Daily Swing Trading Routine

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What You’ll Learn

• How to build a consistent daily swing trading routine
• How to use Ape AI for swing trade setups
• How to manage multiple swing positions
• How to prepare for the next trading day
• How to balance swing trading with a full-time job

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What is Swing Trading?

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Swing Trading vs Other Styles

• Hold period: 2-10 days typically
• Captures short-term trends/swings
• Not watching all day
• Technical + catalyst driven
• 5-15 trades per month

• Day trading: In and out same day
• Requires full attention during market hours
• More trades, smaller moves
• Higher stress, faster decisions

• Investing: Hold months to years
• Fundamental driven
• Less active management
• Longer-term outlook

• ✅ Works with a full-time job
• ✅ Less stressful than day trading
• ✅ Captures bigger moves than scalping
• ✅ Can use both stocks and options
• ✅ Better risk/reward than day trading
• ✅ More opportunities than long-term investing

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Before You Start

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Prerequisites

• 3+ months stock trading experience
• Understand technical analysis basics
• Familiar with support/resistance
• Know how to read volume

• Minimum $5,000 account (recommended)
• Portfolio Margin or $25k+ (if day trading too)
• Access to extended hours (optional)
• Fast broker execution

• Risk 1-2% per position
• Max 3-5 positions at once
• Position sizing calculator ready
• Stop losses mandatory

• 30 min pre-market (6:30-9:30am ET)
• 15 min at open (9:30-10:00am ET)
• 15 min at close (3:45-4:15pm ET)
• Weekend research (1-2 hours)

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Tools You’ll Need

• Ape AI (for analysis and setups)
• Watchlist with 20-30 stocks
• Price alerts set up
• Trading journal
• Risk calculator

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Daily Routine Overview

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Timeline for Swing Traders

• 15 min: Review overnight news
• 10 min: Check existing positions
• 15 min: Scan for new setups
• 10 min: Prepare entry/exit orders

• First 30 min: Monitor price action
• Execute planned entries
• Adjust stops if needed
• No impulsive trades

• Set price alerts for key levels
• Don’t watch constantly
• Check 2-3 times max
• Focus on your job/life

• Review P&L
• Update trading journal
• Plan for tomorrow
• Adjust watchlist

• Deep research if needed
• Earnings review
• Scan for new ideas
• Relax and disconnect

• 1-2 hours: Weekly review
• Scan for setups
• Plan week ahead
• Journal review

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Step 1: Pre-Market Routine (6:30-9:00am)

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Review Overnight News (15 min)

• Futures direction (SPY, QQQ, DIA)
• Economic calendar (Fed, jobs data, CPI)
• International markets (Europe, Asia)
• Sector rotation

• Earnings releases (pre-market)
• Analyst upgrades/downgrades
• FDA approvals, deals, M&A
• Insider buying/selling

• VIX level (fear gauge)
• Bond yields
• Dollar strength
• Crypto movements

What are the key market movers this morning?
Any pre-market earnings or news I should know about?

🌅 Pre-Market Brief - [Date]

Market Overview:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SPY Pre-market: +0.3% (bullish open)
QQQ Pre-market: +0.5% (tech leading)
VIX: 14.2 (low volatility)

Key Catalysts:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✓ NVDA earnings beat, +8% pre-market
✓ Fed speaker at 10am (dovish expected)
✓ CPI data tomorrow (market positioning)

Sector Flow:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🟢 Technology +0.8%
🟢 Semis +1.2%
🔴 Energy -0.4%
⚪ Financials flat

What to Watch:
- NVDA momentum continuation
- Tech sector follow-through
- 10am Fed speaker reaction

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Check Your Existing Positions (10 min)

• Current price vs entry
• Approaching stop or target?
• Thesis still valid?
• Any news overnight?
• Adjust stops to breakeven?

1. Go to Portfolio tab
2. View each swing position
3. Tap ticker for latest analysis
4. Check for price alerts triggered

I'm holding AAPL from $175, now at $178.
Should I hold or take profit today?

