NQ after Thursday's flush: Friday's normal day sets the boxE-mini Nasdaq-100 FuturesCME_MINI:NQ1!mbjx2daddyThursday's regular session on NQ was a true expansion day: a sharp afternoon liquidation from the 28,200 area into the 26,700s, a range of roughly 1,500 points, close to three times a typical session. Friday was the opposite. The RTH range was 436.5 points, 88% of the 20-session average (495.25) and only the 55th percentile of those sessions. Price rotated between roughly 26,980 and 27,420 and closed near the middle at 27,107.50. What I'm watching this week: - Friday's RTH high and low (about 27,420 / 26,980) as the first box. A clean break of either side while the day's range is still below average would say the market is ready to travel again. - Thursday's breakdown area near 28,200 above and the 26,700s low below as the larger boundaries. - The range gauge early Monday: a range already near 100% of average in the first hour makes an expansion day more likely; a range under 50% by midday points to rotation inside Friday's box. One caveat: Thursday now inflates the 20-session average, so 100% of average is a higher bar than usual this week. Chart: 30-minute NQ1! with RTH Range Gauge (free, open-source). Solid lines are each session's high and low; orange dashed lines are session low + average range and session high - average range, the prices where a day would reach a normal-sized range. This is a market observation for education only, not a trade recommendation or financial advice.