HaiKhuu Daily Report - 02/20/2026

Good morning and happy Friday! Wow, these conditions are looking disgusting. At the time of writing this report, we've seen continued neutrality coming from equities, and traders are confused. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is interesting to see that, despite equities remaining neutral, we are seeing increases in commodities and cryptocurrencies. 

This is mildly concerning, as we have only continued to see an increase in volatility throughout the entire morning. But with that said, any time there is confusion and fear in the markets, leads to an opportunity to take advantage of someone overreacting. 

As I said yesterday, I still do believe that the next larger movement in the markets will be a large directional movement that no one is expecting. I obviously could be wrong on my sentiment, but with the way the markets are moving at the moment, it is almost going to be hard not to remain optimistic at this time. 

Yes, we can easily drop in these conditions after rejecting the resistance levels that are forming on the $SPY daily chart, but at the same time, in the case the markets have the strength and momentum to break through this resistance, I am expecting a large bullish movement up as a result. Again, I am not guaranteeing anything, but please, watch out for that directional move in the markets, and do everything you can to maximize the opportunities that are available to us! 

I’ll go over more of my sentiment later on in the full report, but for now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of this week with hopefully the FIFTH green candle on the daily! (For $SPY)

The updated $SPY daily levels are as follows:
Conversion Line Resistance: $686.46
Baseline Resistance: $686.81
Psychological Support: $680
Daily Cloud Resistance: $685.80

Thoughts & Comments from Yesterday 02/19/2026

Yesterday was a gross day for the overall markets with slight weakness and general neutrality. Traders had opportunities to scalp, but there were no great opportunities to trade on an intraday basis. Hopefully, you all were able to generate some unrealized gains in the process, but that was definitely a tough day for the markets.

We started the day with $SPY opening the day displaying some general weakness, opening slightly red, starting the day trading at $683.90, down about $2 from the previous close, and watched as $SPY remained within an extremely tight range.

$SPY moved up slightly after chopping around, going on to make the official high of the morning and high of the day, trading at $686.18. Conditions at the top were gross as conditions were neutral and $SPY didn’t even go green for the day, and then watched as $SPY dropped quickly over the next few hours, remaining red for the day, and watched as we went on to make the official low of the day trading at $681.55, before bouncing back up slightly leading into close.

We officially ended the day with $SPY trading at $684.48, down approximately $2 overall, or down 0.25%, it really was an insignificant selling event as well as really neutral throughout the entire day. As much as I would love to hype up the conditions and tell you about how phenomenal the intraday trading opportunities that were presented to us were, we watched as many traders, unfortunately, got burned by the neutrality and chop. That is just a part of the markets, though, and I hope you all were able to capitalize despite the short-term confusion!

S&P 500 Heat Map - 02/19/2026

Thoughts & Comments for Today - 02/20/2026

Today should be a relatively spicy day for the markets. I expect to see some inconsistencies and general difficulties as a result of the confusion in the markets. We have seen continued neutrality in the general markets here in the short term, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but at the same time, given how markets are trending, I want to make sure everyone understands the conditions we are in right now. 

$SPY is strong overall, but we are also seeing short-term neutrality and weakness. The short-term selling we are seeing at the moment should not cause any general concerns, but it is something that we should continue to watch for, because the selling can strengthen and continue, or we can see a continuation of neutrality. Both of those scenarios are bad for the average trader, and the average trader will most likely lose money if they are attempting to force any trades early without any decisive movement. 

Be extremely careful when trading or allocating today, as a continuation of neutrality and chop will make it difficult for traders.

But on the other hand, I do believe that these conditions are some of the best market conditions to attempt to scalp and trade in. The volatility that we are experiencing at this level is obviously less than ideal, but at the same time, with the way the markets are moving, mostly with the volatility we are experiencing at this level, it is almost hard not to be optimistic about attempting to capitalize on these conditions.

As I’ve said before, I do expect to see the markets have a larger directional move soon. I do not know when the movement will happen, I do not know which direction we are headed. I hope that the markets go up, but that is all personal sentiment. The markets can easily come down due to the placement we are seeing on a larger scale, and this is something you all should be looking for on your charts. 

Currently, $SPY is trading in the daily cloud, and right below both the baseline and conversion line resistance. We are seeing a minor sign of a bearish reversal on the $SPY daily, but I genuinely do believe there is a high likelihood that this is a fake-out. All we need is bullish market sentiment that pushes the markets higher in the short term, or a single headline to trigger a breakout. That would be absolutely beautiful, but at the same time, with all of the resistance we are seeing towards the upside, it is almost hard not to be a little skeptical. All we need for the markets to come crashing down is simply getting one headline that is less than ideal, or a single catalyst to cause an organization to start selling off, resulting in the rest of the markets coming down too. 

So this is the time to make sure that you are optimistic about these market conditions, following the momentum, practicing safe risk management, and making sure you are not fighting any trends. 

If the markets are looking blindly bullish, we should print some cash today. If the markets are looking blindly bearish, we should print some cash today. The only time that we do not have fun is in the case we see a continuation of neutrality in the general markets. So please, tread lightly, practice safe risk management, and do everything in your power to realize a significant amount of gains in an extremely short period of time, and have a lot of fun in the process! 

Let’s just make the most out of today, and do everything we can to remain consistent during this neutrality! 

If I see any opportunities, or if I decide to get into any other plays, I’ll announce what I see in the HaiKhuu Discord.

My Personal Watchlist:

Note, just because something is on my watchlist does not mean it is a signal to buy or sell any equities

Watchlist:

• Tech: $INTC, $RIVN , $ORCL, $NVDA, $TSLA, $AMD, $PLTR

• Speculative: $PTLO, $RIVN, $CVX, $UNH, $AIFF

• Long Dividend: $JEPI

• Long Investment: $PTLO

• Short: $BRK/B

• Crypto: $MSTR, SOL, BTC

Economic News for 02/20/2026 (ET):

• Initial Jobless Claims - 8:30 AM

• Trade Deficit - 8:30 AM

• Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey - 8:30 AM

• Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks - 9:00 AM

• Pending Home Sales - 10:00 AM

Notable Earnings for 02/20/2026:

Pre-Market Earnings:

• AngloGold Ashanti (AU)

• PPL Corp (PPL)

• Balchem (BCPC)

• Cognet Communications (CCOI)

• HudBay Minerals (HBM)

Wrap up

This should be a quick day for the general markets. Traders should be comfortable and confident with the market conditions, and traders are feeling more excited heading into today. I know I personally am ready for a nice, relaxing weekend, so make some great trades today, realize some gains, and then go on and do everything in your power to maximize your potential. Be cautious about continued market neutrality, and prepare accordingly for directional movement!

Good luck trading, and let’s see where $SPY ends the week!