{"id":30587,"date":"2026-03-13T01:00:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/30587\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T01:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:00:31","slug":"after-cpi-matched-forecasts-it-was-a-bull-trap-intraday-sellers-profited-swing-traders-stayed-calm-unshaken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/30587\/","title":{"rendered":"After CPI matched forecasts, it was a bull trap; intraday sellers profited, swing traders stayed calm, unshaken"},"content":{"rendered":"After the CPI print came in broadly in line with expectations, the S&#038;P 500 moved higher at first but then sold off during the same session. The early rise was described as a bullish trap, and the move created an intraday opportunity to sell.\n\nSwing trading activity was limited, with a focus on avoiding being forced out of positions by short-term price swings. A prior plan laid out on Sunday was described as working as expected.\n\n<h3>Assessing A Potential Market Bottom<\/h3>\nThe question now is whether the market can turn around, based partly on the US dollar not rising as strongly as it did on previous days. The request asks how close the market may be to a bottom and whether weaker USD strength could support a reversal.\n\nIt looks like we&#8217;re seeing a classic bullish trap in the S&#038;P 500, especially after the latest inflation numbers. The February 2026 Consumer Price Index reading of 3.1% shows inflation is still sticky, making any market strength seem untrustworthy. These brief pops higher are creating better opportunities for sellers than for buyers.\n\nFor derivative traders, this means being cautious about buying call options for a big move up right now. Instead, using these rallies to either buy put options or sell call credit spreads could be the smarter play. This strategy works well when you expect the market to either go down or stay flat.\n\nWe remember seeing a similar setup back in late 2025, where quick rallies were sold off on persistent economic concerns. With the VIX, a measure of market fear, now sitting near 18, it&#8217;s clear there is underlying anxiety preventing a sustained move higher. This isn&#8217;t panic, but it&#8217;s enough to keep a lid on prices.\n\n<h3>How Dollar Weakness Factors In<\/h3>\nEven with the U.S. Dollar Index pulling back from its recent highs to around the 104 level, it hasn&#8217;t given stocks the green light. A weaker dollar usually helps stocks, but its failure to ignite a real rally tells us sellers are still in control. For now, the path of least resistance appears to be sideways or down.\n\n<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login\">start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n<p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Start trading now &#8211; Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/trade-now\/\">here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CPI met expectations; S&#038;P 500 rallied then reversed, a bullish trap. Traders stayed cautious, eyeing bottom signals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}