Situation Awareness: Bullish, expanding. The tape enters Friday at fresh record highs — the S&P 500 crossed 7,800 for the first time Thursday and closed at record intraday and closing marks after back-to-back market-friendly inflation prints (July CPI in-line, July PPI unchanged) drained Fed-hike anxiety. Nasdaq futures are pointing sharply higher (+109 vs fair value) on mega-cap tech leadership, while S&P futures sit +7, shrugging off a soft July retail sales miss. Trade mode: constructive but selective — lean into tech-led breakouts while respecting a weakening consumer signal. Today’s calls are macro-light but data-sensitive: the 8:30 retail sales dud and the 10:00 Michigan sentiment read frame a consumer that’s cooling even as equities melt up. Regime context — 64.22% of stocks trade above their 40-day SMA (up 3.6pp day-over-day), and the 4% Bull/Bear gauge shows 320 bulls vs. 157 bears, a decisively bullish spread. The 5-day trend shows breadth firming, with the 40-SMA cohort turning up and 4% new-highs pushing from 309 to 320 — early confirmation that participation is broadening beyond the mega-caps.
SIP: AVAH USIO KURA TSSI
- What’s working: the Continuation/2LYNCH scan is rich with 25 signals — solid breadth — led by CVNA, UPST, FIG, ADBE and CDW. The Reversal book adds 7 names (CRM, NOW, DT firing in software).
- Leading sectors (from Thursday’s close, live data unavailable): communication services +1.6%, real estate +1.3%, information technology +1.0%; laggards materials -0.7% and energy -0.1%. Sector ATR/trending feeds are dark with the market closed.
- Key event: July retail sales fell 0.6% m/m (consensus +0.2%), ex-autos -0.3% — a clear consumer soft patch that raises the stakes on 10:00 ET Michigan sentiment.
- Market read: Thursday was a broad, constructive advance with an afternoon rotation from semis into software — chips faded (SOX +0.5% after +2%) while IGV jumped 3.1%. Momentum favors dip-buyers into the open.
- DEP watchlist: no Delayed 9M signals today — lean on the Continuation book instead.
- SIPS: ADBE, CDW, CVNA as swing candidates from the Continuation scan.