E-mini Testing 7,200 Round Number

Trading Update: Friday April 24, 2026

E-mini end of day video review

S&P E-mini market analysis

E-mini daily chart

• The E-mini Is forming an expanding triangle on the daily chart after this strong April rally and is approaching the 7,200 round number.
• Because the market’s forming a tight trading range just under the  round number, this tells traders that the round number is a level of resistance.
• Because the rally was climactic in April, the odds favor more trading range price action for the next several weeks.
• The E-mini is close enough to the 7,200 round number that it will probably get there. However, if it does, there will likely be sellers not far above it.
• The prior all-time high in the 7,000 major round number are likely test magnets for the market to reach over the next couple of months.
• The bears first need to increase the selling pressure. They can do that by creating more sideways trading or creating bear bars closing on their lows ideally a series of bear bars closing on their lows.
• Even if the bears reach the 7,000 round number, the reality is there will probably be buyers around that location, and the market will likely test back to the current highs.
• Overall with the daily chart in the higher time frames getting climactic, there’s an increased probability that the next several weeks are going to lead to a lot of sideways trading. This means that the daily chart is probably going to continue to have a lot of overlapping bars similar to what it did during the first couple of months of 2026.

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

• Today gapped up on the open and went sideways for the first 13 bars forming a triangle which is breakout mode.
• The bars were all above the moving average, which increased the probability of the upside breakout which the Bulls got.
• The Bulls got a strong rally up to bar 23. At the moment, the market is forming a small pullback bull trend. The bulls are hopeful that the small pullback bull trend will last for the rest of the day and form a bull bar closing on its high on the daily chart.
• The bears are hopeful that it’s a trending trading range day. And just like the first 12 bars of the day went sideways. They are hopeful that the market is going to go sideways or 12 or 20 bars around bar 23.
• Looking at the Globex chart, the market formed a strong upside breakout to around 7,190 around 7:45 AM. This increases the odds that the market will get the upside breakout and test of the 7190.
• Update: as I was typing this, the market formed a strong upside breakout on Bar 27, testing very close to the 7200 round number. Bar 27 is likely exhaustion, and it’s a climactic bar. This increases the odds that the market will form weak follow through after bar 27 and possibly test the low of the bar over the next several bars.

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.

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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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