Stopped Out Right Before the Offering, Classic
Daily Trading Recap - 3/24/26
TLDR
Shorted PAVS twice, stopped out both times, then it halted down on offering news minutes later.
Shorted UGRO on the opening range breakdown, covered for scratch.
Attempted mean reversion longs on CRCL near 100, didn’t work, moved on.
Being away from the desk cost me on two trades today
Trades I Took
PAVS
PAVS was the top gapper this morning after news yesterday that they’d terminated their $100 million ATM, though they still had dilution available through a $200 million shelf. It’s a historical fader, so I liked the short thesis, but there were some red flags.
I thought there was a decent chance it could roll over and potentially see an offering. I shorted the open, got stopped out quickly as it held, then re-entered when it pushed above pre-market highs and drifted back below.
Tried staying patient for the bigger move but got stopped out in the afternoon, and then almost immediately it double-topped and halted straight down on offering news. That one stings. The thesis was right, my system just didn’t survive the volatility.
UGRO
This was the big runner from yesterday afternoon and into after hours. This morning it was gapping up slightly and chopping sideways through all of pre-market, so when it failed and broke opening range lows I got short and added on the bounce. I was away from the desk with only a stop in, so I missed the wash down to the 6.50s where I should have been taking covers. However my targets for this setup were much lower.
CRCL
Circle was selling off hard, doing almost 3x its ATR on the day. I was looking for a mean reversion long bounce near 100 and tried a couple of times just above that level. It kept failing so I let it go. It eventually washed under 100 later in the afternoon and bounced from there. This isn’t really my typical trade, I’m not a parabolic bounce guy, but the opportunity looked clean enough to warrant the attempts. Small losses, no regrets on that one.
Swings
-Bought GLW
Current holdings: EQT GLW
Takeaways
Today was a lesson in desk time. The PAVS and UGRO theses were both solid, but being away meant I couldn’t manage either position properly. If I’m going to be away, I either need to skip the trade entirely or accept that stop-only management is going to cost me on days like this.
Question for Readers
How do you handle it when you know you’ll be away from the desk mid-trade? Do you skip the setup entirely, use passive targets, or just accept the stop risk and take the shot?