I never trade on Monday without having done my Sunday work. This is non-negotiable. The week starts Sunday — not at Monday's open.
Five hours. Every Sunday. Same structure. Here's exactly what happens in each of those hours and why it matters.
Hour 1 (9:00–10:00 AM): Macro Review
The first hour is pure information gathering. No charts, no positions — just reading and noting.
What I review:
Fed communications. Any minutes, speeches, or statements published since last Sunday. I'm not trying to predict Fed policy — I'm mapping where the market's expectations are relative to reality. If the market is pricing 2 rate cuts this year and the minutes suggest the committee is divided, that's a volatility setup. I note the implied rate path vs. the meeting's language gap.
Economic calendar. I pull the full week's data schedule: CPI, PPI, jobs reports, PMI prints, housing data. I note the dates, estimated consensus, and prior reading. For each major data point, I ask: what's the "good" outcome vs. "bad" outcome for markets, and how does each scenario affect my open positions?
Earnings calendar. I list every company reporting that week that's in my watchlist or that I'm already holding. This is critical: if I'm in an AAPL covered call and AAPL reports Tuesday, I need to know that before Monday's open — not Monday morning.
News synthesis. 15 minutes reading financial news — specifically things I haven't seen during the week. I'm looking for themes: what narratives shifted? What sector is getting attention? Any regulatory news, geopolitical developments, or macro policy shifts?
By 10:00 AM, I have a one-page macro brief in my notebook. Three columns: events this week, expected market impact, implications for my positions.
Hour 2 (10:00–11:00 AM): IV Rank Scan
This is where I identify new trading candidates for the coming week.
My thinkorswim scanner setup (saved as "IV Rank Scan Weekly"):
- Universe: S&P 500 + Nasdaq 100 (combined ~600 names)
- Filter 1: IV Rank ≥ 45 (premium worth selling)
- Filter 2: Average daily options volume ≥ 3,000 contracts (liquidity)
- Filter 3: Stock price $50–$500 (spread manageability)
- Filter 4: No earnings in next 28 days (pre-filtered by earnings date flag)
The scan typically returns 60–120 names. I sort by IV rank descending and scan through the top 30.
For each name in the top 30, I do a 30-second check: does the put skew look reasonable? Is there a gap or support/resistance level I need to be aware of? Is the reason for elevated IV a temporary spike (market selloff) or something company-specific (lawsuit, management change)?
I mark 8–10 candidates for deeper analysis in Hour 3. These go into a "candidates" column in my notebook with the IV rank, current stock price, and reason for elevated IV.
Hour 3 (11:00 AM–12:00 PM): Chart Review
This hour is my weekly orienteering session — I establish where we are in the market structure before placing any trades.
SPX weekly chart (15 minutes): I look at the weekly candlestick. Is the current week's candle bullish, bearish, or indecisive? Where are we relative to the 20-week and 52-week moving averages? What are the key support and resistance levels? I draw horizontal lines at the levels I consider structurally significant — typically the prior all-time high, the most recent weekly swing low, and the 200-day moving average equivalent on the weekly chart.
Sector ETF review (30 minutes): I review five sector ETFs, spending 6 minutes on each:
- XLK (Technology): largest sector weight in SPX, high beta
- XLE (Energy): oil-correlated, diverges from broad market
- XLF (Financials): rate-sensitive, signals credit conditions
- XLV (Health Care): defensive, low correlation to cyclicals
- XLY (Consumer Discretionary): consumer confidence proxy
For each sector, I note: trend direction (up/down/sideways), relative strength vs. SPX over the past 4 weeks, and any key technical levels. This sector map tells me where money is flowing and where to expect leadership vs. laggard behavior next week.
Candidate stock charts (15 minutes): I briefly review the 8–10 candidates from Hour 2. For each, I check: is the stock in a trend or consolidation? What's the nearest support below current price (important for put spread placement)? Is the price near a recent breakout or breakdown level that might trigger a large move?
Hour 4 (1:00–2:00 PM): Position Review
After a lunch break, I return to my portfolio.
Current positions audit:
I open my position statement in thinkorswim and work through every open position with a checklist:
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Days to expiration: Any position below 14 DTE needs explicit attention. Am I closing or letting it run? If the position is profitable, closing near 14 DTE to avoid gamma risk is my default.
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Delta per position: What's each position's current delta? Has it drifted significantly from entry? A credit spread that was delta-neutral at entry and is now -0.35 delta is telling me something.
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Profit/Loss status: Where is each position relative to my profit targets? Any position at 50%+ of max profit that I can close and free up capital?
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Thesis check: Is the original reason I put on each trade still valid? This is the most important question. Prices change — theses sometimes get invalidated faster than prices move.
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Aggregate portfolio delta: I calculate my net portfolio delta (beta-weighted to SPX) and check if it's within my ±0.10 target. If not, I note what adjustment I'll need to make Monday.
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Margin and buying power: How much buying power do I have available? Am I using more than 70% of my available margin? If yes, I'm in a position to reduce, not add.
By 2:00 PM, I have a clear picture of every position and a short list of actions: positions to close Monday at open, adjustments to make, and available capital for new trades.
Hour 5 (2:00–3:00 PM): Writing the Week's Trade Plan
The final hour is the most important and the most disciplined. I write — on paper, not digitally — the trade plan for the coming week.
The format is structured:
Section 1: Market Bias. One sentence: am I net bullish, bearish, or neutral on the broad market this week? What's the key risk event that could change that view?
Section 2: Planned Trades. For each candidate I identified:
- Instrument and structure (e.g., "AAPL put credit spread")
- Entry conditions (e.g., "if IV rank stays above 50 and stock opens above $200")
- Strike selection (e.g., "$190/$185, 35 DTE")
- Expected credit (e.g., "~$1.45")
- Max risk (e.g., "$355 per unit")
- Conviction tier and position size
Section 3: Existing Position Actions. For each current position that needs action:
- Position name and current P&L status
- Planned action (close, roll, hold)
- Trigger (e.g., "close JNJ covered call if it reaches $0.40 — 75% of max profit")
Section 4: Red Lines. What events this week would cause me to reduce risk across the board? (e.g., "if CPI comes in above 3.8%, reduce all positions by 50% and go to cash on new trades")
Writing the plan takes 45 minutes. The last 15 minutes I re-read it and check for internal consistency — no point writing a "neutral" bias and then having 6 bullish new trades.
The plan doesn't guarantee success. What it does is separate decision-making from execution. By the time Monday arrives, every trade either meets the criteria I set Sunday or it doesn't get entered. I don't make new decisions in real time under market pressure.
That discipline — preparation over improvisation — is the most reliable edge I have.
— Ruslan Averin, averin.com