Trading Update: Tuesday July 28, 2026
S&P E-mini market analysis
E-mini daily chart
- The daily chart of the E-mini continues to form a triangle, going sideways for the past few months.
- At the moment, the odds favor the bulls getting the upside breakout.
- If today forms a bull bar closing near its high, traders will be hopeful that the market breaks above the all-time high and the 7,700 round number.
- Even if the bears break below the June low, the reality is that there will be buyers below who are willing to scale in lower.
- It is less likely that the market breaks strongly below the two-month trading range and falls for a measured move.
- The higher time frame charts, such as the weekly chart, are fairly bullish.
- This triangle on the daily chart is likely a bull flag that will get an upside breakout.
- The bears are hopeful that if the market does get an upside breakout above the all-time high, it will find confusion and disappointment, which increases the chances of profit taking at a new all-time high.
- Overall, the market is forming a triangle, which means it is in breakout mode, and because the higher time frame is bullish, the odds slightly favor the bulls getting an upside breakout.
E-mini 5-minute chart and what to expect today
- Today formed an outside down bar on bar one, closing on its low, and the bears followed through with bars two and three.
- It was a strong enough bear breakout that the odds favored sellers above and a second leg down.
- However, bar four formed a strong bull reversal bar, closing on its high.
- That increased the probability that although there would probably be sellers above bar four, there would probably be buyers in the bottom third of bar four as well, because it was at the bottom of the trading range of the past several bars, going back to yesterday’s bar 18.
- The bulls ended up getting an opening reversal up with bars 15 and 16, and it was strong enough that the market was likely to find buyers below.
- The bears tried to get a reversal down on bars 18 and 19, but it failed at the moving average, and the bulls got a strong upside breakout on bars 21 and 22.
- The rally from the bar 20 low to the bar 23 high was strong enough to increase the odds of a second leg up.
- While the second leg up to bar 42 was disappointing for the bulls, the bears got a reversal down on bars 43 to 45 that was likely to get a second leg.
- So far, as of bar 51, the market is forming a trading range with bars 24 to 51.
- The bears are trying to get a breakout on bar 51, but they really need the bar to close on its low, and even then they probably need follow-through.
- The market may have to retest yesterday’s bar 73 high, which is a breakout point.
- It was reasonable for traders to sell the bar 18 high and scale in higher, and that increases the risk that the market may try to reach it.
Yesterday’s E-mini setups
Jed 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
Jed 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.
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.
