The Trading Post | 03.26.26

March 26, 2026

Good morning,

Stock futures are flat as traders weigh ceasefire progress in the Middle East, major indexes are trying to extend Wednesday’s rebound, Nasdaq leadership is crawling back from the dead, soft-landing hopes are still somehow alive, and sector rotation is doing what sector rotation does best: making yesterday’s winners look stupid today.

Let’s jump in.

Yesterday’s Post-Market Performance

As of 03.25.26 market close.

Market News

  • Futures Stall as Ceasefire Hopes Cool the Oil Panic: S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are little changed as traders wait for confirmation that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire progress is real, not just another headline-induced sugar rush, while crude backs off recent highs. Zacks

  • Wednesday’s Rebound Has Bulls Interested Again: The Dow gained roughly 0.7%, the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, and the Nasdaq added 0.8% as easing geopolitical tension and lower oil prices gave risk appetite a pulse again. Zacks

  • Nasdaq Reclaim Becomes the Chart Everyone Pretends They Spotted Early: Traders are watching the Nasdaq 100 reclaim of recent support as AI and software names begin to stabilize after getting smacked around for much of the year. CNBC

  • Soft-Landing Narrative Refuses to Die: Credit spreads remain relatively calm and rate-cut expectations are steady, suggesting markets are still leaning toward a soft landing despite the minor inconvenience of geopolitical risk. Bloomberg

  • Rotation Hits the Tape as Energy Cools Off: Materials, health care, and consumer discretionary led Wednesday’s move higher while energy lagged, a reminder that the market will rotate out of yesterday’s hot trade the second it gets bored. Zacks

Trade Ideas

Roku, Inc. (ROKU), SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC), Shake Shack, Inc. (SHAK),
iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor (SOXX)

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (ICE), NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG), Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL), Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (QQQ)

Arm Holdings plc - American De (ARM), C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW), Cencora Inc (COR), Expeditors International of Washngtn Inc (EXPD)

Accenture plc (ACN), American Tower Corporation (AMT), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN),
Apollo Global Management, LLC (APO)

Accenture plc. (ACN), American Tower Corporation (AMT), Amazon.com, Inc (AMZN),
WW International Inc (WTW)

Simon Property Group, Inc (SPG), Seagate Technology (STX), Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN), Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH)

Want to learn how we trade these? Learn the setup we call the “High Volatility Switchback” trade.

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Daily Moment of Zen

❝

Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.

Richard Branson

Why It Matters:

Failure in trading only becomes expensive when your ego insists on pretending it never happened. The market does not care how smart you are, how confident you were, or how beautiful your setup looked before it blew up on contact. What matters is whether you can take the hit, study the mistake, and come back sharper instead of sulking like the market personally betrayed you. The best traders are not the ones who avoid failure entirely. They are the ones who treat every bad trade like tuition, make the adjustment, and get back in the chair without dragging yesterday’s stupidity into today’s decision-making.