setup-recap
Whalor Setup Recap: August 20, 2026
10 resolved options setups, 5 profitable outcomes, 50% profitable, plus price action, alert rationale, and the complete contract-by-contract receipts.
Session price action
On August 20, 2026, major indices and tracked equities generally experienced downward pressure throughout the regular session, closing below their opening levels. $SPY opened at 765.96, traded in a range of 762.04 to 768.15, and closed down 0.42% from the open at 762.78, finishing below its session VWAP of 764.75. Similarly, $QQQ opened at 712.09, traded between 708.52 and 714.94, and closed at 711.22 (-0.12% from the open, below the 711.56 VWAP). $IWM closed at 297.74 (-0.51% from its 299.27 open, below VWAP 298.24) after trading between 297.04 and 300.04. $NVDA also finished below its VWAP of 217.22, closing at 217.00 (-0.62% from its 218.36 open). $SPCX saw the largest percentage decline relative to its open, dropping 2.45% to close at 133.92, though it finished above its session VWAP of 132.93.
Why the setups fired
The day's setups triggered across multiple intraday structures. Bearish setups fired on several assets as upward moves faltered: $QQQ triggered a bearish failed_breakout_breakdown_trap near 715.39, while $IWM and $NVDA fired the same bearish setup near 299.10 and 217.46, respectively. $SPCX triggered a bearish prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection near 138.95. Bearish ema_pullback_continuation setups also fired for $QQQ near 711.52 and $SPY near 765.44.
On the bullish side, $SPY triggered three vwap_reclaim_rejection setups near 771.53, 767.17, and 767.25 as it attempted to reclaim key levels. Lastly, $NVDA triggered a bullish prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection near 219.54.
What the outcomes showed
Of the 10 resolved setups, 5 were profitable and 5 resulted in losses, yielding a 50.0% win rate. One-contract modeled P&L ended at +8 dollars, bringing the month-to-date total to +1690 dollars across 84 resolved setups (54 wins, 30 losses, 64.3% win rate).
The five stopped-out setups all reached their -65% stop loss. These included the bullish $SPY $773 CALL (-65%, peak +14%), the bullish $NVDA $222.5 CALL (-65%, peak +26%), and the bullish $SPY $769 CALL (-65%, peak -8%), alongside bearish $QQQ and $SPY EMA pullback plays which also hit -65% stops.
On the profitable side, bearish setups captured significant moves. The $SPCX $136 PUT and $IWM $299 PUT both booked +100% returns, with tracked peaks reaching +249% and +175%, respectively. The bearish $QQQ $720 PUT returned +50% (peak +90%), and the bearish $NVDA $215 PUT gained +30% (peak +47%). The single successful bullish setup was the $SPY $767 CALL, which secured a +30% return (peak +43%). The average tracked peak across all setups was +63.4%.
What traders can learn
Today's results highlight the divergent performance of setups in a downward-trending environment. Bearish setups capitalizing on failed breakouts and level rejections performed strongly, while multiple bullish VWAP reclaim attempts failed to hold, resulting in consecutive -65% stops. While the tracked peak represents the maximum theoretical move during the trade's duration rather than an achievable exit, it underscores the volatile intraday swings that occurred. Managing risk through strict stop losses kept the overall session positive at +8 dollars despite the lower 50.0% win rate.
We invite you to review every setup and its stock-candle outcome replay in the Whalor app.
Month-to-date record
Through August 20, 2026, Whalor has recorded 54 profitable outcomes and 30 losses across 84 resolved setups (64.3% profitable). The one-contract modeled result is +1690 dollars under the published methodology below.
Every resolved setup
| Contract | Setup | Outcome | Return | Tracked peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $QQQ $720 PUT · 2026-08-21 | failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: resistance_trap_rejection / 5m_failed_breakout / 1m_failed_breakout_loss | PROFIT TAKEN | +50% | +90% |
| $SPCX $136 PUT · 2026-08-21 | prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection: 15m_level_loss / 5m_breakdown_retest_reject / 1m_retest_low_break | PROFIT TAKEN | +100% | +249% |
| $SPY $773 CALL · 2026-08-21 | vwap_reclaim_rejection: vwap_reclaim_held / 5m_vwap_reclaim_retest_hold / 1m_vwap_retest_high_break | STOPPED OUT | -65% | +14% |
| $NVDA $222.5 CALL · 2026-08-21 | prior_day_high_low_reclaim_rejection: prior_day_low_reclaimed / 5m_prior_day_low_reclaim / 1m_prior_day_low_reclaim_high_break | STOPPED OUT | -65% | +26% |
| $IWM $299 PUT · 2026-08-20 | failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: resistance_trap_rejection / 5m_failed_breakout / 1m_failed_breakout_loss | PROFIT TAKEN | +100% | +175% |
| $SPY $767 CALL · 2026-08-20 | vwap_reclaim_rejection: vwap_reclaimed / 5m_vwap_reclaim / 1m_vwap_reclaim | PROFIT TAKEN | +30% | +43% |
| $QQQ $710 PUT · 2026-08-20 | ema_pullback_continuation: 15m_trend_supportive / 5m_21ema_pullback_reject / 1m_pullback_rejection | STOPPED OUT | -65% | -8% |
| $SPY $765 PUT · 2026-08-20 | ema_pullback_continuation: 15m_trend_supportive / 5m_21ema_pullback_reject / 1m_pullback_rejection | STOPPED OUT | -65% | +5% |
| $NVDA $215 PUT · 2026-08-24 | failed_breakout_breakdown_trap: resistance_trap_rejection / 5m_failed_breakout / 1m_failed_breakout_loss | PROFIT TAKEN | +30% | +47% |
| $SPY $769 CALL · 2026-08-24 | vwap_reclaim_rejection: vwap_reclaim_held / 5m_vwap_reclaim_retest_hold / 1m_vwap_retest_high_break | STOPPED OUT | -65% | -8% |
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.