able to get a strong reversal up and a test back to the open of the day.
- Overall, today is probably going to have a lot of trading range price action going into the close. This means that a bear trend lasting the rest of the day is unlikely to continue.
Yesterday’s E-mini setups
Richard created the SP500 E-mini chart.
Here are reasonable stop entry setups from Friday. Chart shows each buy entry bar with a green arrow and each sell entry bar with a red arrow. Buyers of the Brooks Trading Course have access to a near 4-year library of detailed explanations of swing trade setups (see Online Course/BTC Daily Setups) linked to the Brooks Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns product.
The goal with these charts is to present an Always In perspective. If a trader was trying to be Always In or nearly Always In a position all day, and he was not currently in the market, these entries would be logical times for him to enter. These therefore are swing entries.
It is important to understand that most swing setups do not lead to swing trades. As soon as traders are disappointed, many exit. Those who exit prefer to get out with a small profit (scalp), but often have to exit with a small loss.
If the risk is too big for your account, you should wait for trades with less risk or trade an alternative market like the Micro E-mini.
Summary of today’s S&P E-mini price action
Richard created the SP500 E-mini chart.
See the weekly update for a discussion of the price action on the weekly chart and for what to expect going into next week.
Trading Room
Al Brooks and other presenters talk about the detailed E-mini price action real-time each day in the Brooks Trading Course trading room. We offer a 2 day free trial.
Charts use Pacific Time
When times are mentioned, it is USA Pacific Time. The E-mini day session charts begin at 6:30 am PT and end at 1:15 pm PT which is 15 minutes after the NYSE closes. You can read background information on the market reports on the Market Update page.
Mentorship Chart Analysis!
Hey Brad, don’t u think b53 is a reasonable buy. mDB/W, 2 attempts to b/o of the TR. Just curious why u feel it was not worthy. Thx
Brad does not create chart. In my view B53 was in a bear channel and potential bear trend resumption, which turned out to be the case. Better to not buy (or sell) countertrend if looking for swing trades as all these setups are.
Thank you for the consistent great quality content Brad. Do you still see price reaching back to 6900 in the next couple weeks?
My thoughts as of 03/24: ”
Market Narrative:
The D1 regime is AIS — the last Flip Trigger produced Good FT from the pullback, and the bear channel remains intact. The market cycle reads as a confirmed breakout of a prior TR now converting into what could become a sustained AIS bear trend; the channel is still early, not late, and momentum is building within it.
Structure is a tight bear channel breaking out of the prior TR, with the weekly chart confirming a bear micro channel where the first reversal is minor. Price broke below the HTF bull major swing low — that former support at the bottom of the TR has flipped to confirmed resistance, with hard rejection today at the 6677 breakout point. The TR bottom-of-thirds zone that price broke through is now acting as overhead supply. Full EMA gaps exist below the D1 20, D1 60, and weekly 20 EMAs, and price has broken below the weekly 60 EMA with some residual buying that is being overwhelmed by bearish momentum. The BO-to-PB gap has closed, but the tight channel structure and HTF micro channel context keep the bearish read intact despite that closure.
FRVP confirms the structure read thoroughly. Value is migrating lower with each leg down — the completed Impulse POC sits outside the TR at the current bar, the PB ended without shifting the Impulse POC (weak pullback), and the live Rotation POC is now holding at bar level well below the prior rotation. The secondary Composite POC has migrated to the bar at 6600, which is an extremely bearish signal — the market’s structural center of gravity is chasing price lower. An LVN speed corridor was created by the after-hours spike into resistance, giving bears an obvious fill target for tomorrow’s session.
No MTR potential exists — there has been no break of the bear trend line, and the failed MTR filter confirms the first reversal will be minor. No wedge is reliable in a tight channel with building momentum. The dominant pattern is the L1 short setup at the Grade A cluster, with the ioi breakout confirming as a pause before continuation. Today’s bar gapped down, bulls filled the gap but were immediately rejected with a long upper tail — sellers are scaling in at every bounce. The after-hours session produced a low-volume news-driven spike that was also sold at the Grade A cluster, providing a second entry opportunity and loading the position to full size (40 contracts). The L1 FT is confirmed solid for the bears.
The bull case is weak: they managed to close the gap down but were quickly rejected, and the AH spike was sold. They need strong buying to reverse this, and structural magnets above are being steadily converted to current price levels, starving bulls of overhead targets. The bear case is dominant: channel intact, Good FT from L1, all POC reads migrating lower, and sellers defending the Grade A resistance cluster twice.”
Thank you for sharing your thoughts James!
Your welcome! Posted my analysis of todays close (03-25-2026) as well if it is of any help!