top of page
Search

Trading Systems Research for February 2026 - Part III


We discussed in our daily reports in January on a regular basis the way the market "dies out" in the afternoon. We continue to quantify this behavior with a study of range expansion based on the one-minute charts in the E-mini Nasdaq.



We measured the range expansion each day from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm EST from the original range from 9:30 am - 12:00 noon EST and generated a monthly average for this number. December 2025 and January 2026 were the lowest numbers going back to August 2021. August 2021 was the only number that was lower.


The compression of ranges seems to be the potential result of option selling. You have to wonder how crowded the option selling trade is for 0 DTE or if it is a trend that will continue to a new all-time low in the VIX.



EXCLUSIVE MARKET AND STRATEGY UPDATES

 Capstone Trading Systems © 2025. All Rights Reserved.

​

U.S. Government Required Disclaimer - Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Futures and options trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the futures and options markets. Don't trade with money you can't afford to lose. This website is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell futures or options. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this website. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results.

​

CFTC RULE 4.41 - HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER-OR-OVER COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY, SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFIT OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.

bottom of page