Apr 20 – Apr 24, 2026
Nick SchmidtApril 26, 2026SPY+0.54%QQQ+2.32%
Volatility picked up this week but the action still feels healthy. Just had to realize the environment changed, any new buys from here are going to be focused on weakness. I'm not buying strength like I did the previous two weeks, with volatility back those entries are more likely to fail.
Other than that the best decision all week was sitting in the names I almost got bored out of two weeks ago, they kept gaining without me touching them and sitting still in good positions is usually where my biggest gains come from.
Added SOLS Monday, traded TSLA in and out around earnings for a small loss, tossed CRWV Friday.
Slight gap up to start. Plan was to manage existing positions and look for adds on weakness, not chase strength. Squat day, some weakness in semis but it felt normal.
Positions acted well into the close and the Qs flipped green late. Weakness picked up but it still felt normal, nothing in my positions needed a decision.
Strong open and the Qs' first real pullback came and went in a wick. MU finally pushed through, and my TSLA obsession caused me to not think clearly and trade it sloppily around earnings.
Sold the TSLA buyback into the morning gap for a small loss. Plenty of A+ stocks setting up, no point staying focused on one name.
Big gap up open, stressful day to watch even with my positions doing fine. Semis kept pushing higher while space and CRWV sat near lows all day. Tossed CRWV after the ugly action, first time I gave back any real cushion all week.
Once I have my positions on, the best thing for me is usually to just sit and let them work instead of trying to be super active. Every active decision I tried to make this week around TSLA cost me, while my four core names kept gaining without me touching them. The data backs this up too, the less trades I take and the more I sit the better I do.
This week with MU it definitely got in my head. It's my biggest position because I have the most conviction in it, going into the week it was on the focus list and I had a plan to add if it pulled back to a certain spot. The chart did exactly that. I hesitated to add to the position because I was thinking about a headline that was negative on it, even though I had planned for this. The price was doing what I planned and the news talked me out of executing it.
The past three weeks off the lows the whole environment was strength following through. There was so much power off the bottom that buying breakouts kept working and that's where I had to position. This week that shifted, more strength has started fading which doesn't mean anything's wrong with the trend, this happens like clockwork every year. Now I focus on buying within bases and ranges or on weakness, that's how I get traction and build the cushion I need to sit properly in a position.