I hope you’re ready for another big week!
The markets are off and running after we got our second rate cut…
Several major tech companies reported strong earnings beats last week, primarily driven by AI-related revenues. No surprise there!
Check out my video to learn how you can collect your own gains from the AI superhighway.
With all these catalysts pushing the indexes higher, we’ve got a ton of trade opportunities coming our way…
But the one that gets me the most excited is the Monday Morning Setup.
Haven’t heard about it yet? Listen up…
Every Monday, the market kicks back into gear after its weekend nap… and that reset creates a unique opportunity.
As the first session of the week gets started, there’s a specific pattern we look for that appears again and again with uncanny consistency.
And it has given us some unbelievable gains!
Look what happened last Monday, October 20th …
Co-Diagnostics Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX) soared 329%* after announcing a joint venture in Saudi Arabia.
We hunt for these kinds of Monday morning spikes every single week.
Now it’s time to learn how to spot them for yourself…
Watch the video below for the full trade breakdown and strategy tutorial on my Monday Setup.
With all of the above being said, anyone can follow a plan when the market plays nice, but what happens when your watchlist flops?
Or when the trade you waited all day for just doesn’t work?
Or your carefully constructed trade plan fails?
Table of Contents
What Happens When a Great Trade Plan Falls Apart?
Last week, I showed you how to build a trade plan.
But that plan isn’t bulletproof, and sometimes things just don’t go… well, according to plan.
You followed your rules, you avoided risky setups, but when the market opened, nothing played out.
Now you’re left holding your plan, and wondering if it’s even worth sticking to.
Let’s look at a common scenario:
You’ve committed to not trading premarket, which is a smart move, especially for newer traders. I even have a specific guideline for this, which is my 9:45 AM Rule. It gives stocks time to shake out and establish a pattern after the open, which usually leads to better, more reliable entries.
So, you prep your watchlist with five solid potential winners…
But when the bell rings, none of them follow through. No clean setups. No confirmations. No trades.
Here’s a little quiz:
What should you do the next day?
Should you break your rule and start diving into pre-market action?
The short answer: No.
That pre-market rule you wrote into your plan is there for a reason.
Premarket trading can be illiquid, highly volatile, and deceptive, especially for less experienced traders. The price action is choppy, volume can dry up in an instant, and spreads get nasty.
So even when the market doesn’t hand you the trade you were hoping for? Don’t break your rules.
What You Should Do Instead
If your watchlist flops after the open, that’s not a failure. It’s feedback.
Now’s the time to reassess:
- Was there a strong catalyst driving the move?
- Did the volume support the breakout you expected?
- Is the sector even hot right now?
This is where your checklist, built during your trade planning process, comes back into play. You want to dig deeper, not pivot randomly.
When most stocks fail, it forces you to zero in on the one that might stick…
Like a stock that holds above VWAP, continues pushing with volume, or grinds back toward highs into the afternoon.
A Quick Tip for Newer Traders: Trade in the Afternoon
If you’re still building consistency, the afternoon session might be your best friend.
Why?
Because you’ve had time to see the market develop, and you’re not reacting to chaos. Instead, you’re calmly identifying which stocks held up and where the real setups are forming.
That’s a smarter way to trade than jumping into the open just because “something might run.”
If nothing fits your plan, guess what? You don’t trade.
That’s when you win by not losing.
My Final Thoughts…
Even the best trade plans won’t work every time. That’s normal. But how you respond to those moments is everything.
- Don’t break your rules just because the market didn’t give you what you wanted. That’s the fastest way to develop bad habits.
- Use failed setups as feedback. Dig into why they didn’t work, and look for the details that separated the duds from the winners.
- Stay selective and patient. Great trades are earned, not chased. If nothing sets up, you don’t need to force a trade.
And if you want to get better at this process, surround yourself with people who are doing it right.
Join the StocksToTrade community. We offer live webinars, real-time training, and tons of resources to help you build smarter habits.
Join a free session now and level up your trading game!
Have a great day, everyone. See you back here tomorrow.
Tim Bohen
Lead Trainer, StocksToTrade
P.S.
Think you can’t afford to trade large-cap stocks? Think again.
Play the AI sector without buying chip stocks.
The trend is your friend.