AAPL Position Check - Day 3

Entry: $175.00
Current: $178.50 (+2%)
Target: $182 (+4%)
Stop: $172 (-1.7%)

Technical Update:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
- Broke above $177 resistance ✓
- Volume confirming strength
- RSI 63 (room to run)
- Next resistance: $180

Recommendation:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✅ HOLD position
✅ Move stop to $175.50 (breakeven)
✅ Target still $182 reasonable
⏰ Re-evaluate if breaks $176

Let it run to target with protected profit.

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Scan for New Setups (15 min)

1. Go to Watchlist tab
2. Review your 20-30 swing candidates
3. Look for setups approaching entry

• Stocks near breakout levels
• Pullbacks to support in uptrends
• Volume increasing
• Catalyst upcoming (earnings, FDA, etc.)
• Technical patterns forming (flags, triangles)

Scan my watchlist for swing trade setups
for today. I'm looking for 3-7 day holds.

Is TSLA setting up for a swing trade?
Looking for 5+ day hold.

📊 Swing Trade Setups - [Date]

Setup 1: MSFT - Bull Flag
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current: $385
Entry: $387 breakout
Target: $398 (2.8%)
Stop: $382 (1.3%)
R:R: 2.2:1 ✓
Catalyst: Cloud growth, AI momentum
Timeframe: 5-7 days

Setup 2: AMD - Pullback to Support
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current: $142
Entry: $140-141 dip
Target: $149 (6%)
Stop: $137 (2.5%)
R:R: 2.4:1 ✓
Catalyst: Bouncing off 50-day MA
Timeframe: 4-6 days

Setup 3: AVOID - AAPL
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Reason: No clear setup, in middle of range
Wait for: Break above $180 or dip to $172

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Prepare Entry Orders (10 min)

• Buy stop at breakout level
• Or limit order at pullback level
• Already have stop loss calculated
• Already have target calculated

MSFT Setup:
- Buy stop: $387.00 (if breaks out)
- Quantity: 25 shares ($9,675 = 2% risk)
- Stop loss: $382.00 (set immediately after fill)
- Target: $398.00 (sell 50%), $402 (sell rest)

AMD Setup:
- Limit buy: $140.50 (if pullback)
- Quantity: 30 shares ($4,215 = 1.5% risk)
- Stop loss: $137.00 (set immediately)
- Target: $149.00

Already in position: AAPL (no action today)

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Step 2: Market Open Routine (9:30-10:00am)

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The First 30 Minutes

• Don’t trade immediately
• Watch how market opens
• Is it following through on pre-market?
• Any surprise moves?

• If setup triggers, execute
• If price action weak, stand aside
• Follow your pre-market plan
• No impulsive changes

• Set stops on new positions
• Set price alerts for watchlist
• Final check on existing positions
• Then STEP AWAY

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Executing Your Planned Entries

1. MSFT breaks $387 → Execute
2. Tap “Execute trade” on setup card
3. Verify order details
4. Confirm purchase
5. IMMEDIATELY set stop loss

Entered: MSFT at $387.20
Quantity: 25 shares
Cost: $9,680
Stop: $382 (manual stop-loss order placed)
Target: $398 (1st), $402 (2nd)
Risk: $130 (1.3% of account)

✅ Stop order placed
✅ Price alert at $398
✅ Journal entry created

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Setting Up for the Day

• Existing position targets
• Existing position stops (backup)
• Watchlist breakout levels
• Watchlist breakdown levels

• ✅ Close trading app
• ✅ Focus on work/life
• ✅ Trust your plan
• ⚠️ Don’t watch intraday noise

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Step 3: Intraday Management (10am-3:45pm)

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Managing Without Watching

MSFT position:
- Alert at $398 (target)
- Alert at $382 (stop)
- Alert at $390 (halfway point)

AMD watchlist:
- Alert at $140 (entry level)
- Alert at $137 (avoid zone)

1. Check price action
2. Refer to your plan
3. Execute if needed
4. Don’t second-guess

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Mid-Day Check (12:00pm - Optional)

• Quick portfolio glance
• Any major news?
• Positions near targets/stops?
• No action unless critical

Quick update on my swing positions.
Any action needed?

