It All Flows from Here

With a jaw-dropping short squeeze not just in recent weeks but also since the March lows, Tesla is clearly still very much on the hearts and minds of many market players, from all vantage points: Common stock buy-and-holders, short-and-hold thesis bears, momentum call option traders, novice "Robinhood traders," scalping shorts, and so forth. 

Even as the Nasdaq Composite Index lags today's bounce attempt, with the Dow and small caps in IWM attempting to lead and offset some large cap tech leaders like NFLX taking a pause (not to mention banks like WFC getting throttled after earnings), I suspect the market is taking at least a fair share of its cues from shares of TSLA.

Specifically, if Tesla does not totally unwind here then it likely will lead to a fairly benign Nasdaq consolidation among other growth monsters like COUP ZM. 

Gauging the TSLA hourly chart, below, we have a good context for the latest rally the stock has enjoyed on this timeframe. Note how buyers defended dips below $1500 this morning, with the market responding in kind via stabilizing off some early selling. 

Headed into the afternoon portion of the session, bears will likely need to force the issue again to see a more meaningful pullback off recent highs. And attacking TSLA below $1500 should be a top priority lest momentum traders feel emboldened to step back in for another squeeze higher.