Let me start with the obvious: this market is straight-up nuts.
The market has only moved 8% intraday a few times in 100 years. It did it on Monday. Then it did yesterday.
That’s back to back days which we may literally never see again. Just to put this market in perspective.
Yesterday, Dow surged over 1,400 points in the morning on hopes of trade negotiations — only to reverse hard after the White House confirmed a 104% tariff on Chinese imports starting at midnight. That announcement nuked the rally. The S&P 500 (SPY) finished down 1.6%, the Nasdaq (QQQ) dropped 2.2%, and the Dow closed down 320 points. Just pure whiplash.
I’ve been telling traders for as long as I can remember, that whiplash is the toughest environment to trade in. A steady bear market is a lot simpler to trade than momentum in both directions.
But, at the same time, with this kind of volatility the opportunity is off the charts…
But before I dive into the fun stuff, let’s talk about why this is happening.
It’s Not the News — It’s the Liquidity
We’ve hit a point where fundamentals have taken a back seat. Stocks, sectors, even asset classes are moving together — not because of earnings, guidance, or macro outlooks, but because of pure order flow.
This is a liquidity-driven market.
It’s not about whether tariffs actually impact Energy (XLE) or Consumer Staples (XLP) the same way they impact Technology (XLK). It’s about big money sloshing in and out of the market, and how those massive flows create temporary price distortions across the board.
In this kind of environment, everything trades like one big ETF. Nvidia (NVDA), Walmart (WMT), Exxon (XOM), and even Bitcoin — all moving in lockstep. Not because it makes sense, but because liquidity is dictating direction.
Everyone wants to know where the floor is. Is it already in with the Nasdaq down 25%? Or will it be when the SPY hits -33% like it did in 2020?
For me, it’s not about the number — it’s about insider activity. When big money starts buying, that’s when we’ll see the real floor form.
Right now? Insider buying is quiet. And that tells me we’re not there yet.
Does that mean I am on the sidelines? Heck no.
What I’m Doing While We Wait
In the meantime, I’m not trying to pick bottoms or call bounces. I’m sticking to three things:
- Pairs trades
- Covered calls
- Mechanical setups
These are the plays that don’t require you to guess the next market direction. They just need relative strength, volatility, or a defined edge — and right now, that’s what this market is giving us.
We put on four pairs trades last Friday, and every single one turned a profit:
- SPY puts vs. MAG7 calls
- Exxon (XOM) calls vs. ConocoPhillips (COP) puts
- Walmart (WMT) calls vs. Target (TGT) puts
- IBIT calls vs. BITO puts
The key? We didn’t need to be right about market direction — we just needed the market to move.
When the market runs fast in either direction, you can pile up a nice “margin” between the two positions.. And when you get a day like yesterday with wild swings, they can pay fast.
Our newest pair trade was long Communication Services (XLC) vs. short Technology (XLK), and that win makes it 5 for 5 on free pairs trades I’ve given out in the past four days!
If you’re wondering where all these trades are coming from, I gave them away for free during educational sessions. Friday on Mapping the Market I gave the first 4.
And on Monday’s Roundtable, I gave away another.
Again, if the market moves big in either direction, I don’t care which side hits. A 150% gain on one side with a 50% loss on the other nets a huge win. That’s the beauty of this strategy.
When fundamentals are out the window and the market’s moving like this, I don’t think picking direction and timing is a recipe for success. I much prefer using the volatility to my advantage.
I am continuing to take more pair trades in this environment (I like calls on GLD and Puts on SLV right now).
What Comes Next?
I just spent this entire newsletter talking about trading the chaos, but here’s the reality:
The next run is getting closer every day by definition. And that’s where most traders miss it.
They look back at the 2020-2021 mega run and wish they had taken advantage. In fact, I would say it like this:
If all you do right now is keep yourself in the game so you can take advantage of the next run, I think you’ll be ahead of 99% of traders.
And I am starting to lick my chops for that opportunity.
Join me live today at 12:30pm ET to walk through one of my flagship strategies on taking advantage – the same one that had the ability to pile up gains in 2020 and 2021 like nothing I’ve ever seen.
I am not saying it’s quite time to go all in (remember, insider buying!) but I think we need to get prepared… And this is how I would do it.
— Nate Tucci
P.S. While you wait for the live session at 12:30pm, get caught up here.
