Market Update 5:45 PM ET — Bearish Breadth, 3853 Bull Setups Active | October 23, 2026

Market Conditions at 5:45 PM ET

Breadth is running thin into the close. Only 37% of the 10,280-stock universe is printing bullish setups—3,853 against 1,896 bear setups—and the average SCTR of 4.8 confirms this is a narrow tape where most names sit below their intermediate trend lines. SPY holds a Confirmed Bull trend with an SCTR of 7 and 6 bull counts, so the index itself is intact even as participation deteriorates underneath. The speculative bid is concentrated in small caps: CTNT, VYNE, FMFC, LMFA, and IMMP lead the bull signals, while SJT, TZA, and KOD screen as the most extended and vulnerable to mean reversion. For the next 60–90 minutes, breadth argues for chop rather than trend. With only 37% of stocks participating and an average SCTR under 5, there is no broad fuel to sustain a directional push; expect SPY to hold its range and test the lower half as extended names bleed. Watch whether bull setups expand above 40%—if they don't, rallies into the close get sold, and the most extended names (SJT, TZA, KOD) are where the sharpest reversals hit first. Scan the full bull and bear setup lists before the bell and position into the strongest SCTR names, not the loudest.