This is the kind of environment traders wait years for.

Volatility is back, and it’s showing up across every corner of the market.

Stocks are repricing overnight on the back of headlines. Setups are firing daily.

If you nail even a few of these moves with real size, you can put up numbers that define your entire year in a matter of weeks.

But there’s a huge caveat.

If you miss it, the best trading environment of your career becomes the one that breaks your account.

It’s not a chart pattern or a technical indicator.

It’s not an institutional flow problem or a macro thesis you haven’t figured out yet. None of the stuff you’re expecting.

It’s right in front of your face every single day, in every headline you read and every feed you scroll past.

If you know how to play it, it’s a massive edge.

If you don’t, you’re going to get your face ripped off.

The Hidden Trap in the Market

Everyone reading this has political views. 

So do I. And mine are strong. But I don’t write about them here, and I don’t care what yours are.

Moreover, I do my absolute best to completely remove my political views from my trading.

It doesn’t always work (but more on that later)…

Your views don’t matter. I’ve known bleeding-heart liberals who crushed the markets and staunch constitutional conservatives who have done the same. 

It never mattered which side they were on. When they clicked the mouse, they left the worldview out of it.

But the trap isn’t really about politics at all.

The trap is rooting for one side. 

Any time you hold a qualitative opinion about a stock, setup, or company that goes beyond its pure ability to make you money … you’re rooting for an outcome.

Trading isn’t like politics or sports. You cannot root for a side and make objectively correct decisions about what’s going to happen to that side. 

Stocks don’t vote, love your brand, or hate your CEO. 

The market doesn’t care about your views. And when you’re trading it, you shouldn’t either. 

How I Fell Into The Trap

I fell in this trap myself last month. 

I’m super bullish on oil, but I got into the trade too early. 

I wanted to be right. I wasn’t. 

I was rooting for my own macro view to play out on my schedule instead of waiting for the price action to confirm my idea.

The trade went red, but I held. 

Now look at oil charts…

I’m making money on it, adding calls towards the bottom and trading from the bullish side.

There’s a huge disconnect between the physical price of oil and where the manipulated futures are priced. 

I’m simply betting on that gap to close (it always does). 

But I had to endure some pain first…

And that pain came directly from letting my worldview affect my decision making. 

How To Avoid It

What just happened in the Persian Gulf changes the big picture on oil. 

A regime change. Not from the Ayatollah, but a regime change in how oil is going to move around the planet. 

The Middle East will become a smaller player, and the center of gravity will shift west. 

The U.S., Venezuela, Russia, and the rest of South America will all become bigger players in the global oil trade. 

This matters more than ever for one reason: AI.

AI is making the world more energy-hungry than it has ever been. 

That demand will drive the price of oil higher. I believe in that thesis deeply. 

I also let that belief drag me into oil calls three weeks too early.

That’s the trap I want you to avoid. 

You don’t have to catch every move.

I just like to keep it moving, keep it moving, keep it moving.

I measure myself against mileposts instead.

• At the end of the week, how much am I up or down?
• At the end of the month, do I have more bananas on my boat?

Stay in the moment. Stay flexible. Try to be completely unemotional.

When you sit down this week, leave your politics at the door.

Happy trading,

Jeff Zananiri