|

Fed decision and technical outlook: Opportunities in EUR/USD, S&P 500, and WTI [Video]

Youtube preview

Volatility takes center stage this week as the Federal Reserve prepares to announce its interest rate decision—an event that could reshape global market sentiment. In this report, I combine technical analysis, liquidity concepts, and Elliott Wave Theory to help you identify high-probability trading scenarios while avoiding common mistakes and preparing your portfolio for sudden market swings.

Fundamental overview: Volatility after the Fed decision

The market is pricing in a 25-basis-point rate hike from the Federal Reserve. However, any unexpected move—especially a larger 50-basis-point increase—could produce violent shifts across the U.S. dollar, equity indices, and commodity markets.

As risk appetite returns, strategies this week tend to favor long positions in the S&P 500, the Euro, and WTI Crude, while the U.S. dollar remains vulnerable. In this environment, monitoring liquidity and volume becomes essential to avoid market traps and anticipate corrective pullbacks.

S&P 500: Buying pullbacks within a strong bullish structure

The S&P 500 maintains a solid bullish outlook supported by Elliott Wave counts and accumulation signals at key price levels. The highest-quality opportunities tend to emerge during orderly pullbacks, where institutional participation becomes visible.

How to identify buyable pullbacks

  • Look for corrective ABC structures.
  • Confirm that liquidity indicators suggest the Market Maker is accumulating.
  • Validate the setup using momentum and pattern analysis on 5M, 30M, and 4H charts.

Keys to managing entries effectively

  • Place stops below high-liquidity zones often defended by institutional order flow.
  • Use active trade management: partial profit-taking and dynamic stop adjustments.
  • Reassess open positions during high-volatility events—especially the Fed announcement.

EUR/USD: Buying retracements in a strong trend

EUR/USD continues to show bullish behavior supported by persistent U.S. dollar weakness. Elliott Wave projections maintain targets near 1.0885, assuming a steady sequence of healthy retracements.

Familiar mistakes traders should avoid in forex

  • Entering trades within congestion zones without liquidity or momentum confirmation.
  • Selling against the trend—both fundamentals and technicals currently favor the Euro.

Intraday signals and trading ideas are shared every morning in our Discord channel.

WTI Crude Oil: Opportunity after completing wave two

Crude Oil remains highly volatile, yet the projected Wave Three structure presents clear opportunities. Once Wave Two completes, new ABC corrective pullbacks often become valuable entry points aligned with the broader trend.

Guidelines for managing Crude Oil trades

  • Monitor price interaction with institutional liquidity levels.
  • Add to positions only after new corrections that align with the bullish trend.
  • Avoid trading when the structure becomes unclear or when volume fails to confirm direction.

Author

Juan Maldonado

Juan Maldonado

Elliott Wave Street

Juan Maldonado has a University degree in Finance, and Foreign trade started his trading career in 2008. Since 2010 has been analyzing the markets using Elliott Wave with different strategies to spot high probability trades.

More from Juan Maldonado
Share:

Editor's Picks

USD/JPY retreats from nearly two-year high on hawkish BoJ Minutes

USD/JPY drifts lower during the Asian session on Friday, retreating further from its highest level since July 2024, set the previous day. Minutes from the April BoJ meeting keep further policy normalization firmly on the table amid expectations for a pickup in inflation over the coming months, due to higher energy costs. This offsets Japan's softer National CPI print and lifts the Japanese Yen amid intervention fears, exerting some pressure on the currency pair.

AUD/USD awaits 0.7000 breakdown before the next leg down amid bullish USD

AUD/USD holds above 0.7000 during the Asian session on Friday, though it remains close to the weekly low and seems poised to register modest weekly losses. The US Dollar sits near its highest level since May 2025 as the Fed's hawkish tilt overshadows optimism over the US-Iran peace deal, capping the currency pair. However, the RBA's signal that additional rate hikes were possible if inflation persists lends some support to the Aussie.

Gold refreshes weekly low as Fed's hawkish tilt underpins USD

Gold attracts sellers for the third consecutive day and weakens below $4,200, hitting a fresh weekly low during the Asian session on Friday. Despite the latest optimism over a US-Iran peace deal, the Fed's hawkish tilt helps the US Dollar to preserve its strong weekly gains to the highest level since May 2025. This, in turn, undermines the non-yielding bullion and backs the case for further losses.

Ethereum: Tokenization and network activity skyrocket in Q1 despite DeFi contraction
Following months of crashing prices and macro-driven fragility, Ethereum saw mixed performance across key metrics in the first quarter of 2026, according to Token Terminal. In its quarterly Ethereum report, the onchain analytical platform highlighted contraction across DeFi-focused metrics such as lending, trading volume and fees, while tokenization and throughput expanded.
Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.

The next big AI trade may not be about chips or software

Artificial intelligence has already created some of the biggest winners in modern market history. Chipmakers have surged, data centre construction is booming, and electricity demand forecasts are changing globally.