setup-recap

Whalor Setup Recap: August 14, 2026

7 resolved options setups, 3 profitable outcomes, 43% profitable, plus price action, alert rationale, and the complete contract-by-contract receipts.

Session price action

On August 14, 2026, the major indices and large-cap equities presented mixed intraday movements. $SPY opened at 778.54, traded within a range of 775.43–778.80, and closed down 0.32% from its open at 776.08, ending the session below its Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) of 776.59. $QQQ opened at 733.41, fluctuated between 728.32 and 734.39, and closed at 731.17, which was 0.31% below its open but above its session VWAP of 730.52. $IWM exhibited relative strength, opening at 303.28, trading between 302.74 and 305.18, and closing at 305.01—an increase of 0.57% from the open, closing above its session VWAP of 304.37.

Large-cap tech names faced downward pressure from their opens. $NVDA opened at 226.76 and closed at 224.95 (-0.80% from open, below its VWAP of 225.55), while $AMZN opened at 264.88 and finished at 262.70 (-0.82% from open, below its VWAP of 263.75).

Why the setups fired

The day's technical levels triggered seven setups across various models. On $SPY, three bearish setups fired: a vwap_reclaim_rejection near 775.97, a failed_breakout_breakdown_trap (resistance trap rejection) near 777.50, and an ema_pullback_continuation near 776.00. On $QQQ, a bearish failed_breakout_breakdown_trap triggered near 732.60 as the index rejected resistance. $NVDA triggered a bearish prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection near 224.41 following a rejection of its prior day's high. On the bullish side, $IWM triggered a failed_breakout_breakdown_trap (support trap reclaim) near 303.87, and $AMZN fired a Daily 200MA Failed-Break Reclaim near 284.32.

What the outcomes showed

Of today's 7 resolved setups, 3 were profitable and 4 resulted in losses, yielding a 42.9% win rate. One-contract modeled P&L for the session ended at -$762. Despite today's drawdowns, the month-to-date record remains positive through this session, with 42 profitable setups out of 62 resolved (67.7% win rate) and a modeled P&L of +$688.

Today's profitable setups were led by the $QQQ $731 Put, which took profit at +100% (tracked peak of +209%), and the $IWM $304 Call, which also took profit at +100% (tracked peak of +115%). The $SPY $780 Put closed at +30% profit (tracked peak of +43%). Conversely, the four losing setups were stopped out: the $SPY $773 Put (-65%), $NVDA $222.5 Put (-65%), $SPY $776 Put (-65%), and $AMZN $350 Call (-49%). The average tracked peak across all setups today was +59.0%, with 2 setups reaching at least +100%.

What traders can learn

Today's results highlight the divergent performance between trap-based setups and continuation patterns. Both the bullish and bearish "failed breakout/breakdown trap" setups on $IWM and $QQQ captured significant moves, successfully reaching their +100% profit targets. In contrast, the continuation and reclaim setups on $SPY, such as the VWAP reclaim rejection and EMA pullback, failed to find follow-through and resulted in maximum stop-outs of -65%.

While some contracts showed high tracked peaks, these peaks do not represent guaranteed or easily achievable exits. Managing risk through defined stop-out levels helped contain losses when the underlying trends did not sustain.

To review every setup and its stock-candle outcome replay, visit the Whalor app.

Month-to-date record

Through August 14, 2026, Whalor has recorded 42 profitable outcomes and 20 losses across 62 resolved setups (67.7% profitable). The one-contract modeled result is +688 dollars under the published methodology below.

Every resolved setup

ContractSetupOutcomeReturnTracked peak
$SPY $773 PUT · 2026-08-17vwap_reclaim_rejection: vwap_reclaim_failed / 5m_vwap_failed_reclaim / 1m_vwap_rejection_low_breakSTOPPED OUT-65%+12%
$IWM $304 CALL · 2026-08-14failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: support_trap_reclaim / 5m_failed_breakdown / 1m_failed_breakdown_reclaimPROFIT TAKEN+100%+115%
$QQQ $731 PUT · 2026-08-14failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: resistance_trap_rejection / 5m_failed_breakout / 1m_failed_breakout_lossPROFIT TAKEN+100%+209%
$NVDA $222.5 PUT · 2026-08-17prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection: prior_day_high_rejected / 5m_prior_day_high_rejection / 1m_prior_day_high_rejection_low_breakSTOPPED OUT-65%+21%
$SPY $780 PUT · 2026-08-17failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: resistance_trap_rejection / 5m_failed_breakout / 1m_failed_breakout_lossPROFIT TAKEN+30%+43%
$AMZN $350 CALL · 2027-03-19Daily 200MA Failed-Break ReclaimSTOPPED OUT-49%+7%
$SPY $776 PUT · 2026-08-14ema_pullback_continuation: 15m_trend_supportive / 5m_21ema_pullback_reject / 1m_pullback_rejectionSTOPPED OUT-65%+5%

Methodology: Modeled P&L assumes one contract per setup. A setup that reached +50% is counted at +50%; otherwise a setup that reached +30% is counted at +30%; all other resolved outcomes use the recorded exit return. Tracked peak is hindsight context, not an assumed exit. Educational only, not financial advice.

$AMZN $IWM $NVDA $QQQ $SPY