📊 Mid-Day Position Check

AAPL: $178.80 (+2.1%)
Status: On track, holding well
Action: None, let it run

MSFT: $389.50 (+0.6%)
Status: Working slowly toward target
Action: None, be patient

Watchlist Trigger: AMD hit $140.25
Action: Consider entry if you're available

No urgent actions. Positions healthy. ✓

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Handling Alerts

1. Open app
2. Check current price ($398.20)
3. Sell 50% of position
4. Move stop to $392 on remaining shares
5. Let rest run to $402

1. Open app
2. Confirm price below stop
3. Sell entire position immediately
4. Accept the loss
5. Move on

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Step 4: Market Close Routine (3:45-4:15pm)

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End of Day Review (30 min)

• Are you holding positions overnight?
• Any earnings after hours?
• Any positions too risky to hold?
• Exit anything you’re uncomfortable with

• “If I wasn’t in this position, would I enter now?”
• If NO → Consider closing

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After Close (4:00-4:15pm)

1. Go to Portfolio tab
2. Review each position
3. Check P&L for the day
4. Note what worked/didn’t work

Date: [Today]
Market: SPY +0.3%, QQQ +0.5%

Trades Executed:
1. Entered MSFT at $387.20
   - Setup: Bull flag breakout
   - Size: 25 shares
   - Risk: 1.3%
   - Thesis: Cloud momentum + AI catalyst

Open Positions:
- AAPL: $175 → $178.80 (+2.1%, Day 3)
- MSFT: $387.20 → $389.50 (+0.6%, Day 1)

Closed Positions:
- None today

P&L Today: +$180 (+0.36%)
Week P&L: +$625 (+1.25%)

What went well:
- Executed MSFT setup as planned
- Didn't chase any breakouts
- Patient with AAPL position

What to improve:
- Could've sized MSFT larger
- Missed AMD entry (wasn't watching)

Tomorrow's plan:
- Monitor AAPL for target ($182)
- Watch MSFT progress
- AMD still on watchlist at $140

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Ask Maverick for Daily Recap

Review my trading day. What did I do well?
What could I improve?

📊 Daily Trade Review

Execution Quality: A-
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✓ Followed pre-market plan
✓ Good entry on MSFT breakout
✓ Proper position sizing
⚠️ Missed AMD entry (set alerts next time)

Position Management: B+
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✓ Holding AAPL correctly
✓ Stops in place
⚠️ Consider trailing stop on AAPL (now +2%)

Risk Management: A
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
✓ Portfolio risk: 2.6% (healthy)
✓ No overtrading
✓ Sized positions correctly

Tomorrow's Focus:
- AAPL approaching target zone
- MSFT needs follow-through
- Keep discipline, good day overall

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Step 5: Weekly Routine (Weekend)

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Saturday Morning Research (1-2 hours)

Week of [Date]:
- Trades taken: 4
- Winners: 3 (75%)
- Losers: 1 (25%)
- Net P&L: +2.3%
- Best trade: NVDA (+5.2%)
- Worst trade: TSLA (-1.8%)
- Lessons learned: Tech setups working well

Scan for the best swing trade setups for next week.
I want 3-7 day holds with 2:1+ risk/reward.

📊 Top 10 Swing Setups - Week Ahead

1. NVDA - Momentum Continuation
   - Setup: Breakout above $500
   - Entry: $502
   - Target: $525 (4.6%)
   - Stop: $495 (1.4%)
   - Catalyst: AI demand, earnings beat

2. AAPL - Pullback to Support
   - Setup: Buy the dip
   - Entry: $172-174
   - Target: $182 (5%)
   - Stop: $169 (2%)
   - Catalyst: iPhone sales strong

... (8 more setups)

Market Outlook:
- Tech sector leading
- Fed neutral (supportive)
- Earnings season: 75% beat rate
- Volatility: Low (bullish for swings)

• Remove dead setups
• Add new ideas from scan
• Organize by priority
• Set price alerts

Next Week Game Plan:

