The Game Plan: Tuesday, July 28, 2026

"Appreciate when it's over before we can be so back."

Somebody in Seoul woke up and decided the AI trade needed a haircut. Samsung and SK Hynix both down double digits, the kind of move that used to require an actual earnings miss, and all it took this time was people doing arithmetic on who is funding whose data center. NQ took out July's low while that was going on and is sitting on the wrong side of it now. Gold got sold into a firm dollar with the rate decision still a day out, crude broke 80 and nobody in equities even looked up. ES did not move at all. One index getting dismantled and the other one refusing to flinch is the only thing on my screen that matters this morning.

The Tape

ES opened Monday at 7507.75, leaked all session, and closed 7449 on a 7447.75 POC with value from 7424.50 up to 7456 and a 7416.25 low. The overnight barely moved, opening 7453, capping at 7456 on the same print that stopped Monday, dipping to 7419, and building value 7429 to 7444 around a 7442 POC. It sits 7447 now, right back on Monday’s POC and inside Monday’s value, which is the only chart on the board that did not go anywhere. Hold 7442 and the reclaim runs at the 7456 stack, then 7470.75 where the week tops its value. Lose 7429 and the ladder is 7424.50, then the 7416.25 low Monday and the week share, with 7411.75 from last week and July right underneath.