Trading Recap: April 20-24, 2026
The S&P 500 futures had a tale of two halves this week, starting with some nasty selling pressure before finding its footing and rallying back to near the highs. We opened Monday around 7152 and closed Friday at 7196, netting a solid +44 points (+0.6%) for the week despite some serious intraweek volatility.
Market Action Breakdown
Monday kicked things off with a small decline, dropping 3.2 points as the market couldn't hold the opening levels around 7144. Nothing dramatic, just some early week profit-taking that kept us range-bound.
Tuesday was where things got interesting – and by interesting, I mean ugly. We opened higher at 7162 but the bottom fell out, with ES selling off hard to hit a low of 7085. That's a 77-point intraday range and exactly the kind of volatility that can either make or break your week. The close at 7100 left us down 61.8 points on the day and sitting right near the week's ultimate low of 7079.75.
Wednesday brought some relief with a +19.2 point recovery. The bounce off Tuesday's lows held, and we managed to reclaim the 7168 level by the close. Nothing spectacular, but the kind of technical bounce you'd expect after getting oversold.
Thursday kept us in consolidation mode with another small decline of 10 points. The key here was that we held above Tuesday's disaster lows despite testing down to 7079.75 again – that level was proving to be legitimate support.
Friday delivered the payoff for anyone who bought the dip. A strong +33 point rally took us all the way up to 7200.5 before settling at 7196 for the close. That put us just 4 points off the week's high and well above the opening levels.
The 120.75-point weekly range tells you everything about the current market environment – we're still seeing decent volatility with clear support and resistance levels that actually matter. The fact that we held 7080 support and then rallied back above 7190 resistance shows there's still some underlying strength in this market.
DT Algorithm Performance
The DT algorithm had a solid week, going 6W/2L for +60.2 points and keeping our lifetime win rate at a healthy 73%. More importantly, the algo did exactly what it's designed to do – it caught the key reversal moves while keeping losses manageable.
Monday's long entry at 7144.75 was a small scratch, getting stopped out for just -1.2 points. Nothing wrong with the setup, just couldn't get the follow-through we needed.
Tuesday was our worst day, taking a -14.2 point stop on a long entry at 7136. In hindsight, trying to catch that falling knife early in the session was ambitious, but that's exactly why we have stops. The market had more selling to do before finding a bottom.
Wednesday is where the algo started to shine. Two successful longs netted us +7.2 and +19.8 points respectively. That second trade, entering at 7158 and riding it up to 7170.5, caught the meat of Wednesday's bounce perfectly.
Thursday gave us two more winners with entries at 7160.25 and 7171.75, both hitting T1 targets for +9.5 and +9.2 points. The algo was clearly reading the consolidation pattern well and taking advantage of the smaller ranges.
Friday capped off the week with our biggest winner – a +26 point gain entering at 7170.75 and riding the rally up to 7188.75. The final trade of the week was a quick scalp for +4 points before getting stopped, but by then we'd already banked the majority of our weekly gains.
TF Algorithm Performance
The TF algorithm struggled this week, going 0W/4L for -1.8 points. While the losses were minimal thanks to tight risk management, it's clear the trending conditions just weren't there for this strategy. The market spent most of the week chopping around in consolidation mode rather than establishing clear directional trends, which is exactly when TF tends to struggle.
Next Week Outlook
We're heading into the final week of April sitting just 4 points below the weekly high at 7200.5. That level is going to be key resistance to watch – a clean break above 7200 could open up some upside continuation, especially given how well we held support at 7080.
The fact that we're closing near the highs after Tuesday's washout is constructive for the bulls. Both algorithms should have decent setups to work with if we can maintain this range between 7080-7200, with DT particularly well-positioned to capitalize on any breakout moves.
Keep an eye on month-end flows and any potential rebalancing activity as we close out April. The 7200 level has proven to be a magnet this week, so I wouldn't be surprised to see us test it again early in the week.
For the DT algorithm, I'm looking for continuation setups above 7200 or reversal plays if we get back down toward 7080 support. The TF algorithm will need cleaner trending conditions to get back on track, but that's just the nature of having multiple strategies in the toolkit.
If you want to see how these algorithms perform in live market conditions, consider starting with our paper trading platform. You can follow along with real trades without risking capital while you evaluate whether our approach fits your trading style.