Daily Market Recap - 1/12/26
EVTV reigniting small caps!
TLDR
I came in skeptical on EVTV’s headline and leaned short early. Got stopped multiple times, then stopped trying to force it and flipped long on a clean pullback/hold at the daily 200 with prior HOD as support. CRML worked clean off the gap up and opening range break. IREN swing working well. Bought TQQQ calls as an end-of-week breakout play.
Trades I Took
Pre-market there was a flashy AI infrastructure headline tied to a government contract, but the details looked sketchy and the merger info didn’t seem right. The website of the company it’s merging with, AZIO AI, was lacking a lot of details and the investor link just goes to a Jensen Huang quote 🤔. Naturally, I came in with a short bias.
First short attempt was on the wash after the pop over PMH. I covered early on a fast bounce even though my stop never broke.
Second short attempt after some sideways action which turned into a short trap and stopped me out.
I shorted again after it extended into the daily 200 SMA, took some good covers on the flush, but got stopped the remainder of my shares on the bounce and walked away from the short side.
Later in the day EVTV kept reclaiming levels, trapping shorts, and squeezing higher. It was doing huge volume, over 1/2 billion shares! In the afternoon it pulled back to the daily 200 SMA and held, lining up with the prior HOD (nice confluence!). I got long with tight risk. I sold partials into new highs, then scaled out into the close. I held a small piece into after hours and sold it at $3!
This will be a main watch going into tomorrow.
Pre-market CRML gapped up and showed signs of exhaustion. I thought it might play out similar to OKLO last Friday, so I took a short on what I call the last-ditch lower high. At the open it washed hard and finally put in a lower low, plus it broke the 15-minute opening range to the downside for the first time it’s entire run. I covered it into the previous days low and then began watching for bounces to re-short. Tried it once more after rejecting vwap but no follow through.
Bought some TQQQ calls for end of week as a breakout play.
Swings
Swings I’m in: BE CHYM IREN RDDT TQQQ
IREN had a clean continuation day today. It broke out over the prior red topping day, which is bullish.
What I’m Taking Away
I spent too much energy early fighting EVTV instead of accepting what the tape was telling me. Once I flipped my bias and waited for real confluence, the trade got much easier. I need to trust my stops and avoid bailing early just because price is moving fast. Tomorrow the focus is on patience, fewer attempts per name, and being quicker to reassess when a stock clearly isn’t behaving like it “should.”
I especially like the self-reflection at the end—recognizing when an initial assumption no longer fit the evidence and having the humility to change course. That kind of clarity is what makes these notes useful, not just a recap of what happened.