Trading Update: Thursday April 16, 2026
E-mini end of day video review
S&P E-mini market analysis
E-mini daily chart
- The E-mini on the daily chart is approaching the all-time high, and we’ll likely reach it today.
- It’s possible that the market comes within a few points of the all-time high and then pulls back. The all-time high is an obvious Magnet, and therefore some traders will look to take profits around the all-time high, and other traders may look to sell for a scalp.
- The rally over the past several days has been very strong and climactic. This increases the risk that the market will probably pull back over the next several days.
- Today is probably going to form a weaker bull bar and likely close as a disappointment bar for the bulls. This means that today we’ll probably have a tail above the bar.
- Even though the rally on the daily chart is very climactic, it’s a strong breakout on the weekly chart. This means that even if the market pulls back, the odds favor a second leg up. The best the bears can expect is a trading range for several bars.
E-mini 5-minute chart and what to expect today
- They gapped up on the open and sold off for the first five bars of the day. The sell-off was weak, and the market only formed one strong bear breakout bar on bar five, which was climactic.
- Because of how bullish the higher timeframe context has been, the odds were that today would form a trading range open, and that the downside below 5 was likely to be limited, especially when bar 6 was a bad follow-through bar.
- The market formed a triangle with bar 15 and entered breakout mode, and the bulls got an upside breakout. The breakout was strong and formed three legs up to bar 34.
- The market tried to form a small pullback trend from bar 15 to 34; however, bar 34 was testing within a few points of the all-time high, which increased the odds of profit taking and the market correcting down.
- Bar 5 is also important. It’s a large bear trend bar, and today will have a lot of trading range price action.
- With the sell-off down to bar 41, the odds are that the market’s in a trading range. Because the five-minute chart has been in a fairly tight bull channel for the past three days, there’s increased risk that the market will fall below the low of bar 6 at some point today. This is the most recent major higher low.
- Overall, the 5-minute chart has formed a bull channel over the past two days, and the rally is getting climactic on the higher time frames. This increases the risk of a sell-off testing previous higher lows, which makes the first target for the bears the lower bar six, and then the next target the 42 low from yesterday. That might be too far for today.
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.
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.
