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Some days, the market just feels dead… like today!
No momentum, no flow, no setups. And when that happens, it’s easy to get impatient and start forcing trades. But that’s exactly when you need to step back, take a breath and remind yourself not to press.
There was nothing happening yesterday and now today is more of the same Volume is light, the tape is flat and even the options flow is dead. You know it’s slow when the best idea on the board is to go hunt for earnings trades or lotto tickets, and even those are underwhelming.
So what do you do when you’re staring at a market that’s giving you nothing?
Spotting When the Risk-Reward Is Off
Even a 16% move in a stock like Redwire Corp. (RDW) wasn’t delivering much. The options were only up 80% — and that’s crap!
With a move like that, you should be seeing a 3x or 4x return. If you’re not, it’s a sign that premiums were overpriced, or the trade just didn’t have the structure for a real payoff.
Either way, it’s a bad deal.
When you can’t make real money on options when a stock moves 16%, you know something’s broken. No matter how tempting a setup looks, if the options don’t reward the move, you’re just spinning your wheels.
Don’t Force Lotto Trades Just to Feel Busy
When flow is slow and everything feels like a grind, it’s tempting to chase a big move just for the thrill of it. I even floated the idea of looking for squeeze plays or weekly lottos — but it was more out of boredom than conviction.
That’s never a good reason to put on a trade.
A quiet tape isn’t an invitation to gamble. If you’re not seeing clean setups with good structure and real potential, then sometimes the best trade is no trade.
Go do something else. Just don’t force it.
Because in markets like this, the minute you press out of frustration, you’re usually walking into a loss.
And that’s what kills confidence. It’s not the setups you missed — it’s the bad ones you talked yourself into.
Order Flow:Â
This is for informational and educational purposes only. These are not official alerts issued by Lance, but rather some interesting orders picked by the team at Lance Ippolito Trading.
When you look at these plays, always take the market maker move into consideration.
You can be right on the direction but still lose money if the stock doesn’t move enough. That’s where the market maker move comes in clutch.
With puts, they’re often downside hedges in case a stock tanks, especially around earnings. The further out of the money they are, the more likely they are to be hedges.
Also be sure and check when the company’s earnings date is because many of the plays we post here are centered around earnings!
And finally, always remember the golden rule when it comes to buying calls: Buy dips, sell rips — and don’t chase!
If a stock’s moved a ton already today, maybe wait for a pullback.
There is inherent risk in trading. Trade at your own risk.
Note: If no date is listed after the month, it’s the monthly expiration (third Friday).
The team at Lance Ippolito Trading
Lance doesn’t want the CCP spying on him, so you’ll never find him on TikTok. Same goes for other social media sites, which are filled with impersonators, scammers and crypto bros.
You can only find him on his personal YouTube Channel — smash that Subscribe button! https://www.youtube.com/@LanceIppolito
And in his private Telegram channel: https://t.me/+-gVwEIwGJhplMTgx
Important Note: No one from The TradingPub team or any of its associated brands will ever contact you directly on Telegram.
*This is for informational and educational purposes only. There is inherent risk in trading, so trade at your own risk.Â
P.S. The 4PM Payout Setup Delivered Nothing But Winners in May
If you couldn’t join in last month, there’s another chance to tag along as we go after these daily cash opportunities in June!
