This is how last week went:

Monday actually started out great.

Over the weekend I had mapped out my trades really well. I knew that even with the downside pressure, we still had potential for a bounce on Monday, and I was ready for it.

When Monday came around, that bounce showed up and it was a cleaaannnnn move.

I got in.

And then I got out early.

At the time I was definitely a little bummed, but I told myself I would just reset and wait for the downside setup. What I didn’t notice in that moment was the residue that my early exit left behind.

I thought I had reset, but there was still this quiet activation sitting in the background, the subtle feeling of “I missed my move…let me catch up”.

So over the next couple of days I found myself trying to make up for the move I was in but didn’t optimize.

And thennnnn…I missed my downside move, and subsequently lost more money trying to catch up in all the wrong places.

The frustrating part wasn’t even the money lost. It was how clearly I had mapped these moves out ahead of time, and yet in the moment I wasn’t executing on the very plan I had built.

The structure was there. The levels were there. The plan was there.

But once that small bit of residue from the early exit was sitting in the background, my focus slowly shifted away from the plan and toward trying to make up for what I felt like I had missed.

This had me thinking about the two sides of trading: the analyst and the operator.

The analyst reads the chart, maps the structure, and sees where price is most likely to go. The operator steps in when the moment comes, puts the plan into action, and manages the trade effectively. As traders, we have to do both really well.

This tension between analysis and execution isn’t anything new. It’s just, imo, one of the biggest hurdles in trading. Because a lot of times it isn’t a lack of knowledge or a lack of preparation. It’s something much more subtle…a little bit of residue, a small shift in focus, or a few concessions that start to pull you away from the plan you already had.

And so the work of noticing these moments sooner continues! (As well as trading A LOT LESS.) 😅 🫣 😩 Oh what a grind it is!

SPX Review and Outlook

This week I recorded a video on SPX (📹 watch it here!). Below are a few quick notes on what I’m seeing.

SPX Notes

The market spent a good stretch of time chopping around near the highs, and that shelf eventually gave way, which is what opened the door for this decline. We’ve now had two strong weeks of decline, with only brief pops along the way. Price closed Friday near 6,630, which stands out as an area that acted as support back in November and again this month, so this is the first area where I’d be watching to see if price tries to stabilize.

From here:

• We may bounce, or some sideways consolidation would make sense before any further move down, since markets usually do not move in a straight line.

• If we do get a bounce, the 6,760 - 6,780 area stands out as a natural place to watch, since that lines up with the gap area and a possible retest before sellers step back in.

• Bigger picture, the market appears to be working its way toward the bottom of the broader weekly range near 6,500, even if it takes a bit of retracing to get there.

I’ll be live tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. EST for my Morning Market Review. This session is free to my community and you can join the community here and head to the Events tab to register for the live session.

Have a great week, and I hope to see or hear from you soon! ✨