Jul 14, 2026: NextCure dug a -$709 hole
The routine doesn't change, but the result sure does. I ran the same pre-market playbook I always do, and today it bit me.
NXTC: where it went wrong
I worked NXTC (NextCure), in around $7.45 and out around $7.26 across 22 prints on 3,100 shares, for a -$589 hit.
The math of this is simple and it keeps finding me: my small scalps are fine, but one oversized loser erases a stack of them. Size is the whole game.
HODO bit me
I worked HODO (House of Doge), in around $1.29 and out around $1.26 across 11 prints on 5,200 shares, for a -$120 hit.
Add it up and it was a -$709 day. That puts my running total for this stretch at -$471. I'll reset, size down, and try to give it back slower than I lost it. Read: my actual strategy, and the three places it breaks →
Keep reading
Day-trading journal for Jul 15, 2026: +$216 on ERNA. Running total -$256. +$216
Day-trading journal for Jul 13, 2026: +$275 on AGEN, HODO. Running total +$237. +$275
Day-trading journal for Jul 7, 2026: -$280 on ALAR, HODO. Running total +$194. -$280
My first quarter of trading, reconstructed from the statement: +$4,323 across 91 trades. Two… +$4,323