Morning Market Notes 08-26-26

Market Calendar

$SPX & $QQQ

Quiet premarket tape with a nervous undertone. QQQ down 0.36% and back under its 710 key level, SPY off 0.12% and parked right on the 765 Put Wall. VIX bid up to 15.7. Nobody is adding risk this morning, and for good reason.

Today is the one the whole month has been pointing at. NVDA reports after the close, and the Street wants $92 billion in revenue with EPS nearly double last year's. This print stopped being a chip story a long time ago, it sets the tone for the entire AI trade, which means it sets the tone for QQQ and SPX too. SPX is showing a 0.99% Implied Move with the walls at 7600 and 7700, so expect dealers to keep price pinned in that box until the numbers hit around 4:20.

The morning isn't exactly quiet either: July PCE, the second GDP estimate, Durable Goods, and Personal Income all drop at 8:30. Core PCE expected at 3.3%. A hot inflation print into tonight's earnings would make things spicy fast.

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.