Yesterday, Friday, March 20, 2026, Wall Street capped off a grueling week as a "Quadruple Witching" expiration and surging energy costs pushed the major indices to their lowest levels of the year. Despite the broad market weakness, our defensive positioning allowed us to navigate the storm while the benchmark S&P 500 officially dipped into a nearly 5% loss for 2026.

📉 Active Option Trade Tracker

We are smashing it. Even with the S&P 500 falling and volatility rising, we are still winning on our trades. Year to date, we maintain a 100% win record. The high-probability strategy works.

• US 500 Strategy (IG): Up +8.19% YTD.
• XSP/SPY Strategy (IBKR): Up +5.97% YTD.
• S&P 500 Index: Down -4.95% YTD.

US 500 Challenge Update: March 21, 2026

Current Trade Performance Our current US 500 short put trade is currently up 1.27% in just 16 days. Despite the S&P 500 dropping -1.51% yesterday to close at 6,506.45, our "Margin of Safety" has kept the position in positive territory. We are almost ready to lock in these gains as we head into the final week of March.

Strategy Resilience The gap between our performance and the index is now over 13%. This highlights the core strength of our approach: we don't need the market to go up to make money; we just need it to stay above our "floor." While others are panicking over a 5% index drop, we are collecting steady premiums.

📋 Long-Term Stock Buy & Hold Watchlist

We remain in "patient observer" mode. We are not fans of buying stocks right now while the VIX remains elevated, but the valuation gap is getting hard to ignore.

• NVDA (Nvidia): Hit hard yesterday, falling -3.2% to close at $172.84. It is approaching our primary support zone.
• ORCL (Oracle): Slipped -1.15% ($153.73), giving back some of its post-earnings gains in the broad tech rout.
• CRM (Salesforce): Dropped -1.42% ($192.20), continuing to base near its 52-week lows.
• Domestic Airlines: Alaska Air (ALK) is trading at deep-value levels. We are simply waiting for an "off-ramp" in the Iran conflict to remove the fuel-price headwind before we buy.

📅 Market Review for Friday, March 20, 2026

Overview: It was a "Risk-Off" Friday. Crude oil prices stabilized near $98, but the damage to consumer sentiment was already done. The VIX Index spiked back toward 28, causing a broad re-pricing of risk across all sectors.

🏛️ FX & Crypto Review

• Bitcoin (BTC): Fell -2.8% to $69,180 as the "flight to safety" favored the U.S. Dollar over digital assets.
• Gold: Rose to $5,120 per ounce, acting as the preferred hedge against geopolitical escalation.

📈 Major Indices & Commodities

• S&P 500: Fell -1.47%, closing at 6,508.45.
• Nasdaq Composite: Dropped -1.88%, finishing at 21,674.52.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Slipped -0.98%, closing at 45,595.46.
• WTI Crude Oil: Settled slightly higher at $98.14 per barrel.

Strategy Assistance

If you require assistance with trade setup, risk management, or strategy review, please schedule a strategy call.

• PREMIUM Plan Members: Strategy calls are included in your plan.
• All Other Members: Strategy calls can be scheduled at a rate of €100 per half hour.

Happy Investing

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