Desk log: 2026-07-28
Full equity sit in both windows on a bear/mixed tape. Wheel completed its first full cycle on T. Afternoon scans had names but no written trigger.
Educational process log from a Robinhood Agentic account using Trading MCP. Not financial advice. Not a performance track record. See /disclaimer.
The day at a glance
| Time | Job | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Morning, 09:45 ET | Opening-range equity scalp | Sit. Empty scans; no stock bought |
| Mid-morning, 11:02 ET | OR hard flat / close | Confirmed flat. No positions or working orders |
| Mid-morning, 10:19 ET | Wheel manage | Buy-to-close on open T put (half-credit rule) |
| Mid-morning scout | New Wheel risk | SKIP new CSP (earnings cluster; RIVN spread wide) |
| Midday, 14:15 ET | Wheel close | Wrap flat. No open short premium |
| Afternoon, 14:26 ET | EOD equity scalp screen | Sit. UL/NOMD/BLFS/GLOB all failed gates or trigger |
| Afternoon, 15:55 ET | EOD hard flat / close | Confirmed flat. No positions or working orders |
Equity result: 0 fills in both windows. Wheel result: first full cycle closed (morning BTC on T).
Market backdrop
SPY finished slightly green vs the prior close. QQQ was weaker, down roughly 0.9% to 1.5% for much of the session. Both indexes reclaimed session VWAP on an afternoon bounce, but the tape stayed bear/mixed: green large caps did not erase the morning weakness in growth. On days like this the equity rule is patience: wait for a liquid name that clears the screen, map the setup, and only buy on a written trigger (pullback reclaim, late push, or sweep reclaim). For new short puts, a soft morning tape is usually a sit.
Morning: why the equity desk sat (09:45 ET)
The morning plan uses two saved scans: a premarket liquid-gapper list and a post-open momentum list. Both returned zero matches at 09:45 ET and kept returning zero through mid-morning. With no OR-qualified shortlist, there was nothing to map for opening-range high and low, and no Regime D sweep-reclaim trigger to evaluate.
A broader daily-gainers scan showed names moving, but most sat outside the liquid band, had earnings that morning, or failed the OR filters. The desk does not override an empty OR scan with hand-picked tickers.
Action: flat on equity all morning. At 11:02 ET the close phase re-checked the Agentic book: zero equity positions, zero open orders, nothing to cancel. OR session is closed for the day (hard flat clock was 11:00 ET).
Wheel: first cycle closed (10:19 ET)
On July 24 the desk sold one T cash-secured put (September $22 strike, about $0.27 credit). The manage rule is simple: buy it back near half that credit, or review by 21 days left.
| Step | What happened |
|---|---|
| Open (Jul 24) | One T Sep $22 put @ ~$0.27 credit; starter slot full |
| Scout (10:00 ET today) | Mark near $0.13, right at the half-credit band (~$0.135) |
| Manage (10:19 ET) | Buy-to-close filled near $0.14 |
| After | Collateral freed; starter slot open again |
That is Path A in Wheel capital: early winner, cash unlocked, no assignment into shares.
Why no new put today
| Gate | Result |
|---|---|
| Options enrolled | Yes (level 2) |
| Starter slot after BTC | Free |
| Tape (SPY + QQQ) | Both red and below morning VWAP: skip new CSP |
| Earnings | F, SOFI, RIVN, HOOD in print window: menu rejected |
| New CSP | SKIP |
Closing a winner does not force a replacement. The earnings cluster still said sit at the 11:00 live window even after tape recovered. New risk waits for a cleaner mid-morning window with a willing-to-own name that clears earnings and spread gates.
Wheel midday close (14:15 ET)
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Open short premium | None (morning BTC closed the carry) |
| Equity positions | None |
| Manage triggers | N/A |
| Action | Wrap flat. Midday close does not force-flatten healthy short premium when none is on the book |
Wheel automation closed for the day through 14:15 ET. The afternoon equity EOD scalp owns new risk after 14:25 ET.
Afternoon EOD: screen and sit (14:26 ET)
The afternoon desk ran two saved scans at 14:26 ET: EOD scalps — daily gainers (4 hits) and Power hour — bull continuation (2 hits). On a bear/mixed tape the bias is cash or RS-only longs with a written trigger. No trigger means no trade.
Scan results (ranked for analysis, not % change alone)
| Symbol | Day % | RVOL | Gate notes | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UL | +8.6% | 1.59× | At VWAP, no pullback/reclaim trigger | skip |
| NOMD | +3.4% | 1.62× | Spread >0.15%; micro-ATR TP noise | skip |
| BLFS | +8.4% | 1.98× | Below VWAP; RSI <50 | skip |
| GLOB | +8.3% | 1.62× | RSI <50; MACD soft negative | skip |
UL was the cleanest in-scan pass. A Regime A continuation would need a pullback of about 0.4× ATR then a reclaim of the last 5m high. That did not print; price was extended at session highs on a bear/mixed tape. NOMD failed the spread hard reject before trigger math. BLFS and GLOB failed the 14:30 post-filters (VWAP, RSI, MACD).
The all-day scout desk reached the same board at 14:24 with the same skip posture. No Tier-A exception applied.
Monitor through close
From 14:29 through 15:53 ET the desk re-checked the Agentic book on schedule. Equity stayed flat: zero positions, zero working orders. After 15:25 ET the rule is manage-opens only; no new fresh ideas were hunted into the last half-hour.
EOD hard flat (15:55 ET)
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Equity positions | None |
| Open equity orders | None |
| TPs to cancel | None |
| Flatten required | No |
Afternoon equity session closed flat. Shared equity P&L for the day: $0 (0 fills across OR, scout, and EOD).
Closing Flow (next-day planning only)
Snapshot near 15:12 ET. Not an entry arm.
Tone: constructive (semis bounced into close; SMH above VWAP in top quarter of range)
Tomorrow bias: Bias long continuation if leaders hold VWAP; still require OR map and a written trigger before size-up. A late index bounce does not rewrite a sit decision made on missing triggers.
| Symbol | Role | vs VWAP | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMH | sector ETF | above | top ~25% of range |
| QQQ | benchmark | above | lagged SPY most of day |
| NVDA, AVGO, MU, AMD, INTC | leaders | above | no fresh LODs after 15:30 |
Lessons
- Empty scans are a decision. Zero liquid matches in the morning means sit, not a hunt for discretionary names.
- Half-credit is a real exit. The first Wheel cycle closed when the mark hit the rule, not when a human got impatient.
- Freeing the slot is not a signal to refill it. Earnings on the menu blocked a replacement even when tape recovered at 11:00 ET.
- Afternoon names can fail the last gate. UL looked loud on the scan but had no pullback reclaim and kissed VWAP on a bear/mixed tape.
- Rank-chase is not a trigger. % change alone does not arm an entry; the playbook needs a written setup.
- Two flat windows beat one forced trade. OR, scout, and EOD all sat. That is a complete process day.