The first 30 min's is Key

In the first 30 minutes the market is going through a price correcting and balance phase. This comes from the rollover of activity during the night before ....after the US market closes, Asia , Australia , and Europe are Trading throughout the night. This momentum is absorbed at the US market Open....Hence the gap will occur....there are several possibilities once the gap presents it self...
1. Gap opens within previous days trading range.
2. Gap opens above previous days range.
3. Gap opens below previous days range.

First thing to watch for is the TEST... expect that Price will always test the Support/resistance closest to where the gap opened........will it pass through or be rejected?

Here is where the NYSE Tick comes into play. The tick records the cumulative buying and selling each minute ...if above zero , there are more buyers than sellers .....if below zero there are more sellers than buyers.........

with the Tick there are significant ranges

- 500 to + 500 indicates a neutral bias
-750 to + 750 indicates a bearish or bullish bias and leans to a range bound price action.
greater than -800 or + 800 indicates a trending bias......up or down.


Volume is the next thing to watch...

now volume is a real time relative measure of the number of shares traded....

the key observation to make is how volume moves in relation to price movement.
(try to visualize driving a car and volume is the gas peddle)

1. volume moving up, more gas / price moving up the hill faster = buyers are in charge

2. volume moving up, more gas / price moving down the hill faster = sellers are in charge

3. volume moving down ,less gas / price moving up the hill slower = buyers are drying up

4. volume moving down , less gas / price moving down the hill slower = sellers are drying up


Let's pull the two above charts together.

min 1.... gap down below previous day lower range with big volume/ - 300 tick.

min 2 thru 7..... price is rejected from trend line and lower support zone...price is going up and relative volume is flat to rising ,tick is flat remaining around -300 area....

min 8 -10 .....price drops slightly with a volume spike , tick remains in -500 range (no big sellers)

min 9 - 18.... price rises with one test of lower support zone (long wick suggests strong buyers) with rising volume, tick moves above zero and up to +800 ( big buyers are moving with +800 blocks of shares per minute) also we have a rising 20 ma cross of 50ma ,, and 50 ma is rising above zero line....Potential to trend up

min 19-30.... price hugged up against pivot line (center line of daily trading range) with increasing to flat volume , tick continues to range above zero up to +800 .....Bullish

min 31...... gives us a buy signal with a break away and close above pivot and rise in volume along with a +800 tick.....

right here is the buy....with a stop just 3 points below the candle at 20 min's