Trading Update: Friday August 22, 2025
E-mini end of day video review
Follow Joseph’s YouTube channel for more Al Brooks price action analysis.
S&P E-mini market analysis
E-mini daily chart
- The E-mini formed a weak bearish inside bar yesterday after testing the midpoint of the August rally.
- This is a sign of hesitation by the bears, which increases the odds of sideways trading.
- The Bulls ended up getting a strong upside breakout today and a test of the all-time high. This dramatically lowers the probability of the Bears getting a successful lower high major turn reversal.
- The problem that the Bears have is that the market has not gone sideways for enough bars, and therefore the odds still favor trend resumption more than a successful reversal down.
- The rally up from the August low lasted too many bars, and this increased the odds that the market was going to go sideways, lowering the probability of a successful high or high major trend reversal with last week.
- Today is enough of a surprise on the daily chart that the odds will favor at least a small second leg up. The Bears need to prevent the Bulls from getting follow-through buying next week.
E-mini 5-minute chart and what to expect today
- They gap up on the open and rallied for the first 4 bars of the day.
- The past two days ended up forming a triangle, and the gap up on the open was a successful breakout of the triangle.
- The Bulls got a major surprise on bars 7 and 8, which increased the odds of another leg up.
- As of bar 27, the rally is extreme, and that increases the probability that the market goes sideways for the next several hours.
- The bulls are hopeful that they can get the market to close on its high, creating a strong breakout bar on the daily chart.
- The Bulls need to prevent the Bears from getting a strong sell-off. If the Bulls are lucky, the market will form a weak sell-off to the moving average and go sideways for several bars, and then get an upside breakout late in the day.
- Today is Friday, and therefore, weekly support and resistance are important. At the moment, today’s upside breakout drove the market above the open of the week. The bulls are hopeful that the market has enough energy to close above the open of the week, creating a bull bar on the weekly chart.
Yesterday’s E-mini setups
Al created the SP500 E-mini charts.
Here are reasonable stop entry setups from yesterday. I show each buy entry bar with a green arrow and each sell entry bar with a red arrow. Buyers of both the Brooks Trading Course and Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns have access to a near 4-year library of more detailed explanations of swing trade setups (see Online Course/BTC Daily Setups). Encyclopedia members get current daily charts added to Encyclopedia.
My 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
Al created the SP500 E-mini charts.
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.
