A mixed days, again

USD: Sept '25 is Up at 97.480.  

Energies: Aug '25 Crude is Up at 66.28.

Financials: The Sep '25 30 Year T-Bond is Lower by 3 ticks and trading at 113.06.

Indices: The Sep '25 S&P 500 emini ES contract is 28 ticks Higher and trading at 6408.50.

Gold: The Aug'25 Gold contract is trading Down at 3346.00.

Initial conclusion

This is not a correlated market. The USD is Up and Crude is Up which is not normal, but the 30 Year T-Bond is trading Lower.  The Financials should always correlate with the US dollar such that if the dollar is Higher, then the bonds should follow and vice-versa. The S&P is Higher and Crude is trading Higher which is not correlated. Gold is trading Lower which is correlated with the US dollar trading Up.  I tend to believe that Gold has an inverse relationship with the US Dollar as when the US Dollar is down, Gold tends to rise in value and vice-versa. Think of it as a seesaw, when one is up the other should be down. I point this out to you to make you aware that when we don't have a correlated market, it means something is wrong. As traders you need to be aware of this and proceed with your eyes wide open. Asia traded Higher with the exception of the Sensex exchange.  All of Europe is trading Lower.

Possible challenges to traders

• Core Durable Goods is out at 8:30 AM EST. This is Major.
• Durable Goods is out at 8:30 AM EST. This is Major.

Traders, please note that we've changed the Bond instrument from the 10 Year (ZN) to the 2 Year (ZT).  They work exactly the same.

We've elected to switch gears a bit and show correlation between the 2-year Treasury notes (ZT) and the S&P futures contract.  The YM contract is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the purpose is to show reverse correlation between the two instruments.  Remember it's likened to a seesaw, when up goes up the other should go down and vice versa.

Yesterday the ZT dived Lower at around 8:30 AM EST with Unemployment Claims pending.  The Dow climbed Higher at the same time.  Look at the charts below and you'll see a pattern for both assets. The Dow climbed Higher at 8:30 AM EST and the ZT dived Lower at around the same time.  These charts represent the newest version of Bar Charts, and I've changed the timeframe to a 15-minute chart to display better.  This represented a Short opportunity on the 2-year note, as a trader you could have netted about 20 ticks per contract on this trade.   Each tick is worth $6.25.  Please note: the front month for ZT is now Sep '25 and the Dow is now Sep '25.  I've changed the format to filled Candlesticks (not hollow) such that it may be more apparent and visible.

Charts courtesy of barCharts

ZT -Sep 25 - 7/24/25

Dow - Sep 2025- 7/24/25

Bias

Yesterday we gave the markets a Neutral or Mixed bias and the markets didn't disappoint.  The Dow dropped 316 points, but the other indices veered to the Upside.  So all-in-all it was a Mixed Day.  Today we aren't dealing with a correlated market and will maintain our Neutral or Mixed bias.

Could this change? Of Course. Remember anything can happen in a volatile market.

Commentary

So yesterday we witnessed another Mixed Day as the Dow dropped but the other indices did gain ground.  Always nice to see some sense of normalcy in a usually unnormal market.  Today we have Durable Goods and Core Durable Goods; always a market mover.