Capital Preservation

In yesterday's weekly preview, I made note of the fact that this is the last full week of the trading year and that there's enough data and news releases this week to keep things interesting. I'm fully expecting this week to be very trade-friendly, so I am still going into every day this week with a plan for the day. However, that also comes with a hearty dose of capital preservation baked into that plan.

Capital preservation--it's one of the most important parts of trading. You've got to "know when to whoa, and know when to go." My plan this week primarily involves staying focused during the times when I trade the best and when there's the most volume. Therefore, my rule until 2024 is no trading the afternoon session. I'll be taking advantage of the mornings and then done for the day. Why trade times when I historically don't do well when overall volume is trailing off? Why risk it? I don't like giving back money doing stupid stuff, so I'll be sticking to that rule until volume comes back in at the start of the new year.

This is also a great time to evaluate your year of trading. If you've made money this year--great! You took money out of the markets, you turned a profit, you can officially call yourself a trader. Now don't do anything silly like give all your gains away in the last 10 days of the year. There's a reason a lot of people take the last two weeks of the year off--for them, it's just not worth it. Decide what makes sense for you and stick to it. If you haven't made money this year--that's OK! Again, decide what makes sense for you these last few days of the year. If you've maybe been struggling, there's nothing wrong with taking off and firing the ol' trading machine back up in 2024. Why lose more money when you can enjoy time with family, friends, loved ones, pets, yourself, or whomever or whatever makes you happy. If you have been struggling but still want to trade as the year comes to an end, trade small, have definitive plans, and don't dig that hole any deeper.

Here are my NQ levels for today:

Current Price: 19960

Upside Targets: 17000 (again, that probably gets us close to ATH on QQQ and any targets from there depend on your preferred extension strategy)

Downside Targets: 16910, 16884, 16829, 16767