Morning Market Notes 08-18-26

Market Calendar

$SPX & $QQQ

Tech is the one taking it this morning. QQQ down 1.30% and already pressing the 720 Put Wall, SPY off 0.47% and back under 770. DIA is barely down 0.14% and IWM off 0.37%, so the damage is concentrated in one place. VIX bid up 3.88% to 15.78. Protection is getting paid before the cash open again.

Yesterday's rotation flipped. The cyclical side is holding while tech leaks, and that's oil and yields doing the work with no Iran resolution in sight. QQQ sitting right on 720 is the whole trade today. Hold it and dealers give it room back toward 725 and 730. Lose it and there's air underneath. SPX still has 7700 under it (barely) and the 7800 Call Wall above with a 1.00% implied move.

Macro is stacked early. Housing Starts and Import Prices at 8:30, Industrial Production at 9:15, Pending Home Sales at 10.

Let's have a sesh.

This old Soldier is at $82K and counting

You read the morning analysis. Blu reads the same notes, then he watches the real-time flow confirm the setups and stacks payouts toward a $100K month. That's the difference between reading about the move and being in it.