STRATEGY Update | July 13, 2026

Trade Signals on July 13, 2026

Monday’s trading picked up where last week left off, with extreme opening volatility driven by rapid news headlines, sharp price swings, stop-loss executions, and additional slippage.

This type of market environment can produce unusually long delays in order acknowledgments and fill confirmations, sometimes accompanied by rejected orders. In some cases, traders resubmitted sell orders intended to exit long positions because the original orders appeared not to have been filled. The initial orders were then confirmed, followed by fills on the replacement orders, unintentionally creating short positions that also had to be covered.

Fast markets create an additional challenge in tracking order status. After submitting an order, traders should determine whether it remains pending, has been filled, or has been canceled before sending a replacement. During the most volatile periods, fill confirmations can be delayed by 30 to 120 seconds. The conditions are reminiscent of the old pit-session days, when execution uncertainty was simply part of trading a fast market.

The market structure in 2026 has been unusual. We have seen exceptionally thin order books in Gold and Silver, and now reduced liquidity in the E-mini Nasdaq during geopolitical news flashes involving Iran. These prolonged headline-driven events have introduced new execution and risk-management challenges.

It is also notable that the market continues to respond aggressively to a long series of highly repetitive but ultimately inconclusive news releases. Each new headline generates another burst of volatility, even when the underlying information does little to resolve the broader situation.

My personal view is that the market has been supported so aggressively—and for so long—that the result is increasingly extreme noise rather than a normal corrective process. Markets and economies have historically moved through natural periods of expansion, contraction, strength, and weakness. That ebb and flow is a normal feature of free markets.

Attempting to transform the stock market into a fixed-income-like investment that consistently rises and produces annual returns of 20% or more is not normal. Nevertheless, persistent intervention and liquidity support from central banks and governments have increasingly shaped market behavior since 2009.

The V-Reversal strategy reached a $19,000 drawdown Monday following a long trade, compared with its historical maximum drawdown of approximately $24,000. The latest series of news-driven moves has produced exceptionally challenging price action.

The long side, which had previously performed well, has struggled recently. By comparison, the short side of V-Reversal has been more effective in the current environment.

Friday and Monday's Stop Run Trades

Hypothetical Trading System Signals on 07-13-2026