Priority Setups:
1. NVDA breakout watch
2. AAPL dip buy
3. MSFT continuation

Earnings to Watch:
- Tuesday PM: GOOGL
- Wednesday AM: META
- Thursday PM: AMZN

Economic Events:
- Wednesday: FOMC minutes
- Friday: Jobs report

Strategy:
- Reduce risk before jobs report
- Don't hold through earnings (unless planned)
- Focus on tech sector strength

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Common Swing Trading Scenarios

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Scenario 1: Position Goes Against You

• Entered MSFT at $387
• Broke down to $380 the next day
• Down 1.8%

• News changed?
• Technical breakdown?
• Still valid or hope?

• Exit even if stop not hit
• Preserve capital
• Find better setup

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Scenario 2: Quick Profit in 1 Day

• Entered NVDA at $500
• Gapped up to $515 next day
• Hit profit target in 1 day

• Fast profits are best profits
• Don’t get greedy
• Reduces overnight risk
• Frees capital for next trade

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Scenario 3: Holding Over Weekend

• Position up 3% on Friday
• Target not hit yet
• Weekend coming

Hold over weekend if:
✅ Up 3%+ with trailing stop at breakeven
✅ Strong technical setup intact
✅ No earnings next week
✅ Macro environment stable

Close before weekend if:
❌ Near support, risky
❌ Major news expected (Fed, jobs, etc.)
❌ Feeling uncomfortable
❌ Earnings Monday AM

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Scenario 4: Multiple Positions Near Targets

• 3 positions all near profit targets
• Portfolio up 5% this week
• Should you close all?

• Protect profits
• Reduce exposure
• Bank some gains
• Let a little run

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Risk Management for Swing Traders

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Position Sizing Formula

Account size: $50,000
Risk per trade: 1.5%
Max risk: $750

Stock: AAPL
Entry: $175
Stop: $172
Risk per share: $3

Position size: $750 ÷ $3 = 250 shares
Total capital: 250 × $175 = $43,750

Position as % of account: 87.5%
Risk as % of account: 1.5% ✓

• Risk 1-2% of account per trade
• Max 3-5 positions at once
• Never more than 10% total risk
• Reduce size if uncertain

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Stop Loss Strategy

• Below support level
• Below key moving average
• Below recent swing low

• 2-3% from entry (tight)
• 5-7% from entry (normal)
• 8-10% from entry (wide)

• Exit if no progress in 3-5 days
• Setup invalidated by time
• Capital better used elsewhere

• Trail by 50% of gain
• Or trail under each higher low
• Locks in profits

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Portfolio Heat Management

Current Positions:
1. AAPL: 1.5% risk
2. MSFT: 1.2% risk
3. NVDA: 1.8% risk

Total portfolio risk: 4.5%

Maximum allowed: 5%
Remaining capacity: 0.5%

Action: Can add 1 small position only

• 5% total portfolio risk at once
• 5 open positions at once
• 3 positions in same sector

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Tools and Resources

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Use Ape AI Features

• Add 20-30 swing candidates
• Organize by priority
• Set price alerts on all
• Review weekly

• Daily setup scans
• Position reviews
• Exit guidance
• Strategy feedback

• Real-time P&L
• Position exposure
• Risk metrics
• Performance history

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External Tools

• TradingView (free/pro)
• Think or Swim
• Webull

• Finviz (stock screener)
• TradingView screener
• Your broker’s scanner

• Edgewonk
• TraderSync
• Excel/Google Sheets

• Benzinga Pro
• Twitter/X (fintwit)
• Yahoo Finance
• CNBC

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What’s Next?

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Improve Your Swing Trading

• Weekend Research Routine → - Deep dive for Sunday prep
• Earnings Season Trading → - Trade earnings setups
• Managing Options Positions → - Add options to swings

• Portfolio Rebalancing →
• Risk Management Systems →
• Technical Analysis Guide →

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Ask Maverick

How can I improve my swing trading win rate?

What's the ideal number of swing positions to manage?

Should I swing trade stocks, options, or both?

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Success Checklist