We’re halfway through the first-ever TTR Accelerator! 🥳 It’s been so exciting getting to work with a group this closely, and it’s given me even more insight into where traders tend to get hung up.
One thing I’ve noticed, both in the Accelerator and with traders in general, is what types of questions come up. Sometimes when I first hear a question, my immediate thought is, you don’t need that answer yet. Not because the answer doesn’t matter, but because the question is ten steps ahead of the decision that needs to be made first.
It’s kind of like asking, “How am I going to handle my taxes when I’m a million-dollar trader?” before you’re making any money. Obviously that’s an exaggerated example, but a lot of questions from traders have that same feel. And I think it’s something a lot of traders run into because there is SO much information available and SO many different ways to trade.
You keep learning, adding, tweaking, asking questions, and trying to account for every possible situation, but underneath all of it, a decision still hasn’t been made about how you are going to trade.
To get from where you are to where you want to be, you have to make a decision.
And that decision starts with choosing your core setup, which gives you something you can work on consistently, test, refine, and eventually produce results from.
You’ve looked at thousands of charts. You’ve traded. You’ve made money, lost money, watched videos, read books, tried different indicators and learned different setups.
AT SOME POINT, THERE IS NOT ANOTHER PIECE OF EXTERNAL INFORMATION YOU NEED. (yes, I’m shouting 📢).
Your setup answers these three questions:
What needs to be there for me to hit enter?
What keeps me in the trade?
What gets me out?
That’s it.
Write it down, then go test it, screenshot examples, trade it, review it, etc. Build out the if/then scenarios that come up as you work with it.
This is where a setup starts becoming your strategy. And not because you have to make it completely different from what you were taught, but because you’ve worked with it enough to understand how you are going to trade it.
And this is the beginning of finding and building your edge.
Resources and how to work with me:
SPX Review and Outlook
First, my friends crack me up. Manufactured high? 🤣
This is one of many “can’t trust these ho highs” messages I’ve received. And I get it. The math ain’t mathing on things way above my pay grade: cost of living, Treasury yields, layoffs...it feels all over the place.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the answers either, but we can look at SPX as one piece of the picture coming into this week and see what price is telling us.
SPX gapped up on Monday and then spent the rest of the week in a smaller range. That could simply be digestion from the move that started around the September 16 pivot, when SPX pushed from around 7,500 up toward 7,780.
Zooming out though, we still have not broken out of the larger range. SPX is still below its upper boundary (7,780–7,812), and even though Nasdaq made a new high, it is still hovering at the top of its larger range too.
So for me, my position is neutral coming into this week because the question I’m asking is: can SPX and Nasdaq get out of their larger ranges and start building higher, or is this just another rotation inside the range?
SPX Daily and Hourly Chart
Levels for the Week Ahead
7,780–7,812: This is the upper part of the larger range. If SPX breaks and holds above this area, then we have a move out of the consolidation and can start looking for a sustained uptrend.
Around 7,660–7,700: This is where the shorter-term range has been building. If price pulls back, we can see whether it holds here or continues farther down into the larger range.
7,582: This is still the bottom of the larger range. If we rotate all the way back down here, I’d be looking at whether buyers hold the area again or price starts building below it.
I’m seeing individual stocks setting up for upside and others for downside, which fits with the broader indexes still trading in a range. So I’m open to both calls and puts depending on the structure in front of me.
And P.S. I’ll be breaking down both types of setups in my free workshop Saturday, October 3rd at 10 a.m. Eastern inside The Trader Reset Community.
Q4 starts this week!!! I can’t lie, I feel a bit like I’m gasping for air with that statement. 😅 How did the end of the year come so fast? Where will I end up with my goals?
I’ve started a process with the founder of Vector Strategy & Operations Group to help me narrow my focus for the final quarter and put my best effort toward the things that will drive my results. My goal is to get really clear on what I’m trying to accomplish and what I need to prioritize to get there.
How are you feeling coming into the final quarter, and what are you doing to prepare for it?
