Hey trader,
I missed a bearish NVIDIA trade by pennies this morning.
I wanted an NVIDIA put vertical for 40 cents. A put vertical is basically a put you buy, paired with a lower put you sell to cut the cost.
Watching a trade run off without you stings.
Your first instinct is to bump your bid a few cents at a time. If you chase it far enough, you’ll pay more than the trade can give back.
I got filled when I raised my limit to 60 cents.
I wouldn’t have paid a penny more. My profit target set that ceiling.
I’ll show you how to work backward from your target to the most you should pay. You’ll also see why you can move faster on your own than I can when I’m alerting a few hundred people.
It started with NVIDIA running straight at its $220 wall.
Why I Wanted to Fade NVIDIA
Tech lagged all morning. NVIDIA held up anyway, sitting just under a big wall at $220.
A wall is simply a strike with a huge pile of option contracts sitting on it.
Then NVIDIA started sprinting at it. My Rune study, a set of indicators I use to gauge the strength of a move, showed six straight bars of higher highs and higher lows.
The reading was pegged at 100. NVIDIA never retraced along the way.
The harder price runs, the bigger the reversal tends to be. A run like that creates a real imbalance, and price retracing restores it.
I didn’t think NVIDIA would actually reach $220. Right there, I decided I needed a bearish trade, and an NVIDIA put vertical fit the setup.
How Missing by Pennies Changed My NVIDIA Put Vertical
I went after the 217.50/215 NVIDIA put vertical in a same-day trade. My plan was to pay 40 cents and sell at $1.25 near $216.25, the midpoint between my two strikes.
I was juggling alerts for NVIDIA and SPY at the same time. My NVIDIA put vertical missed its 40-cent fill by pennies, and then price dropped to my target without me.
Then it bounced and started to consolidate. I didn’t like that.
If NVIDIA put in a higher low and pushed back toward $220, it would need a much bigger drop to reach $216.25. I called that a bridge too far.
I raised my limit on the NVIDIA put vertical to 60 cents and kept the same $1.25 target. NVIDIA bounced a little, and that bounce filled my order.
Why 60 Cents Was My Ceiling on the NVIDIA Put Vertical
Once I was in, I drew a hard line. I wouldn’t ever raise my NVIDIA put vertical order above 60 cents while targeting $216.25.
Here’s how the numbers stack up on this trade:
- Setup: Buy the 217.50/215 NVIDIA put vertical, a spread $2.50 wide.
- First entry: 40 cents, which left 85 cents of gain to my target.
- Ceiling: 60 cents, which still left 65 cents of gain.
- Target: $1.25 near $216.25, the middle of the spread.
At 60 cents, I’m risking 60 cents to make 65. Every cent above that puts my risk ahead of my reward.
My target guides the exit too. If price reaches my level with the NVIDIA put vertical at $1.15 or even $1.10, I’m willing to close it there.
I won’t hold out for every last penny.
Why You Can Move Faster Than My Alert
One member pointed out he could’ve taken the NVIDIA put vertical at 50 cents. If you’re watching and you can get 50, that’s exactly what you should do.
I wanted 40 cents. Trading on my own, I probably would’ve chased it a little.
I can’t do that for a few hundred people. I don’t want to send alerts that nobody can get filled on.
I use resting limit orders instead. A resting limit is simply an order that waits at your price until the market comes to it.
An alert service will never truly outperform a trader working alone. You see the fill in real time, and the decision is yours to make.
Price did drop after I got in. My NVIDIA put vertical moved in the money.
I could’ve closed it for 93 cents at one point. It was marked around 83 cents as my session wrapped up.
Before you place your next order, write down your target first. Then work backward to the most you’ll pay, and don’t let a missed fill drag you past that number.
Setting entry limits like this is part of every session I run with members. The 90-Day Block Hunter Challenge is where I hand you the same tools I used on NVIDIA today.
Here’s what you get when you join:
- The Block Hunter Console, scanning hundreds of names for hidden pressure.
- 2 to 3 block alerts a week, plus one high-upside setup every Friday.
- The live Masterclass and 12 weeks of mastermind sessions with me.
- Ghost Hour from 11:30 to 12:30 EST every weekday. That’s the window when the market moves fastest and the prints tend to show themselves.
Recent Block Hunter reads include SILJ +392%, PLUG +222%, NKE +142% and GDX +72.5%.
The next trade worth setting a ceiling on might already be sitting on the Console. Your next 90 days start today, and your seat is protected by a full 30-day money-back window.
▶ Join the 90-Day Block Hunter Challenge
Brandon Chapman, CMT
Creator of Ghost Prints
