Daily Journal — April 28, 2026: Confluence Scanner Fires While Grids Wait

Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Combined AUM holds at $1,000,000 — flat on the day across all four accounts. Three of the four strategies sat on their hands, but the High Confluence Signals scanner was active, building out five fresh longs with a 5-day hold clock now ticking.

TQQQ Volatility Scalping

Quiet session. The 88-level geometric grid had no fills — zero open positions, zero P&L movement. This strategy needs TQQQ to oscillate within its grid bands to generate scalp income. When price action is sticky or the ETF drifts outside the active range, it simply waits. No damage done, but no edge harvested either. Watch for intraday volatility to pick up to give the grid something to work with.

SPX 0DTE

No trades today. This account reads the VIX regime each morning and either deploys iron condors (low vol) or debit spreads (trending). Today it found no setup that cleared its entry criteria — a valid outcome. Sitting out a choppy or ambiguous open is part of the edge. The real test comes when conditions align cleanly; forced trades here would erode the strategy's statistical basis.

TQQQ Grid + 0DTE

The hybrid account combines the two strategies above: idle capital from the TQQQ grid runs SPX 0DTE daily when conditions allow. With both components dormant today, the account ended unchanged. No positions, no exposure, full capital preserved. The interaction between these two layers will be worth watching on days when the grid is active — that's when the hybrid structure is designed to shine.

High Confluence Signals

This was the only account with action. The scanner logged 50 trades today and has five positions open, all entered on confirmed confluence scores of 3 or higher:

• ROST — long 22.16 shares @ $225.59
• BLMN — long 770.42 shares @ $6.49
• DRI — long 25.39 shares @ $196.95 (two separate entries)
• CAKE — long 80.85 shares @ $61.84

Each position is sized to approximately equal dollar exposure — around $5,000 per slot — keeping risk balanced across signals. BLMN's high share count reflects its low price point, not outsized conviction. DRI appearing twice is the scanner double-flagging on separate signal triggers; the strategy holds both independently on the 5-day timer. These exits are expected around May 1–2. P&L will update as prices move from entry.

What to Watch

With the grids and options accounts quiet, the next meaningful data points are the HCS exits early next week. If ROST, DRI, and CAKE hold their entries — all restaurant and retail names — those positions should have clean risk levels to manage against. BLMN is the higher-beta name in the basket given the share price.

For the grid and 0DTE accounts, watch VIX direction and TQQQ daily range. A volatility expansion gives the scalping grid more levels to work, and a clear trend or range-bound open gives the SPX 0DTE a defined setup to run.

Track all live account performance at stratbeacon.com/accounts.

Paper trading. Past performance does not guarantee future results.