Hey! As we start 2026, I want to share a few very personal market views and investment ideas I'm going to actively explore this year. This is not a recommendation and not a directional forecast. It's simply how I currently see market structure, volatility, and opportunity from the perspective of an active options seller and short-volatility hedge fund advisor. 1) Metals: the parabolic move may be behind, but volatility lingers Gold and silver already had their most emotional, parabolic phase. The important nuance is that implied volatility rarely normalizes as fast as price action does, and that lag is where options sellers get paid. So, I'll be very active in GLD, SLV, PALL, and URA, both in my personal portfolio and in our hedge fund. The specific edge I'm watching is post-spike IV that stays sticky after the trend fades, especially when the surface flips into volatility backwardation. That's a perfect setup for short-dated and 0-DTE premium harvesting. 2) Crypto: stagnation is the edge My base case for crypto is not another explosive trend, but prolonged consolidation. That's exactly why IBIT, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF with liquid options, is so interesting. Implied volatility remains structurally rich, often well above realized volatility. I don't trade crypto directionally, but I sell premium strategically. Compared to the industry's obsession with upside narratives, this approach is far less exciting, but it creates a much more consistent income engine. 3) Rate cuts shift income opportunities If rate cuts continue, my famous "yield engineering" trades like SPX box spreads and risk-free butterflies become less attractive. At the same time, they open a different door. Lower rates support REITs (Realty Income - O - remains my personal favorite), utilities (XLU), healthcare (XLV, UNH), and dividend growth ETFs (SCHD). I consistently combine these with aggressive call writing, creating my Triple Income Strategy. This approach targets an additional 11-18% per annum, with extremely low volatility and zero vega risk!

QQQ - SPY After initially looking for the gap up, the indexes have come back down a bit, back near the previous day close. With messy HTF structure, not really seeing a reason to look in this direction for an edge. Catalyst OKLO and SOFI are both offering public stock, essentially diluting investors to fund operations. Both are looking to open lower on this news. Though with such a large gap down for SOFI, I'm not sure if this can continue lower very cleanly after the open, but I wouldn't rule out more downside. OKLO - gapping down as well, but I'm not sure if HTF is ready to feel more downside. What is more possible in my opinion is that OKLO trades WITHIN the previous day range, which could offer some opportunity. SNOW Follow Up - Opening lower - Opening below the previous day low - Following through with yesterday's down move so far - Massive volume yesterday - Close at lows - Strong downside daily candle There could be a chance, depending on the setup, that SNOW puts in another significant move lower. This could be a spot where if it shows early respect against the VWAP, it could flush out aggressively from the open. Trading quickly from the open takes a lot of prior available information, and with SNOW I believe we have that, for all the reasons listed above. Want Market Support for the Idea.

Since the close, I do my routine to find what daily charts look best for the upcoming day, and right now the idea that seems best is actually SNOW. It is surprising to see that SNOW could in fact move lower with the gap down, and even close essentially at the low of day. This really points to a good strong possibility that SNOW could continue tomorrow for a couple of reasons: 1. Early week action - it seems like the market was front-running a good outcome with SNOW, so it had gotten in and bought prior. Now with the gap down, those buyers are underwater, and the market doesn't seem to be coming back for them. 2. The strong close. Even with the large gap down, the strong close into the low with some intraday follow-through shows that the market is still selling strong. This is good for potential follow-through. 3. The sideways close is good for tomorrow, as it builds tension around the lows. Will the area hold for the benefit of bulls, or will bears take another shot at it? Which means going into tomorrow, some things I'd want to see are: 1. An open relatively close to the close of today. 2. Market support - QQQ weak would be a nice plus. 3. VWAP strategy still in play. Don't normally like to be super locked in on one idea, but with the strong daily chart and the absence of other ideas, it seems like a good place to at least look first tomorrow.

I thought that going into the morning, with the pop at the open, we could be setting up for a move higher—especially since we opened above the previous day’s high and saw some solid response in the pre-market. That all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. lol No, actually, from the very first minute of the open the market started shooting down, and those first few minutes of sharp downward action pretty much killed the pre-market plan. So I shifted to checking out some of my earlier ideas—SNOW and CRM—but for the most part, they didn’t really offer a clean look. Which wasn’t a total surprise given the PSR (Position, Structure, Response) of the daily charts and the overall market. Nothing crazy to stress about today.

The SPY and QQQ are now both above the previous day's high in the pre-market. We can see the price is responding well at the moment by being able to move higher aggressively and stay higher. The only thing I'm not seeing a lot of is great price structure. How is the price structure forming to show that this move can continue? Because last Tuesday we had a similar setup: - Gap up right at the previous day's high - Some trend into the open - Then solid price response from the open However, that day was filled with many fake long setups that actually became short setups, so is today going to be similar, or is there something truly different? 1. We have CLEARED the previous day's high today, versus last time we only opened at it. 2. We went from ranging in the pre-market to a sudden pop that—so far—we are able to hold. 3. Though we are gapping up above the previous day's high, the previous day closed strong, so this gap isn't that big, which could leave more room for intraday trading. Once the market opens, we're going to need more information on the price