Trading journal — 2026-05-13
Morning plan
Account: equity $100,189.45 | cash $85,493.29 | 3 open positions (AKAM +5.5%, CPAY -1.5%, DDOG +0.4%) Mode: paper | halted: false
Candidate review (7 ideas screened → 2 planned)
| Symbol | Gap% | RelVol | Filter result |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZBRA | +11.5% | 2.48x | SKIP — no identifiable catalyst in news feed |
| Q | +9.8% | 2.26x | PLAN — gap_continuation (earnings) |
| QCOM | -11.4% | 1.56x | SKIP — long-only; RSI2=40 (not extreme for mean-rev) |
| HUM | +7.7% | 1.67x | SKIP — no catalyst; overbought (RSI2=97.5) but long-only |
| INTC | -7.1% | 0.75x | SKIP — rel_vol < 1.5 |
| SNDK | -6.1% | 1.24x | PLAN — mean_reversion (RSI2=0.0, above 200SMA) |
| STE | +4.5% | 3.51x | SKIP — no catalyst; below 200SMA |
Trade plan
| # | Symbol | Side | Qty | Entry | Stop | Target | Strategy | Position% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Q | buy | 29 | $168.34 | $159.34 | $186.34 | gap_continuation | 4.87% |
| 2 | SNDK | buy | 3 | $1,452.48 | $1,377.48 | $1,602.48 | mean_reversion | 4.35% |
Rationale
Q (gap_continuation): Qnity Electronics published Q1 2026 earnings call transcript pre-market. Gap +9.82% on 2.26x rel-vol is consistent with an earnings beat reaction. Gap >5% rules out earnings_drift (over-reaction risk); gap_continuation is the correct tag. Stop = 1.5x estimated ATR(14) ~$6; open routine should tighten to opening 5-min range low if tighter. Take profit at 2R ($186.34). Risk per trade: 29 × $9 = $261.
SNDK (mean_reversion): RSI(2) = 0.0 — at the extreme floor of the oversold threshold (<5), with stock confirmed above 200-day SMA. Multi-day sell-off (-6.12% today) has exhausted downside momentum on a technically intact longer-term trend. Mean reversion target: 5-day SMA or 2 trading days, whichever comes first. Stop = 1.5x estimated ATR(14) ~$50. Risk per trade: 3 × $75 = $225.
Macro context
- S&P 500 mixed: Dow futures lower, S&P 500/Nasdaq rising. Trump taking big-tech CEOs to China (Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang). AI chip export concerns are a sector headwind for semis (note: QCOM -11.4% on this).
- Inflation report caused S&P 500 to pull back from record high. Fear/Greed index in "Greed" zone — elevated overall market.
- BABA and VSH report earnings during the day. Watch for broad sentiment shifts.
Executed trades
| Symbol | Side | Qty | Entry | Stop | Target | Order ID | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q | buy | 29 | $168.34 | $159.34 | $186.34 | 27431561-0d79-4e6f-926c-6376cc3b5df6 | gap_continuation |
| SNDK | buy | 3 | $1,452.48 | $1,377.48 | $1,602.48 | 20cfb8ea-f0cb-443d-a9a2-1b1f545afcb5 | mean_reversion |
Submitted: 2 | Rejected: 0 | Halted: false
Mid-day notes
Snapshot (12:30 ET): equity $99,836 | daily drawdown 0.164% | daily loss limit 2.0% | headroom 91.8% (1.836pp remaining)
Positions assessed from state/positions.json. Note: Q and SNDK orders were submitted this morning but are not yet reflected in the snapshot file — their current P&L is unknown; bracket orders are in place per submitted parameters.
- AKAM — hold — still profitable (+0.271%, +$13.20) but has given back most of the +5.5% morning unrealized gain. No thesis-break signal; bracket stop in place.
- CPAY — CLOSE RECOMMENDED — continuing to deteriorate (-2.162%, -$103.98), was already -1.5% at morning open. No documented entry rationale for this carry-over position; ongoing slide with Dow futures lower is a thesis-break signal. Attempted
cli close-position CPAY— command requires user approval. Action pending. - DDOG — hold — small reversal from +0.4% to -1.005% (-$48.24); within normal intraday noise, macro headwind (inflation pull-back) is broad. Bracket stop in place.
- Q — unknown — not in positions snapshot; gap_continuation thesis with Nasdaq rising macro context likely intact. Monitor.
- SNDK — unknown — not in positions snapshot; mean_reversion thesis faces semi sector headwind (AI chip export concerns, QCOM -11.4%). Monitor closely.
v2 TODO: tighten stop on AKAM to trail below current price given give-back of gains.
Post-close review
(populated by close routine)
Lessons
(populated by close routine)