When do you actually buy? The 3-check entry system

Welcome to Olympia. I'm Mike, and this is lesson three. Everybody pours all their energy into what to buy — the ticker, the pick, the hot name. But the question that actually decides whether you make money is when. When do you pull the trigger? Here's what most people never hear: a good entry isn't a feeling. It isn't a gut call. It's a checklist — three simple checks, and I'll walk you through all three on a real chart.

Let's start with the wrong way, because it's the way almost everyone does it. The stock's already ripping. It's green, it's all over your feed, and a little voice says, “It's going up — I can't miss this.” So you buy. And what you just did was buy the top. You walked into the party right as it was ending. That's not an entry; that's a reaction. Fear of missing out is not a strategy. An entry is a decision you make on purpose, before the emotion — not a button you smash because you're scared of being left behind.

Here's the fix: the entry, boiled down to three yes-or-no checks. One: are you at a level? Two: did momentum actually flip? Three: is the trend on your side? Every one has to come back yes. Miss even one and you don't trade it — otherwise you're gambling and calling it a plan.

Check one: are you at a level? Look at Salesforce. It sold off, came down to around $155, and held. That's a level — a price where buyers showed up and defended before. That's where entries live: not floating in the middle of a move, but at a spot the chart has actually respected. If you can't point to the level you're buying at, you don't have check one. Full stop.

Check two: did momentum flip? Being at a level isn't enough on its own, because price can sit at a level and keep falling right through it. So you wait for proof that buyers actually stepped in — the reversal candle, the engulfing right off the low. If you watched the candlestick lesson, this is exactly that. No flip, no entry. You're waiting for the chart to show you the fight turned in your favor, not guessing that it's about to.

Check three: is the trend with you? With the models active and confirming — in plain English, the tide running in your favor. You always want to trade with the current, not against it. When you've got all three — level, momentum flip, and the trend — that's your green light.

Here's the cleanest version of the whole thing: the reclaim. Salesforce came back and reclaimed that level. Notice what I'm not saying: I'm not saying you needed to nail the exact bottom. Nobody catches the low, and chasing it just gets you knifed. You buy the reclaim after it proves itself. It feels later, it feels safer, and it's higher odds. Later and confirmed beats early and hoping.

Now the exact opposite, so it's crystal clear. This is FormFactor, and it's still falling. No level held, no momentum flip, nothing green about it. Buying this is catching a falling knife with your bare hand. And the thing your brain will whisper is, “But it's cheap now.” Cheap is not an entry signal. A lower price on a stock that's still bleeding, with none of your three checks, is just a knife with a nicer price tag. You wait — let it hold a level and flip first — or you leave it alone completely.

So bring it all in: a real entry is three things agreeing — a level, a momentum flip, and the trend on your side. Then, and only then, you buy. It's not a feeling. It's not FOMO. It's a checklist you run every single time, so the decision gets made before the emotion ever shows up.