Daily Report Card
DRC · 2026-08-11
Daily Grade
B
Goals
When account is up, size DOWN — and cap Idea Trade at C-size, one open at a time.
Aggression
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Reminder
Long-term: Conviction still wants to inflate size at the moment of highest belief — the disease that authored FSLY — so when the swing book runs hot, size DOWN, not up.
Daily Journal
PLAG
A
closed
B / B
Chart
Entry $3.15
Stop $3.50
Target $1.75
—
closed
Notes
This fits everything in my criteria. D1 intraday extension. Been stalking this once it reach 2. Tried a smaller size front size and get papercut but its okay. I'm willing to get papercut on this. 11 million float has enough liquidity without SSR + high dilution and high liquidation possibility. One red flag is for some reason I have locates earlier to short this while at 3 I heard from alot of people this becomes a prohibited short + AMEX exchange which is know for SCAMEX.
I had a brutal loss on this. Nothing to do with my execution but the black swan event which I didn't anticipate. This even makes me think I don't want to short any small caps anymore. What happen was things stall. I had a good average since I always load in frontside small step. By the time I saw the weakness I went to short full A-size. it halt down and I thought I bagged this. I even put my stop maybe give and take small price above my breakeven price which I willing to risk. The result was devastating. It halt with me still in the money. I was up. but the gap of the halt is massive. It's like way past my stop like 3-4R. Worst case my order didnt execute to cover, I was scrambling to get out and it halted up again. at that point it was way too much that i have to exit immediately once it opens.
Brutal action. I wish this could be a learning lesson for me. Maybe it's time to wind down small caps shorting.
Reflection
What I did well
I followed my rule in shorting PLAG. Small size front side. Load in the boat backside. Having stop-loss. All I accounted and did my best.
What I learned
My best wasn't enough. PLAG even at strict execution rules I failed to take account slippage in halt gaps. It just didn't occur to me the halt was so severe it was a 70% jump. There are things I could have should have done but I really did my best. Looking back I won't change anything I do which is why maybe I should abandoned this strategy. There is always a fat tail event on this. a halt and open at 70% gap which is 3.10 to 5ish has tripled my loss. Image this opening at $10 which is completely possible or even $30. My account could have been destroyed.
And to add that I should get out if it halts up, yes the analogy is correct but why should I get out if I'm in the money. If I have a bad average I don't allow myself to be stuck in a halt. But if I have a cushion I will use that open PNL to ride the halt since the likelihood of this convexity to play out according to my stats is high. High doesn't mean 100%. This PLAG did liquidated but it liquidate during after hours. Brutal liquidated and it reach a high of 6.8. I could have loss more if I didnt stop at 5.18. I have really tried my best on this. Surprisingly on the emotion side I was quite calm or maybe I was sleepy since its 2am in Singapore. I just took the L and go to sleep. I'm writing this DRC the next day to recall my emotional state . I know I can recover from this but the main issue is that fat tail risk. what if one day it really open to $30. What if I didn't set a stop loss and during AH it went sideways and went to $80. It's possible in these small caps turd. It really makes me ponder alot.
Actionable takeaway
Processing my emotion and thoughts. Let my thoughts linger for 3 days. No touching small caps at the moment.
Misc
D1 Para Liquidation PLAG (8)
AI Review
PLAG was plan-prevented, not plan-broken — halt-gap ate the stop while you were still in the money, and your controllables (small frontside, staged loads, resting stop above breakeven, calm exit) were clean. The one avoidable decision was reloading during the halt on a 0.35 cushion against a 1.68 gap. Emotional state was steady and your own takeaway — wind down small-cap shorting — is the mathematically correct read of a strategy whose loss is unbounded by construction.
- Reload-while-halted is the one controllable to name: cushion is linear, halt gaps are not.
- Unbounded tail = selection problem, not sizing problem — no size removes it. Options-hedge, no adds while halted, or don't play.
- 3-day cool-off + no small-cap shorts is the right response. Don't relitigate the loss during it.
- Swing book (3 full-risk opens: AMZN, CRCL, TEAM · 6 de-risked runners) is the earner — protect that focus.