Last week I wrote about making a decision about how you’re going to trade. I’ve thought about it a little more this week, specifically why that decision can be so hard to make…What if I choose the wrong strategy? What if something else is more profitable? What if I commit to this setup and miss opportunities somewhere else?
There are so many ways to trade that all of that optionality can keep you completely stuck. But the thing is, choosing how you’re going to trade right now is not the end of your trading journey. It’s just the beginning of it.
You need something to build from. Pick one or two setups, write your plan, and decide how you’re going to enter, manage and exit your trades. Then go trade it, backtest it, review it and start collecting data. Because that is when you start gaining the info that will support your progress like:
When or where don’t I follow my rules?
Where does fear show up?
What am I consistently early on?
What works well for me?
What needs to be refined?
You can’t get those answers while bouncing between five different ways of trading. This is exactly why I trade a small list of stocks, use a handful of indicators, and trade simple setups. I don’t need access to every possible opportunity. I need something I understand well enough to execute consistently.
If you’ve been stuck trying to decide how you should trade, look at what you’re afraid will happen if you commit to one thing, and then make the decision anyway. You’re not deciding how you have to trade for the rest of your life. You’re deciding what you’re going to get good at first. Give yourself something to build from, and let the work compound from there.
When you stay with it long enough, you learn what actually needs to change instead of getting distracted with another strategy, indicator, or idea that catches your attention. This is how you stop going in circles and start building on your own experience. And this is how you go from losing to profitable, from good to great, and eventually toward mastery.
This past Saturday I taught my strategy in a 45-minute walkthrough of how I trade, plus great questions from everyone in attendance. The replay is available in the community!
Market Review and Outlook
This week I’m taking a look at 3 of the major indices.
Dow Jones
The Dow is still in a downtrend, but the decline may be starting to slow. It came back down to 50,522, which is a level of prior resistance from around mid-February 2026.
DJI Daily and Hourly Chart
Levels to watch:
50,522: Prior resistance and the area where price bounced last week.
51,625: The next level above as price tries to work its way back up.
52,737: A larger level overhead if the bounce continues.
The trend is still down, but the reaction around 50,522 gives us a place to assess whether that decline is beginning to slow.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq pushed out of its prior range and made another new high, so now the question is whether that breakout holds. Earlier in the week I had marked the current area as either a breakout and retest, or a potential failed retest that sends price back into the range. I’m still waiting on that answer, and maybe this week will sort it out.
Nasdaq Daily and Hourly Chart
Levels to watch:
27,178: The area Nasdaq broke through and is now testing.
26,861–26,736: If price falls back into the prior range, this is the next area underneath.
Above the recent high: Continued buying from here would keep Nasdaq building into new highs.
SPX
SPX has started making its way back toward the upper part of its range, but it still has not broken out. That is the biggest difference between SPX and Nasdaq right now. Nasdaq has at least pushed into new highs. SPX is still rotating inside the same range.
SPX Daily and Hourly Chart
Levels to watch:
7,725: Where price is sitting now as it attempts to work back toward the upper part of the range.
7,772–7,815: The area SPX still needs to get through to move out of this range to the upside.
7,610: Support inside the lower part of the current structure.
7,582: The larger level underneath if price rotates farther down.
Folding all three together, the outlook still feels a little mixed, with quite a bit of weakness underneath. That could start to shift if the Dow has found support, Nasdaq continues higher, and SPX finally breaks out of its range; otherwise, we could stay in this choppy environment for a while longer. We may also just continue seeing a handful of stocks carry the upside while a lot of the market stays stagnant or moves lower.
Resources and how to work with me:
