Whalor Setup Recap: August 17, 2026

Session price action

On August 17, 2026, the major indices and key equities exhibited mixed intraday movements, with most finishing below their opening prices. $SPY opened at 776.18, traded within a range of 772.45 to 776.77, and closed at 772.64, marking a decrease of 0.46% from the open and finishing below the session VWAP of 774.04. Similarly, $QQQ opened at 732.95, traded between 729.27 and 734.58, and closed at 729.81, down 0.43% from the open and below its session VWAP of 731.74. $NVDA opened at 225.98, traded between 224.86 and 227.92, and closed at 224.97, representing a decline of 0.45% from the open and closing below its session VWAP of 226.28. Conversely, $IWM showed relative strength, opening at 303.96, trading between 303.23 and 304.33, and closing slightly up at 304.01 (+0.02% from the open, above its session VWAP of 303.80).

Why the setups fired

A total of seven setups triggered during the session based on specific technical criteria:

• Bullish Setups: $NVDA fired two separate bullish failed_breakout_breakdown_trap setups near 226.49 and 226.69, triggered by a support trap reclaim on the 5-minute and 1-minute timeframes. $IWM and $QQQ each fired bullish opening_drive_reversal setups near 303.92 and 733.11, respectively, following an opening drive washout and reclaim on the 1-minute chart.
• Bearish Setups: $IWM triggered a bearish ema_pullback_continuation setup near 303.31, following a 15-minute trend-supportive breakdown and a 5-minute 21EMA pullback rejection. $SPY fired two bearish setups: an opening_range_breakout_retest near 775.13 and a prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection near 775.10, both triggered by 15-minute level losses and subsequent retest rejections.

What the outcomes showed

Of the 7 resolved setups, 4 were profitable and 3 resulted in losses, representing a 57.1% win rate. The one-contract modeled P&L for the session was -$16, with an average tracked peak of +78.3% across all setups. One setup reached a tracked peak of +100% or more. This session brings the month-to-date record through August 17 to 69 resolved setups, with 46 profitable and 23 losses (a 66.7% win rate) and a one-contract modeled P&L of +$739.

Individually, both bullish $NVDA Call setups stopped out at -65% (reaching tracked peaks of +16% and +22%). The bearish $IWM Put also stopped out at -65% after reaching a tracked peak of +8%. However, the bullish opening drive reversals on $IWM and $QQQ yielded gains of +30% (tracked peak +33%) and +50% (tracked peak +88%). The bearish $SPY setups capitalized on the index's decline: the $775 Put gained +100% (tracked peak +288%), and the $773 Put gained +50% (tracked peak +93%).

What traders can learn

The session demonstrates that even with a positive win rate of 57.1%, modeled P&L can end slightly negative due to contract pricing and the magnitude of stop-outs. While the bearish setups on $SPY aligned well with the index closing below its opening price and VWAP, the bullish traps on $NVDA failed to sustain momentum as the stock closed down on the day. Furthermore, the difference between booked returns and tracked peaks—such as the $SPY $775 Put reaching a peak of +288% but booking a +100% gain—serves as an important reminder that tracked peaks represent theoretical maximums rather than achievable exits.

We invite you to review every setup and its stock-candle outcome replay in the Whalor app.

Month-to-date record

Through August 17, 2026, Whalor has recorded 46 profitable outcomes and 23 losses across 69 resolved setups (66.7% profitable). The one-contract modeled result is +739 dollars under the published methodology below.

Every resolved setup

Contract	Setup	Outcome	Return	Tracked peak
$NVDA $227.5 CALL · 2026-08-17	failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: support_trap_reclaim / 5m_failed_breakdown / 1m_failed_breakdown_reclaim	STOPPED OUT	-65%	+16%
$IWM $304 CALL · 2026-08-17	opening_drive_reversal: opening_drive_washout_reversing / opening_drive_down_reclaim / 1m_opening_drive_reversal_reclaim	PROFIT TAKEN	+30%	+33%
$NVDA $227.5 CALL · 2026-08-17	failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: support_trap_reclaim / 5m_failed_breakdown / 1m_failed_breakdown_reclaim	STOPPED OUT	-65%	+22%
$QQQ $733 CALL · 2026-08-17	opening_drive_reversal: opening_drive_washout_reversing / opening_drive_down_reclaim / 1m_opening_drive_reversal_reclaim	PROFIT TAKEN	+50%	+88%
$IWM $304 PUT · 2026-08-17	ema_pullback_continuation: 15m_trend_supportive / 5m_21ema_pullback_reject / 1m_pullback_rejection	STOPPED OUT	-65%	+8%
$SPY $775 PUT · 2026-08-17	opening_range_breakout_retest: 15m_level_loss / 5m_retest_or_break / 1m_level_loss	PROFIT TAKEN	+100%	+288%
$SPY $773 PUT · 2026-08-19	prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection: 15m_level_loss / 5m_breakdown_retest_reject / 1m_retest_low_break	PROFIT TAKEN	+50%	+93%

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.