CRM reports after the bell, and the setup is actually fascinating. The stock sits around $235, down 36% from highs and 30% YTD. Growth has slowed, but fundamentals aren't broken. They're just… less sexy. IV is pricing a 7-8% move, skew is modest, and this is exactly the type of environment where I want to be slightly long CRM and short rich downside vol, with a wide cushion if we get a controlled pullback. Let's see what Marc Benioff brings us tonight!

Hey, in the previous posts, I shared that rotation charts are finally giving us clean signals: XLV (Healthcare) keeps gaining relative strength, while XLE (Energy) is recovering after weeks of underperformance. Both sectors moved into a decision zone, and today I'm showing the exact structure I'm using to trade that divergence in the hedge fund. Part 1: XLE Call Debit Spread (Defined-Risk Snapback Play) - Buy 88C / Sell 91C Jan 16 (51 DTE), Debit: $1.59, Max Profit: $141 - A clean, defined-risk way to play the standard Energy bounce inside a choppy, low-volatility range. If XLE mean-reverts toward 90–92, this structure pays quickly Part 2: XLV Call Ratio Spread (Harvesting Exhaustion) - Buy 160C / Sell 2× 163C Jan 16 (51 DTE), Max Profit: $357, Max Risk is undefined (but extremely manageable in XLV). - XLV is extended, overbought, and showing early fatigue. Elevated IV makes upper-strike calls expensive, perfect for a ratio spread that benefits from slowing momentum or shallow consolidation. Why it works as a pairs trade? These aren't two isolated ideas, they're one combined expression: - XLE - defined-risk long delta where bounce probability is high - XLV - premium capture where trend exhaustion is visible - Combined - smooth Greeks, positive theta, and exposure to sector divergence rather than index direction. This is how you express rotation and sector behavior without guessing the market's next move. A clean, elegant pairs structure built for this macro regime.

Hey, NVDA reports today after the close, and this is one of those earnings where the reaction can tell you more about the entire AI cycle than the numbers themselves. IV Rank is high (37), implied move is around 6-7%. Historically, NVDA often moves less than implied, and post-earnings IV drops fast. Everyone tonight is obsessed with one thing: "How are you trading NVDA earnings?" My honest answer: most people shouldn't. It's a crowded, binary event with sky-high expectations already priced in. Yes, IV is juicy, but one wrong line in the guidance and you're fighting a 10-15% gap in a single name. I'd rather attack the same theme, AI and semiconductors, in a calmer, higher-probability way: through SMH, the semiconductor ETF. So why SMH gives more edge than straight NVDA? SMH still benefits from the whole AI chip story, but: - You're diversified across the basket, not hostage to one conference call. - Earnings noise in any single name is diluted. - IV is elevated, but moves are usually much more reasonable than NVDA's all or nothing gaps. That's exactly the environment where short premium, and high probability of profit shines. So, my main play today is not NVDA itself, but a Jade Lizard in SMH:

MSFT Short Review In my pre-market plan, I had mentioned MSFT being on watch. Why? - HTF weakness - QQQ weakness - Then Bill Gates Foundation selling shares My thinking was that with all the volatility going on, it would get the extra push it needed to really have a crisp move potential. Though there are some things now in hindsight that if I were able to go back and do it again, I would probably avoid because of larger risk, like: 1. Already a fairly large gap down. Yes, the VIX is high and it can continue, though generally with large gaps, it does just become more difficult. Because not only do the premiums get more expensive, but the follow-through can become shallower. 2. Not the best price structure. Yes, I got short at 9:38 EST, but the price structure was very reliant on just a few candles, and given the price response immediately after, I believe I got lucky with the broader market in my favor. 3. Daily chart not the best. Yes, it has recently gone down, but also recently has tried bouncing. I just don't see the HTF price structure to support it. Made money, yes, but over the longer run, I don't think this is something that can be sustained, so I'm grateful for the win but also aware that there need to be higher standards for longevity.