May 7th, 2026

There’s probably going to be a different tone over these next few trading posts because, honestly, I’m not trading at my normal level right now. The market has been extremely volatile lately, and it’s been rough trying to manage risk with a smaller account.

Some of these stop losses are over 100 points away, which means I can easily be down $200 on a single trade. When your account is only around $800, that becomes a very real problem. A couple bad trades can wipe out a huge portion of the account very quickly, and that’s just the harsh reality of trading with limited capital.

Part of me knows the obvious answer is probably to fund the account more, but I also want to prove to myself that I can stay disciplined and trade properly even in difficult conditions. Right now the focus is less about making huge gains and more about surviving, managing risk, and sticking to the system.

I still believe the strategy itself is profitable over time. The frustrating part is that even a profitable strategy can still put you through losing streaks, especially in markets like this where volatility and headlines can completely change momentum in minutes.

Over the next few posts I’m going to go through these trading days honestly, including May 7th, which I actually think still would have been a winning day if I had simply trusted the setups and managed things correctly.

Day 20 Travel Poster

MNQ Chart

If you look at the charts today, the first trade came right around 7:05 AM. Price tried to move higher but quickly failed and stopped me out for a loss of 8.75 points. Another trade came shortly after around 7:25, and that one also failed. I ended up cutting that trade quickly for only a 0.25 point loss.

One thing I’m really trying to improve right now is recognizing when a trade simply is not working and getting out faster instead of sitting through unnecessary drawdown. With the account size I’m trading, protecting capital matters just as much as finding winning setups.

At the same time, I’m also trying to figure out if my entries are simply too late. I keep going back and forth on whether I should be entering closer to the red line or the green line because looking back at the chart, the opportunities were definitely there.

If I had entered earlier on the next setup, it would have turned into a solid runner trade worth around 34.50 points. Then the big trade of the day came around 8:50 AM. That trade would have produced about 76 points on one contract, and if I had fully let the second contract run, it could have reached around 67 points as well.

The final trade came around 10:55 AM and also turned into a strong winner, reaching roughly 72.75 points on one contract and 88.25 on the second.

Looking back on the day is frustrating because the strategy itself still identified the right moves. The problem was execution. I actually did finish profitable on the day, but nowhere near what was available if I had trusted the setups earlier and managed the trades better.

That’s really what I’m trying to contend with right now. The opportunities are there. The challenge is executing them consistently without hesitation, fear, or getting chopped up before the real move happens.

Total Profit: $-98.10