E-mini Profit Taking at New All-Time High

Trading Update: Wednesday January 28, 2026

S&P E-mini market analysis

E-mini daily chart

• The E-mini rallied to a new all-time high today and is currently reversing down.
• The Bulls are hopeful that today will form a strong upside breakout above the prolonged trading range on the daily chart. However, more likely, the odds favor sellers at a new high.
• The rally up from the January 20^th low has problems with it. There are several overlapping bars with tails above on the rally up to today’s high. This increases the odds that today’s rally is a bull leg in what is likely a trading range.
• The bears don’t mind the market going to a new all-time high today, as they are willing to establish shorts, confident that bulls will also sell out of longs.
• Today is an FOMC day, and the bears are hopeful that today will be the catalyst for a strong reversal down and test back to the middle of the overall trading range below 6,900.
• The January 20^th selloff was strong enough that the odds favor a 2^nd leg down. Even though the market broke above the prior leg and the previous all-time high, the odds still favor the January 20^th selloff getting a 2^nd leg down.
•  This means that bears who sold January 20^th and higher will likely make money, and the market will test back to the January 20^th low.

E-mini 5-minute chart and what to expect today

• Today gapped up and rallied to a new all-time high. There were likely sellers at this price level, which is why the market went sideways and reversed down on bar 6.
• The bears formed a strong downside breakout down to bar 9, which was strong enough to make the market Always In Short, and the odds favor a 2^nd leg down.
• The reversal up of bars 10 and 11 was not enough to undo the momentum of the bears, and the bears managed to get a large second leg down to bar 27.
• Looking at the higher time frame, 60-minute RTH chart, the bears formed a wedge top over the past few days.
• The first 12 bars were the signal bar for the wedge, and the bears managed to get follow-through selling. This increases the odds of a test down to 6,977 price level, which is near the bottom of the third leg down.
• As of bar 27, the market is Always In Short, and the odds are that today will either be a bear trend or a trading range day.
• Today is an FOMC day, which means traders should go flat at least 30 minutes before the report at 2:00 PM EST.
• Traders should consider waiting at least 10 minutes after the report, as reversal attempts are common.
• Traders must remember to trade small and consider trading 20% of their normal position size.
• Most traders would be better off not trading the second half of the day. The FOMC report increases volatility, and there is an increased risk of lower probability events. If traders are unable to trade small, they should step aside and not trade the announcement.

Yesterday’s E-mini setups

Richard created the SP500 E-mini chart.

Here are reasonable stop entry setups from yesterday. 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.

E-mini end of day video review

Periodic end of day review videos will be moved to top of page when done.

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See the weekly update for a discussion of the price action on the weekly chart and for what to expect going into next week.

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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.

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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.

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