January 3
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Trades Taken: 2
Trade Plan
Plan: Not a huge fan of the action/setup this morning, especially for a Friday, but the levels are there. Previous close is on deck for both markets for a long, QQQ has the 50 on the daily there as added support, was a also a pivot area yesterday. Will be more careful on the short side as I do believe a firm squeeze is in the cards if we can get above moving averages on the daily chart. I keep going back and forth on what shorts levels I like this morning, mainly figuring out the distance between moving averages as the test of the 5 ema could come quick this morning. In these situations (and considering it’s a Friday), I size down.
Result: Markets pushed out of the gate, strategy gets me to go short. I went with SPY 591 puts. This was not at level, rather it was the first test of the 5 ema on the daily. Nice first reaction. Switched long on SPY 587 calls on the inverse movement for nice small sized scalp. Nice way to end the week. QQQ short trigger was very clean.
January 2
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Trades Taken: 3
Trade Plan
Plan: Markets with a decent gap up this morning. Previous close on both markets is the clear long opportunity on a first test out of the gate. The short trades will be a little more tricky. Significant distance between high of day Tuesday and gap fill from the 27th, so clearly two different short trades on deck. If we pop this morning (move up quickly), I will look for a short at first level marked on both markets, with the reset trade up at the gap fills (SPY 595 QQQ 522.56). I really like the longs on both markets, but will take first directional pick as strategy dictates.
Result: A dip out of the gate, I took calls on both markets. I started first on QQQ 511 calls. I did start too early, I felt it. I corrected it with my averaging on the last buy and turned it into a slight green trade. SPY 586 calls was clean in first range, really ran after I got out. Averaged in nicely on push up towards short level with SPY 592 puts for a fantastic trade. A little anxious to start the day, but cleaned it up for some nice trading this morning. Again, I need to continue to work on my patience.
December 31
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Trades:
Trades Taken: 1
Trade Plan
Plan: A very clean trading day yesterday, especially on SPY. Slight gap up on the markets this morning. I like moving averages into 595 gap fill on SPY for the short, and a first test of yesterday’s close for the long. QQQ short may be a little more tricky as I believe the distance may be a bit wide, we’ll see. Previous close for a long, low of day for the reset long.
Something to learn and watch for: Moving averages are dynamic, not static. They move, and the lower the timeframe and lower the moving average you are watching, the quicker they move. For the shorts today (moving averages into previous close), this will likely take averaging and playing of the charts. Where we open, and how we open is so important with moving averages. While it is one of my favorite setups, moving average trades can take a while to fully comprehend. One has to think a few steps ahead of if/then scenarios with moving averages.
Result: First move was down, I went with QQQ 515 calls. While my first round of buys looks like a chase, it’s just how fast that one minute candle was. Day trading is fast, seconds matter. I was granted an opportunity to correct that average, and I did. A fantastic push right into, and past, morning open. I did not re-enter on the proper trigger several minutes later on either SPY or QQQ long, but either would have worked very well. Awesome trade plans and, albeit an early execution, it was on first directional pick and a 20% move. Solid way to end 2024.
December 30
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Trades Taken: 1
Trade Plan
Plan: Nice action on Friday. While the first move went deeper than expected, nice head bumps and proper level testing in the afternoon. Significant gap down this morning. QQQ is testing a level right at 9:00 I was watching, next level down is 50 ma and range at 509.74 area for calls. QQQ shorts would be head bump (first test reaction) to Friday’s low of day, rest at the previous close. Moving averages on the short will be interesting to see exactly where they are on this gap down. SPY short is interesting and should be valid at 591 and 595 on first reactions.
Result: A dip out of the gate gets me in to calls this morning. I went with SPY 585 calls planning to average. A nice first round of buys gets me green instantly, I pay out fully. I execute again on SPY 585 calls 2nd as break lows and come close to proper entry. Absolutely smoked the bottom entry here and paid out again on the reaction. Fantastic start to the week.