This week was like no other for anyone trading the widow maker. NQ IS BACK BABY!! Fuck it feels nice.
When you think it can't get any crazier, it does. That's exactly what happened Thursday afternoon. NQ went absolutely wild, making the biggest and most unexpected moves we've seen in the last six months. And guess what? Today wasn't any calmer. It was a wild ride from start to finish, and I know it caught a lot of us off guard (me included).
This week, NQ jumped to "expert" mode without any warning.
If you followed me for quite some time, you know that I’m well too familiar with Thursday’s move. That fucking move on Thursday? It’s the same one that cost me my life savings a couple of years ago. Same pattern. Same speed. The red renko candles printing so fast, no bounce, straight down. Cutting through LVNs like butter. You know it’s no bueno. It felt like deja vu. If you want to see how I did this time, I put my fills at the end of this post.
After that *flash* crash, I felt like the underdog in every sports movie you've ever seen. But you know what? The underdog doesn't fucking give up. I dusted myself off and got back into the game. I learned that you can't always see these crazy moments coming—and that’s fine! But what I could do was get better at protecting myself, like wearing armor. I figured out how to manage my risks so even if I got hit, I wouldn't be out of the game for good. It's not about avoiding every single setback (because that's impossible), but about being smart and not letting one bad day wipe you out. This week was a test. Volatility will highlight your weaknesses.
With this mindset shift and a ton of practice, I started to turn things around. It wasn't overnight, and it wasn't easy, but I’m still alive. And guess what? You can do it too.
I didn’t want to write, but I couldn’t help thinking of some of you who might have been hurt this week. Going on the weekend like this is never funny. I guess everyone made a billion dollars on Twitter this week, so I’ll balance it by sharing my week here.
How my week went:
Quite tough, I struggled with the change of rhythm.
It’s Friday at 330 PM and I’m absolutely drained. Very happy it’s the weekend.
Monday was a clean day.
I had back-to-back losses on Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since January.
I came back cautious on Thursday and caught the biggest trade (points-wise) of my career, and went back in the green for the week.
On Friday, I didn’t want to trade, but still did. I traded horribly. Took a -100 unrealized loss before getting lucky. I flip-flopped a couple of times. Opposite of what I strive for.
Here’s the good:
Here’s the BAD:
I felt myself spiral and do stupid shit. I averaged down a trade up to -100 pts, then flip-flopped a million times (ok, 3 times) before catching that nice 100+ pts selloff to save my day. It was ugly and stupid trading. It could have cost me a lot. With that being said, even with everything going wrong, my worst P&L was -$1200. And that’s the most important thing. Thank you small size.
Overall, I ended the week where I left it on Monday after the close $-wise. Many lessons to learn, but it feels good to end on a green note (even though it was my worst trading of the year, for once, I’m happy to get bailed out).
That was a nice change of pace, see the daily ranges this year below (courtesy of Alfred).
My plan for next week is to trade smaller with larger stop/take profit as the rotation size has increased. I’ll give myself a couple of days to gauge how the market reacts to Thursday-Friday and will grind my way back up to larger sizes after a couple of green days.
I would say the platitude ‘Don’t let trading ruin your weekend’, but actually, I hope it does. So you can learn from your mistakes and get better. You can do it. But if you decide to do it, do it!
Besides that, your favorite NQ gambler has been busy in life, and I feel at my best ever. Folks, stop vaping/smoking and hit the gym. My parents are visiting me in a couple of days and I’m excited about it, haven’t seen them in a year. Life is beautiful.
Damn, I missed writing.
Much love
PS: I just read the comments to the previous post, thank you so much for all the incredibly kind words guys (and girls!), you’re the best and I’ll answer each of them this weekend.
In the same boat. Sold my put option way too soon on Thursday and tried shorting on Friday and got whacked. Seems like we can't get 2 nice down days in a row.
Congrats RC, and welcome back! Keep these coming, and let me know if you ever decide to start a low carb / keto diet!