Today was one of those sessions that was good—but could’ve been great. The market gave opportunity, my reads were solid, and I was up nicely early. By the end of the day, though, I knew I had given some back unnecessarily and left more on the table than I should have. This isn’t about beating myself up. It’s about honestly reviewing what happened and carrying the lessons forward. Today the Dow and Nasdaq told completely different stories. The Dow was strong and trending higher most of the day, while the Nasdaq was weak early and chopped around before trying to stabilize. Instead of choosing one market and committing to it, I tried to trade both, which split my focus and made execution harder than it needed to be. Lesson: When markets are moving in opposite directions, focus wins. Pick one and trade it well. The frustrating part is that my early trades were clean. I read Nasdaq weakness correctly, took a solid short near VWAP, managed risk well, and exited properly. The Dow trades early on were also structured and mechanical. Lesson: My process works when I stick to it. After building up about $1,100 in profits, things started to slip. I didn’t suddenly do anything reckless—instead, I began taking small, “harmless” trades. Those losses didn’t feel significant in the moment, but they added up quickly, and before I realized it, I had given back close to 60% of the gains. Lesson: Overtrading often feels comfortable, not dangerous. One of the biggest takeaways today was emotional. I’ve gotten better at managing frustration, but I underestimated how much positive emotion can affect discipline. Feeling confident and euphoric lowered my patience, and I stopped waiting for my best setups. Lesson: Positive emotion is still emotion—and it needs to be managed. There was one Nasdaq trade in particular that I should have held. The entry was nearly perfect, the market confirmed immediately, and structure supported continuation. I exited early because I didn’t trust the move, capturing only a fraction of what was available.

Below is a clean, easy-to-read blog post written in a story + instructional style. It explains how the day unfolded, what I was watching, why I took trades, and what I learned, without sounding like a rulebook. This is suitable for a website, Substack, or Discord recap. Intraday Trading Recap: Reading Structure, Trusting VWAP, and Managing Winners Coming into today’s session, my focus was simple: define the higher-timeframe bias, identify key levels, and wait for price to confirm before getting involved. The goal wasn’t to trade frequently—it was to trade correctly. Pre-Market Bias: Setting the Framework (15-Minute Chart) Before the open, the 15-minute chart made one thing clear:25,675 was the most important level on the board. This price had significance for several reasons. It acted as algorithmic support the prior day, held during the London session, and marked the breakdown area from January 2nd. When multiple sessions and algorithms respect the same level, it becomes a natural breakout point. At the open: - The 8 EMA was above the 20 EMA - Price was holding above VWAP near 25,600 - Buying pressure was already present - The market opened with a slight push higher, paused briefly, and then broke through prior highs. That early expansion confirmed that the higher-timeframe uptrend was still intact. Price continued to show strength by riding the upper VWAP standard deviation band for about thirty minutes. When the pullback finally came, it retraced directly into a confluence of the 20 EMA and VWAP, which also lined up with the prior breakout level at 25,675. This was classic former resistance turning into support. After a period of consolidation, price resumed higher and expanded into new session highs. Confirming the Trend (5-Minute Chart) On the 5-minute chart, the story became even clearer. The opening drive broke the 25,650 algorithm, followed by a short two-bar consolidation. As the 8 and 20 EMAs turned upward, price broke the 50 algorithm and then pushed through the daily high at 25,675.

Quick Trade breakdown of the orders I placed and my general outlook on the markets for this week.

Make sure that everyone is doing the work in the background to refine your edge and perform better in the market. Its the little actions we do every day that build the confidence to perform. You don't need to master everything in a single day. You just need to get 1% better at one specific thing....everyday!

It looks like the NQ is right dead center of the swing high-swing low range at 25400. The 4-Hour and 1-Hour chart are both looking quite weak, and unless there is a major event or gap up in the market I would expect that weakness to continue in the short term. Hope to see everyone live on Friday!