Daily Morning Brief; July 17, 2026

Market Overview

The SPY is still holding the uptrend with 14 straight closes above the 21 EMA, but today’s action is a bit soft. We gapped down to 742 this morning and bounced back to 747, closing right on the 21 at 746.65. The 8 EMA at 749.74 is now capping price and the stack is still positive, just barely. As long as we hold that 21 the trend is fine, but a close below it would be the first crack we’ve seen in almost three weeks. The 50 day at 743 sits just underneath as the next line of defense.

Top Setups — 4 Signals

LLY — BULL · MEGA

Calls Bought · Strike: 1420.0 · Exp: Nov26 · 600 contracts · $2.7M

LLY is running clean above the 21 EMA at 1168 with the full stack in gear and price at 1180. Someone stepped in for the Nov 1420 calls, way out into the future and well above current price, a real conviction bet on continuation. Price is riding above the 8 EMA at 1178, so use that as your nearer support - no need to wait for a deep pullback here with the weekly making higher highs and higher lows.

Note: Ratio - Buy Call/ Sell 1 x Put works well too f-or a small debit