Journal — 2026-05-25
Morning plan
Generated by premarket routine at 06:34 ET. Brief timestamp: 2026-05-25T10:34 UTC.
Open routine note: Today is Memorial Day (US). Alpaca paper account shows
halted: false, trading_blocked: falseand is returning live pre-market gapper data. Proceed per brief — but confirm market open status before submitting orders at 09:30. If NYSE is closed, hold plan for 2026-05-26 (Tuesday).
Account state
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Mode | paper |
| Equity | $100,413.59 |
| Cash | $59,921.95 |
| Buying power | $160,335.54 |
| Open positions | 8 |
| Daily drawdown | ~0.16% (limit 2%) |
| Max position (5%) | $5,020.68 |
Open positions
| Symbol | Qty | Entry | Current | Unrealized P&L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKAM | 33 | $147.67 | $147.23 | −$14.52 (−0.30%) — flagged for close |
| AMCR | 135 | $36.69 | $38.38 | +$228.15 (+4.61%) |
| CARR | 80 | $61.41 | $63.14 | +$138.44 (+2.82%) — GS liquid cooling note |
| DDOG | 24 | $200.00 | $222.32 | +$535.68 (+11.16%) |
| GNRC | 20 | $244.00 | $270.14 | +$522.80 (+10.71%) — also gapping +8.85% today |
| NEM | 45 | $107.25 | $107.64 | +$17.55 (+0.36%) |
| TJX | 31 | $158.86 | $158.27 | −$18.37 (−0.37%) |
| VRT | 15 | $322.38 | $327.46 | +$76.13 (+1.57%) — GS liquid cooling note |
CPAY is confirmed closed (not in brief).
Macro context
- Tom Lee (Fundstrat): Mag-7 bear market over; warns of "day of reckoning" for broader market.
- Goldman Sachs: liquid cooling is the next AI trade — names VRT, CARR, ECL, NVT (we hold CARR + VRT).
- Iran deal uncertainty over weekend; stock futures surged Sunday.
- AI memory/chip spending accelerating; Anthropic, NVDA ongoing.
- Semi mean-reversion remains unreliable (China export restrictions still live).
Trade plan — 5 ideas screened from 25 gappers
All 5 use gap_continuation strategy (all gappers; none qualify for earnings_drift at <5% gap; no RSI(2)<5 oversold setups above 200SMA).
| # | Symbol | Side | Qty | Entry | Stop | Target | Rel-Vol | Gap% | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DELL | buy | 17 | $295.20 | $284.13 | $317.34 | 2.24x | +16.74% | gap_continuation |
| 2 | HPQ | buy | 198 | $25.25 | $24.49 | $26.77 | 3.47x | +15.17% | gap_continuation |
| 3 | NTAP | buy | 36 | $139.35 | $135.17 | $147.71 | 3.26x | +12.38% | gap_continuation |
| 4 | HPE | buy | 133 | $37.55 | $36.14 | $40.37 | 2.05x | +10.59% | gap_continuation |
| 5 | ROST | buy | 21 | $234.79 | $227.75 | $248.87 | 1.59x | +8.15% | gap_continuation |
All position sizes ≤ 5% of equity ($5,020.68).
6th idea (skipped): EL (+12.13%, 2.61x rel-vol) — below 200SMA; gap_continuation unreliable for downtrend names; Estee Lauder catalyst cannot be confirmed from available news.
Other skips: SWKS and QCOM (rel_vol < 1.5x); GNRC (already held); INTU (RSI2=14.4 mean-reversion setup but below 200SMA); MRK (no named catalyst in brief); TTWO/COIN (gap-down, long-only v1).
Rationale by symbol
DELL (+16.74%): Q1 FY2027 earnings beat driven by AI server/storage demand. Goldman Sachs liquid-cooling note further supports AI infra names. Confirmed beat via rel-vol 2.24x. Above 200SMA. Highest-conviction idea.
HPQ (+15.17%, highest rel-vol 3.47x): Q2 FY2026 earnings beat. Strongest institutional volume confirmation on the list. Above 200SMA. Low absolute price = large share count but position value stays within cap.
NTAP (+12.38%): NetApp Q4 FY2026 earnings beat on AI/cloud storage demand. Enterprise storage benefits from same AI infra capex cycle as DELL. Rel-vol 3.26x. Above 200SMA.
HPE (+10.59%): HPE Q2 FY2026 earnings beat; AI networking and server demand. AI networking side of enterprise infra. Rel-vol 2.05x. Above 200SMA.
ROST (+8.15%): Ross Stores Q1 FY2027 earnings beat; discount retail resilience. Diversifies away from tech concentration. Rel-vol 1.59x (just above threshold). Above 200SMA. Weakest signal of the five — open routine should treat as lowest priority if slot pressure.
Plan-check result
plan-check returned ok: false for all 5 trades — reason: open_count=8 >= MAX_OPEN_POSITIONS=8. The hard cap is full. state/today_plan.json was set to trades: [] (plan-check then passes). The wishlist below is the intended execution order once slots free up.
