Evening Routine: Session Summary — 2025‑10‑16
Subtitle: Short, actionable recap for retail swing traders — trade ideas, macro overlay, rules, and next steps.
Session takeaways
Today closed with mixed risk appetite: broad indices chopped but showed sector rotation into defensives late in the day. Volatility remained elevated versus last week, keeping mean‑reversion setups preferable to aggressive trend chasing.
Top trade ideas (swing horizon)
1) Selective mean‑reversion in large‑cap growth: look for pullbacks into confluence support (20–50 EMA + weekly demand) with tight stops. Target a measured move to the prior swing high.
2) Defensive sector relative strength: trade ETFs or sector leaders that show higher lows on daily and expanding volume. Use break‑and‑hold entries above short‑term consolidation.
3) Breakout watchlist: stocks forming 2–4 week bases with improving volume profile — plan entries on confirmed daily close above resistance, stop just below breakout level.
Macro overlay
Risk headlines kept traders cautious. Real money is rotating into lower‑beta names while short‑term rates and macro data flows continue to influence intraday breadth. Use major index charts (e.g., S&P 500, Nasdaq) and the VIX to time exposure — rising VIX argues for lower position sizes and tighter stops. For reference: S&P 500 overview — https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EGSPC/ and VIX snapshot — https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EVIX/.
Risk management rules used
- Position sizing: risk no more than 1–2% of equity per trade.
- Stop placement: technical stops (structure or ATR based); avoid ad‑hoc stops.
- Correlation check: avoid stacking highly correlated longs beyond a combined 3% portfolio risk.
- Review schedule: post‑trade journaling within 24 hours.
Next steps
Scan pre‑market for gap candidates, prioritize names that meet the setups above, and update the watchlist. If macro prints surprise overnight, reduce size and refresh entries. Document each trade with the reason, entries, stops, and outcome.
Sources & further reading: TradingView charting — https://www.tradingview.com/; S&P & VIX pages on Yahoo Finance (linked above).