Daily Trading Recap - 2/25/26
Problem Tickers
TLDR
Overtraded XWEL early, but caught the afternoon fade.
IBRX short was the cleanest setup and I underplayed the all-day move.
Took solid intraday longs in NVDA and CAVA.
Trades I Took
XWEL 0.00%↑
This is what I call a problem ticker. When volume is massive and there are too many players on both sides, price action gets erratic. It breaks trading signals. You just have to recognize it quickly and manage risk. Let’s get into it.
XWEL was the top small cap gapper, up over 100% on a private placement. They raised around $30 million at a slight premium but the deal looked pretty dilutive. Normally I avoid shorting private placement gaps, but this one felt suspect. I let it trade a bit off the open to gather more information from price.
Off the bell it ripped and that’s when I got interested. I tried an early anticipation short with starter size and got stopped. Tried a couple more times, same result. At that point it was clear the stock was strong and holding above premarket highs. If I was going to short it, the only realistic morning target was VWAP otherwise it would need to build more structure which takes time.
It pulled into VWAP fast, wicked back up before I could get clean covers, and I quickly flattened. Then I got long at $1.40 and caught a quick scalp on the push to new highs.
That last push was short lived, it put in an FBO, and triggered my afternoon short signal. I got short, added on a bounce, but sized down a bit because of how wild it had been earlier. It faded in three legs and I covered the final piece into $1.10, which was prior post-market highs. A lot of effort for not a lot of reward.
IBRX 0.00%↑
IBRX has been in play all week and was getting extended on the daily chart. It gapped up again after a strong prior day. Off the open it pushed over yesterday’s highs, failed, and then broke opening range lows.
I got short and added on the bounce. I covered a little too aggressively near yesterday’s close, then caught the flush lower. The mistake was not recognizing it had potential to fade so hard. I played it like a morning trade, not a bigger opportunity. I expected too little from it.
NVDA 0.00%↑
NVDA (I used NVDL) was in focus with earnings after the close. It was gapping up and breaking out over the $194.50 daily level. I missed the first leg off the open, but I caught the pullback entry similar to my IREN trade yesterday.
I sold as it trended higher with a tight trail. I wanted to be flat before earnings otherwise it just turns into a gamble.
Earnings came out strong after the bell. We’re so back!
CAVA 0.00%↑
CAVA was gapping on earnings (potential EP setup), meaning a big earnings gap that can trend. I missed the opening drive, but it gave a clean consolidation above VWAP and a secondary break.
I got long on that break, sold into new highs, and trailed the rest. It went sideways most of the afternoon, so taking profits into strength was the right move.
Swings
No major swing adjustments today. Focus was mostly intraday with earnings and small caps in play.
Takeaways
After the close, I checked my stats on tickers that trade 200+ million shares in a day, and the results aren’t great. That’s a pattern I need to explore. I’ll likely cut those out and use some kind of early volume forecasting to avoid them.
IBRX reminded me to stay open to all-day moves when the structure supports it. Not every trade is just a quick morning scalp.
Tomorrow I want to be more selective with “problem tickers,” let the clean setups breathe, and size appropriately when the structure is there.