Wishlist (execute in order as slots open):
| Priority | Symbol | Qty | Entry | Stop | Target | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DELL | 17 | $295.20 | $284.13 | $317.34 | gap_continuation |
| 2 | HPQ | 198 | $25.25 | $24.49 | $26.77 | gap_continuation |
| 3 | NTAP | 36 | $139.35 | $135.17 | $147.71 | gap_continuation |
| 4 | HPE | 133 | $37.55 | $36.14 | $40.37 | gap_continuation |
| 5 | ROST | 21 | $234.79 | $227.75 | $248.87 | gap_continuation |
These entries/stops/targets are based on pre-market prices. Open routine must re-price at the actual open before submitting.
Open routine instructions
- Confirm market open — it is Memorial Day. If NYSE closed, defer all 5 orders to 2026-05-26 open.
- Close AKAM first — flagged in prior session (dilutive convertible catalyst invalidated mean-reversion thesis). Freeing this slot before adding new ones is prudent.
- Do not add to GNRC — we already hold it and it's gapping today; do not double-up.
- Slot pressure — 8 open positions + 5 new = 13. plan-check will enforce MAX_OPEN_POSITIONS. Close expired positions before adding at open.
- ROST is the marginal idea — weakest rel-vol; skip if MAX_OPEN_POSITIONS reached before getting to trade 5.
Executed trades
no plan — MAX_OPEN_POSITIONS=8 hit (all 8 slots occupied); today is Memorial Day (NYSE closed).
Mid-day notes
Generated 12:30 ET. NYSE closed — Memorial Day. No trades executable. CLI status blocked (permissions); position data from morning brief.
Market status: Closed (US holiday). No intraday management possible. All decisions deferred to 2026-05-26 open.
Drawdown headroom: ~0.16% used of 2.00% daily limit (~8% of cap consumed). Well within safe zone; no forced-close pressure.
Position review:
| Symbol | P&L (morning) | Decision | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| AKAM | −$14.52 (−0.30%) | close at Tuesday open | Thesis invalidated (dilutive convertible catalyst); flagged since prior session; slot needed for wishlist |
| TJX | −$18.37 (−0.37%) | hold / watch | Small loss; no new negative catalyst; discount retail thesis still intact |
| AMCR | +$228.15 (+4.61%) | hold | Trending well above entry; thesis intact |
| CARR | +$138.44 (+2.82%) | hold | GS liquid-cooling note still live |
| DDOG | +$535.68 (+11.16%) | hold | Strong momentum; well above stop |
| GNRC | +$522.80 (+10.71%) | hold | Gapping today on separate catalyst; thesis intact; do not add |
| NEM | +$17.55 (+0.36%) | hold | Flat but no negative catalyst |
| VRT | +$76.13 (+1.57%) | hold | GS liquid-cooling note still live |
TODO for Tuesday open (2026-05-26):
- Confirm NYSE open (not another holiday).
- Close AKAM immediately — frees one slot.
- Re-price wishlist (DELL, HPQ, NTAP, HPE, ROST) at actual open before submitting; pre-market prices from today are stale.
- v2 TODO: tighten stops on DDOG and GNRC (both >10% favorable move; no CLI for stop-tighten in v1).
Post-close review
No trades today. Memorial Day — NYSE closed all day. All 8 positions carried over from Friday with no fills and no price movement on US equities.
report could not execute (CLI requires manual approval per recurring permission block). state/equity_curve.csv was not updated; cumulative alpha vs SPY remains unavailable.
Position status carried into 2026-05-26 open:
| Symbol | Unrealized P&L (morning brief) | Status |
|---|---|---|
| DDOG | +$535.68 (+11.16%) | Hold — strong momentum, well above stop |
| GNRC | +$522.80 (+10.71%) | Hold — gapped +8.85% on separate catalyst; do not add |
| AMCR | +$228.15 (+4.61%) | Hold — thesis intact |
| CARR | +$138.44 (+2.82%) | Hold — GS liquid-cooling note live |
| VRT | +$76.13 (+1.57%) | Hold — GS liquid-cooling note live |
| NEM | +$17.55 (+0.36%) | Hold — flat, no negative catalyst |
| TJX | −$18.37 (−0.37%) | Watch — small loss, discount retail thesis intact |
| AKAM | −$14.52 (−0.30%) | Close at Tuesday open — dilutive convertible catalyst invalidated thesis; flagged since prior session |
Net realized P&L today: $0 (no fills).
Wishlist for Tuesday open (re-price at actual open before submitting — today's pre-market prices are stale): DELL (priority 1) → HPQ → NTAP → HPE → ROST (marginal).
Morning plan alignment: No deviations — plan correctly identified NYSE closure, held positions, and generated wishlist for deferred execution.
Lessons
Deferring a flagged-close to "next open" before a 3-day weekend locks a slot for three days — flagged positions should be treated as same-session closes, not next-open tasks, whenever a market closure or holiday is within 24 hours.