Don’t stunt the growth of your account!
I see this all the time from new traders…
There are perfectly good opportunities to lock in gains, no matter the market. And instead, they sit on their hands as the setups pass them by.
You’re much more capable than you’re led to believe. This isn’t Family Matters…
You’re not Urkel…
The only thing that separates winners from losers in the market is a tested plan of attack.
Major indexes are still trading near all-time highs. This is a perfect environment for trading.
No matter where we go from here… higher or lower…
I have a trade plan.
The Trap Traders Fall Into
In a market this strong, most traders freeze.
- They don’t hold bullish positions because the market looks overextended.
- They don’t hold bearish positions because the market keeps running.
As a result… they do nothing.
That hurts your account.
There are perfect trade setups in the market right now, bullish and bearish.
And traders who only swing one direction are leaving half the trades on the table.
You don’t need a big account either…
I turned $5,000 in $493,000 with this strategy.*
Two Trades, Two Directions, One Plan
On May 15, I sent my subscribers two alerts.
One bullish. One bearish.
The first was a call on AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE: AU). The second was a put on eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY).
The AU Call
AU is still up after its historic run in 2025 and early 2026. YTD, the price sits at a 39% gain.
Most recently, it bounced alongside the gold rally that reignited when the war with Iran kicked off. When the Strait of Hormuz closed, and oil ripped above $100, capital ran straight into gold, a traditional haven.
- Central banks bought it.
- Hedge funds bought it.
- Retirees bought it.
- And gold miners like AU capitalized on the leverage of rising bullion prices.
At this point in the move, AU is trading around key support at $90 per share. This price level goes all the way back to resistance from late 2025.
When a stock finds the same lower level multiple times, buyers tend to accumulate and act as a floor.
Plus, the macro story (war, inflation, gold demand) hasn’t changed much despite reports of peace negotiations.
I bought the June 18 $105 Calls. I’m looking for a bounce off support back toward the prior highs.
The EBAY Put
Now flip the script…
EBAY is up 40% in 2026. The stock has been ripping since GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) lobbed a takeover offer at $125 per share on May 4.
Ryan Cohen’s bid was a 46% premium to where EBAY was trading before GME started accumulating shares.
The whole thing was bizarre. A company a quarter of EBAY’s size tried to swallow it whole, with $20 billion in conditional financing from TD Securities and no clear answer on the funding gap.
On May 12, EBAY’s board rejected the offer. They called it “neither credible nor attractive.”
And the stock kept ripping…
EBAY hit fresh all-time highs above $116 per share even after the deal got squashed.
That’s a stock running on fumes from a takeover premium that no longer exists.
I drew the prior breakout level on the chart above. I think we could see a pullback to that area.
I bought the June 18 $105 Puts.
Why I Took Both Sides
The market is near all-time highs. It could rip higher or pull back from here.
Each of these trades has a good individual thesis and could benefit from either of the larger market’s directions.
By taking a call and a put on two different stories, I’m hedging my position. If the broader market gaps up Monday morning, AU could benefit from that rally. If the market gaps down, EBAY could follow.
Either way, I have a side that’s set up to print money.
The Setup Behind the Setup
Forget the tickers for a second. Look at the framework.
I’m trading support and resistance levels.
- When a price hits support multiple times, it has a lot of buyers underneath it.
- When a price stretches above a clean breakout level on news that just got killed, I expect sellers to push it toward buyers from before the news.
Stop limiting yourself to one direction. Trade both sides.
But in both cases…
Make sure to use defined risk.
We have to respect price action that works against our plan. If AU falls below support, get out. If EBAY surges to new highs, get out.
The SPY is up 7.7% in 2026 after a brutal March drawdown and a vertical April rally.
Traders who shorted the early fade got paid. Traders who bought the dip got paid. Traders who did both got paid twice.
The market will keep giving us setups on both sides.
Our job is to prepare for both.
Stay Street Smart,
Jeff Zananiri
*Past performance does not indicate future results, Not typical.
