Daily Journal · Q2 2026

the first real win — trimming SPCE for +$778

By James · Friday, May 29, 2026 · ~2 min read
#SPCE #swing-trading #patience #greenday #journal
+$778 realized this session · running total since April below

Six weeks after I bought it, Virgin Galactic finally did something. I sold 500 shares at $4.40 against an average cost near $2.85 and booked +$778 — my first realized profit since I started. Read: the position I did nothing with for six weeks, and what it paid →

Selling half, keeping half

I deliberately sold under half the position. The stock had run roughly 55% off my cost and I wanted to take real money off the table, but the move didn't feel finished, so I kept 554 shares running. That decision — take some, let the rest work — turned out to matter enormously three days later.

What strikes me now is how little I did to earn this. I didn't watch the tape. I didn't manage it intraday. I bought in April, ignored it through most of May, and sold one lot when the price got interesting. One trade, one decision, $778.

Six weeks of doing nothing produced a bigger single win than most of my active trading days would later produce in a week. That's not a coincidence, and it took me until August to properly admit it.

Where the account stood

This put me at +$778 realized since I started trading in April — and still holding 554 shares of a stock that was clearly waking up.

Keep reading

Next session
SPCE spikes and I sell the rest for +$2,746 — my best trade yet

Virgin Galactic ran from the low $3s to an $8.90 intraday high on an earnings beat, a… +$2,746

Previous session
starting out, and quietly building 1,054 shares of SPCE

My first trades: accumulating 1,054 shares of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) around $2.85 over three… $0

More $SPCE
a small TLRY round trip for -$41

Bought 300 shares of Tilray at $4.75 and sold them at $4.61 for a -$41 loss, and started rebuilding… -$41

Analysis
The quarter that actually worked: April–June 2026

My first quarter of trading, reconstructed from the statement: +$4,323 across 91 trades. Two… +$4,323

Disclaimer: This is a personal trading journal documenting my own trades and opinions. It is not financial or investment advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Day trading, swing trading, and micro-cap stocks carry a high risk of loss, and most active traders lose money. Figures are reconstructed from my brokerage statement on an average-cost basis, net of fees. See the full disclaimer.