I made $200 on two micro contracts Wednesday. Here's the math.
Hey Trader, Wednesday morning, the NQ was whipping back and forth with a 50 ATR. The kind of tape that eats traders alive. I bought the 26 on a back test of the opening range, started dragging my stop up as it moved, locked in 20 handles, then 30, and closed it out at the…
The One Skill That Separates You From the Machines
Hey trader, Years ago, I used to surf near Manhattan Beach, California. Right off Rosecrans and Pacific Coast Highway sat a small office belonging to John Bollinger. I never met him. But the indicator he created became the most popular technical tool in retail trading history. At ThinkorSwim, Don Kaufman and I surveyed 10,000 clients…
Why I Won't Trade the Easiest Setups Right Now
Most traders see a perfect setup and think they have to trade it. That's exactly backwards. I'm looking at my screen right now, and Goldman Sachs is sitting right on a beautiful technical level. I mean, textbook stuff - we're about to pierce through recent lows, and if we do, this thing's got room to…
Friday, February 20, 2026 - TheoLIVE Market Masters
It was one of those third Fridays where the market didn’t need drama — it already had enough. Core PCE doubled from 0.2% to 0.4%, year-over-year ticked back up to 3%, GDP disappointed, and suddenly the soft-landing narrative felt a little less comfortable. Add in options expiration and geopolitical noise, and you’ve got a…
This Calm Is a Trap
The S&P 500 is trapped in the tightest volatility box I've seen in my career. Months of trade compressed into a 100 point range on a nearly $7,000 product. That's barely a 1.5% band. And the market refuses to leave it. This week was a four day session with a $144 expected move. We used…
Friday, February 20, 2026 - Tony's Pre-Market Playbook
Stuck at the Weekly Openby Tony Rago It’s been a big sideways week — and the tape shows it. We haven’t strayed far from the weekly open, and once again we’re hovering right around that level heading into today’s session. When price keeps rotating around the weekly open like this, it tells you there’s balance…
Thursday, February 19, 2026 - TheoLIVE Market Masters
It was one of those mornings where the headlines felt heavier than the tape. Claims came in better, Deere ripped higher, gold pushed back above 5,000 — and yet the real conversation wasn’t earnings or data. It was Iran escalation, repo injections, Japan changing accounting rules, and private credit quietly cracking under the surface.…
The Market Tells You Everything. Are You Listening?
How Sector Rotation Reveals What the Market Is Really Doing — Before the Headlines Do The headlines will always tell you what happened. But by the time they do, the move is already over. The traders who acted have already been paid. Everyone else is left scrambling. Here's the thing: the market wasn't hiding. It…
The Fed's Losing Battle
Two critical economic reports hit tomorrow. PCE inflation is expected to tick up from 0.2% to 0.3% month over month. GDP is expected to slow from 4.4% to 3%. Slower growth. Rising inflation. Blake Young called it directly in today's video: this is a stagflation setup, and the Fed has no room to cut. A…
The Stock I Called a Widow Maker Before It Collapsed
Hey trader, Brandon Chapman and Don Kaufman saw this one from a mile away. Carvana reported after the close on February 18th. The expected move was roughly $45. The stock hit a low of $271.03. That is nearly double the expected move, all to the downside. Brandon was leaning bearish ahead of the print. Members…