September 1, 2026  ·  Le Dossier

Futures point lower into the open

The pre-open brief: overnight markets, dealer positioning, early movers, insider filings and the prior session's options tape — one page, before the bell.

Published Tuesday Sep 1, 7:00 AM CTDaily edition5 min read
01

TL;DR

S&P futures are lower at −1.07%. VIX at 15.71 prices calm. SPY opens between the 760 put wall and the 785 call wall — those are the day’s magnets.

Everything below is generated from the same data our desk trades on: the overnight session, dealer positioning, the early movers, and the filings and options tape from the prior session.

02

Desk — Monday

3 of 3 closed trades finished green on Monday.

Closed green — Monday Aug 31
TradeBookEntryPeak
QQQ 714P 2026-08-31daytrade$0.80+32%
SPY 764P 2026-08-31daytrade$0.56+30%
SPY 765P 2026-08-31daytrade$0.79+20%
03

Overnight & Futures

Levels are the overnight session against the prior settle, captured at 7:00 AM Central. Treasury yield and the dollar set the tone for rate-sensitive groups before the equity open.

Overnight session
MarketLastChange
S&P futures7,659.50−1.07%
Nasdaq futures29,208.00−1.64%
Russell futures2,944.80−2.46%
VIX15.71+3.29%
10-yr yield4.758%+2.57%
Dollar index99.59+0.44%
Gold4,433.8−3.82%
Bitcoin78,062+0.30%
04

Dealer Positioning

Dealer positioning from listed options open interest. Heavy call strikes act as magnets-then-ceilings when spot trades below them; heavy put strikes mark where hedging flows tend to defend. The walls are the largest single-strike concentrations near the money.

SPY — open-interest profile

Spot 766.87 · call wall 785 (37,624 OI) · put wall 760 (37,007 OI) · pinned between the walls

801796791786785 · CALL WALL781776771766761760 · PUT WALL756751746741736SPOT 766.87
Call OIPut OI

QQQ — open-interest profile

Spot 717.00 · call wall 700 (32,950 OI) · put wall 700 (30,098 OI) · trading above its call wall — extended

749744739734729724719714709704700 · CALL WALL699694689SPOT 717.00
Call OIPut OI
05

Early Movers

The names moving on volume in the early tape. Gap continuation and gap fade both start from this list — what matters is which of these hold their opening range.

Gapping up
TickerPriceMove
BRLSW0.06+97.04%
BKHAR1.28+84.17%
AEHL6.49+83.33%
ILLRW0.06+65.72%
CINGW0.01+53.23%
LCFYW3.95+52.51%
ADSEW0.53+51.43%
NCRA2.83+49.74%
Gapping down
TickerPriceMove
RIV.RTWI0.01−84.70%
KTTAW0.00−64.00%
MIACW0.50−50.98%
SAIHW0.03−50.27%
ACHR.WS0.01−48.57%
GFAIW0.00−47.92%
ASPCR0.07−45.77%
FNGR0.22−43.97%
06

Earnings Radar

Grouped by day, then by session — before the open, during hours (slot unconfirmed), after the close. Coverage is every reporter in roughly the top 1,000 by market cap (the large-cap index universe). 20 smaller names reporting in the window are excluded; the full list is available on request. Where a name is on our coverage list, the one-line read is ours.

No reporting company matches.

Reports that move something
NameReadWhenMkt capEPS est
Tuesday, September 1
Before open
MDTMedtronic plcBefore open116.8B$1.38
NIONIO Inc.Before open10.9B($0.07)
MMEDMiniMed Group, Inc.Before open5.7B$0.09
After close
PANWPalo Alto Networks, Inc. — Software - InfrastructureAfter close302.8B$0.51
DELLDell Technologies Inc.After close295.7B$4.72
CRDOCredo Technology Group Holding LtdAfter close43.7B$0.93
MDBMongoDB, Inc.After close35.9B$0.08
GTLBGitLab Inc.After close7.6B($0.07)
Scenario — PANW

Beat: Strong revenue beat with raised guide → 4-8% pop typical for tech; AI-tailwind commentary amplifies the move
Miss: Revenue or guide miss → 6-12% drawdown common; tech multiples compress fast on weak forward visibility

Drift book. Post-earnings drift positions our model is still tracking (10-session window from the report date).

Open drift calls
TickerReportedBiasConfidenceGap
INTU08-25Bearish57%−3.4%
MRVL08-27Bearish53%−1.5%
NVDA08-26Bearish53%−1.6%
07

Sector Posture

Energy leads over the window at +2.03%; Communication brings up the rear at −1.35%. Rotation, not direction, is usually the earlier tell.

Sector performance
ETFSector1D5D21DYTD
XLEEnergy+2.03%+3.00%+8.76%+40.0%
XLKTechnology+0.40%+2.55%+4.65%+29.1%
XLVHealth Care−0.35%−2.70%+5.12%+9.7%
XLPStaples−0.51%−1.75%+0.15%+9.4%
XLYDiscretionary−0.52%−1.14%−1.36%−1.5%
XLFFinancials−0.65%−1.01%+0.60%+5.0%
XLREReal Estate−0.79%−2.76%−2.35%+9.3%
XLBMaterials−0.90%−1.67%+3.27%+14.2%
XLIIndustrials−1.13%−1.85%−4.37%+10.8%
XLUUtilities−1.18%−2.51%−4.87%−2.3%
XLCCommunication−1.35%−1.53%+0.15%−4.7%
08

Insider Tape

The freshest disclosed buys from corporate insiders and Congressional filers, sized by dollars committed. Filing-date entries retain most of the historical edge; scheduled 10b5-1 activity is labelled and should be discounted.

Recent disclosed buying
FilerTickerTrade dateAmountType
Silverman David MAPH08-05$20,908,476EVP, Human Resources
Shellberg Jeffrey D.BWB08-05$3,366,736Insider
Sullivan DonCSW08-05$1,555,812EVP, Chief Strategy Officer
Blaylock Ronald EPFE08-05$998,821Director
Buckley Mortimer JPFE08-05$960,369Director
Harvey David CCVBF08-05$917,680EVP Chief Operating Officer
Mcwatt MichaelNTB08-05$741,319Managing Director, Cayman
09

Options Flow Recap

Our scanner watches the listed options tape in real time for sweeps and blocks hitting at the ask or the bid across the most liquid underlyings. Monday it flagged 644 qualifying prints, the largest a $4,102,893 single order. The live tape runs on the dashboard during market hours.

10

Levels

Prior-session and five-day extremes. The prior high and low are the first reference points for the open; the five-day range frames the swing.

Reference levels
Index ETFLastPrior highPrior low5-day high5-day low
SPY767.05768.00764.72775.30763.05
QQQ716.76717.58713.16724.13707.45
IWM293.93295.35292.71300.32292.71
DIA531.57533.56530.78536.63530.78
11

Bottom Line

The open belongs to whoever pre-committed. Futures are lower; the walls and prior-session levels above are the map. Take the trade only where a level and a catalyst agree — and size as if the first read is wrong.