Sep 1 – Sep 5, 2025
Nick SchmidtSeptember 7, 2025SPY+0.34%QQQ+0.99%
Three exits in four days and I ended the week holding one name. That's the right outcome in this environment because the market kept telling me to get smaller and I finally listened.
LMND got stopped Tuesday morning on the gap down, RKLB and WULF both went Wednesday when the action just felt wrong. None of these were catastrophic, they were all feedback. Stops getting hit more frequently is always a sign to slow down, and I think the mistake would have been trying to replace those positions immediately in a market that's clearly chopping.
TSLA was the exception all week. Everything else was sloppy and TSLA just kept getting tighter, showing relative strength through every ugly session. By Friday it was the only name I wanted to own and the only one proving it deserved capital.
Sold LMND, RKLB, and WULF during the week. TSLA is the sole focus.
Market closed for Labor Day. Spent the day doing theme-focused analysis for the week ahead, scanning sector ETFs to see where the relative strength was sitting.
Gap down to start the week and LMND opened below my stop so that was an immediate exit. Software was interesting because it was the first group to go red-to-green on the morning gap down, which felt like a tell about where money wanted to go. The gap down itself was preferred over a gap up because all that matters is how we close, and gap downs tend to get bought.
Weak action across individual names with bad closes. Exited RKLB and WULF to protect capital and mindset. RKLB was still technically on the 10-week but the action and lack of cushion gave me feedback to get out. WULF I took profits on because the setup was intact but I just didn't want the exposure. Stops being hit more frequently are always a sign to slow down and be patient.
Choppy action continued and I was fine sitting on my hands. The chop itself is constructive because it's consolidation before we get directional again, but trying to take low probability trades in the meantime just chips away at progress and confidence. No reason to collect paper cuts. Focused on names showing RS and trading organized.
Gap up opening but most names got sold into the strength. TSLA was the standout, showing exceptional strength on the Musk incentive announcement and continuing to get tighter all week. Patience on gap ups more often than not is rewarded. Despite the ugly action in individual names, the weekly candles across the market actually looked good.
I sold three names in two days and my first instinct was to look for replacements. But stops being hit more frequently are always a sign to slow down and be patient. The market was giving me negative feedback and the right move was to listen, not to fight it by putting capital right back to work in a choppy tape.
Something I did with both SMCI and APP last year that worked really well was buying in pieces. Buy a small pilot position against the lows, then if price makes a higher low add a little more. Continue to buy in pieces as it proves itself. It keeps risk in check so you can try to get a low average without full position exposure, and if it doesn't work you're only losing on a small piece.