This week should offer some great setups, here's why

March Madness is upon us. Upsets abound. Surprises happen in the final minutes of action.  A shift in standings from leaders to laggards will occur. But that's just the stock markets in general... we have college basketball action to follow, too!

ES (+$50 per index point)

S&P 500 futures opened lower, surged upward early on and spent the remaining 5+ market hours in a sideways holding pattern. Around 2:00pm EST we saw a little wiggle lower that waggled back upwards to finish the day back inside its flat coil.

Nicely tradable early on, then a midday siesta before the afternoon gyrations.

ER (+$100 per index point)

Russell 2000 futures surged lower off the open and then turned upward in short squeeze fashion as well. Holding pattern all day from there did the customary late afternoon stop-run dip before closing back up at session highs.

Very typical to see those afternoon corrections suck in the reversal traders who've been itching to fight the trend all day, and it works. Once the shorts clambered in, planned buy programs took them out again.

ES (+$50 per index point)

Last week's action finished with price levels right near well-watched 62% resistance, a pivotal line on the chart. If they hold above 1290 where 50-day exponential moving average resides, bulls are still in good shape. A break & close below that value seeks 1265 ~ 1250s next.

ER (+$100 per index point)

Likewise, small caps clambered back up to middle resistance levels of the latest swing lower after four days of pressing the 50-day moving average. Below 739 is weakness, above there has bulls back in control. A confirmed break below 725 then sees 710 to 700 as next price magnets below.

Summation
If traded correctly, last week was highly tradable. No big trend moves, not even one outsized intraday range beyond the norm. However, volatility and hence intraday swing ranges are opening up. There will be much more to come, I'm quite sure. If never in our lives there were any greater ranges or wider swings than currently offered, any emini trader (properly equipped) has no reason or excuse not to succeed methodically. Better than that, we might very well see one of the more volatile trading years unfold here in 2006.

Option expiry week and triple-witch event this Thursday & Friday combined. Look for one/two potentially wild sessions, and the rest should be decent to very good as well.

Trade To Win
Austin P
www.CoiledMarkets.com
(Online video clip tutorials... open access)

Austin Passamonte is a full-time professional trader who specializes in E-mini stock index futures, equity options and commodity markets.
Mr. Passamonte's trading approach uses proprietary chart patterns found on an intraday basis. Austin trades privately in the Finger Lakes region of New York.