An honest daily journal from a working software engineer who trades: pre-market micro-cap scalps, the occasional leveraged bet, and a boring-on-purpose long-term core. Real trades, real prices, real wins and losses — no hype, no signals to sell you.
I reconstructed my entire brokerage statement. The winners were fine — 21 names made +$3,107. The account still finished down because of a handful of oversized, leveraged losers. Read the analysis →
A plain-English breakdown of volatility decay and daily resets — why 2x and inverse funds bled me even when I wasn’t wrong about direction. Read the explainer →
The real pre-market scalping method, what the data says works, and the three specific leaks — leverage, revenge trading, and win/loss asymmetry — that sink it. Read the deep dive →
Every trade from the account statement, no cherry-picking: 890 trades across 44 tickers for a -$2,059 stretch. The small scalps were net green — the leveraged SK Hynix pair and FCUV are what hollowed it out. Read the entry →
-$37 on the day. SKHU -$406, STLN +$326, VATE +$43. Running total -$2,059. Read the entry →
-$14 on the day. SKHZ +$210, ASPN -$163, SPCH -$71. Running total -$2,022. Read the entry →
-$237 on the day. SKHU -$246, SPCH +$135, SKHZ -$77. Running total -$2,009. Read the entry →
-$53 on the day. SKHU +$109, SPCE -$82, SKHZ -$81. Running total -$1,772. Read the entry →
-$756 on the day. EDBL -$327, FCUV -$296, SKHZ -$75. Running total -$1,719. Read the entry →
60 FCUV scalps churned into a -$410 net as it ran to $17, offset by a +$163 KPTI dip-buy into its 72% crash and a +$50 SPCE win. A -$184 day; running total -$962. Read the entry →
The leveraged SK Hynix bet finally worked — SKHU +$481 on the bounce after the chairman bought shares — plus a clean +$163 NUWE scalp. My best day of the stretch at +$671. Read the entry →
An $11 VIVK scratch, then -$468 from holding the leveraged SK Hynix pair (SKHU and SKHZ) on both sides. A -$433 day; running total -$1,450. Read the entry →
-$1,108 on the day. SKHU -$1,302, FIRY +$308, SKHZ -$114. Running total -$1,017. Read the entry →
+$351 on the day. SKHU +$225, EDBL +$143, TSLG -$17. Running total +$90. Read the entry →
-$17 on the day. ANY -$232, VIVK +$180, SKHU +$139. Running total -$261. Read the entry →
+$38 on the day. TSLG +$166, DOMO -$83, GOOG -$45. Running total -$244. Read the entry →
-$332 on the day. LABT -$222, SKHU -$160, AGPU +$110. Running total -$283. Read the entry →
-$347 on the day. SKHZ -$232, CRNT -$190, SSPC +$68. Running total +$49. Read the entry →
+$284 on the day. ADVB +$315, SHPH -$87, SKHU +$51. Running total +$396. Read the entry →
+$261 on the day. CJMB +$189, SKHZ -$70, SSPC +$66. Running total +$112. Read the entry →
+$106 on the day. SKHU +$90, SPCH +$30, ATAI -$15. Running total -$150. Read the entry →
+$216 on the day. ERNA +$216. Running total -$256. Read the entry →
-$709 on the day. NXTC -$589, HODO -$120. Running total -$471. Read the entry →
+$275 on the day. AGEN +$304, HODO -$32, FAC +$3. Running total +$237. Read the entry →
-$20 on the day. USDE -$78, ELAB +$63, SPCE -$47. Running total -$38. Read the entry →
-$152 on the day. HODO -$140, TRNR -$30, WRAP +$17. Running total -$17. Read the entry →
-$59 on the day. VTAK -$80, BATL +$30, SPCE -$10. Running total +$134. Read the entry →
-$280 on the day. ALAR -$400, HODO +$119, SPCE +$0. Running total +$194. Read the entry →
+$59 on the day. ALAR +$59. Running total +$474. Read the entry →
+$4 on the day. ELTX +$4. Running total +$415. Read the entry →
+$411 on the day. USDE +$390, SPCE +$21, TLRY +$0. Running total +$411. Read the entry →