Markets at Highs? Another Way I’m Locking In Gains Without Selling a Thing

Jack Carter | July 22, 2025

Hey Traders,

Let’s talk about where we are right now…

We’ve got the DIA, SPY, and QQQ all sitting near all-time highs. The market’s still bullish across the board — but it’s not all moving evenly.

The Dow (DIA) is starting to flatten out a little. Not bearish… just lagging.

Meanwhile, SPY and especially QQQ (that’s where tech is) are still ripping.

Now when that happens — when the indexes are at highs — it usually means individual names are at highs too.

And if you’re sitting on some winners right now, I’ve got a few smart moves you can make today to protect those gains without unloading your positions.

Married Puts: Insurance for Your Gains

In a previous video, I told you about one of my favorite ways to protect a stock I want to keep holding is with a married put.

Here’s how it works:

You buy an at-the-money put option on the same stock you own. Each put option gives you the right to sell 100 shares at the strike price of the put — even if the stock tanks.

Think of it like insurance. If the stock goes up, the put loses value — but who cares? Your stock is climbing. If the stock drops? That put goes up in value and helps cushion the blow.

And in a market this extended, having that floor in place can help you sleep a lot better at night.

Set It and Forget It

But today I want to talk to you about another way I protect my profits in a market like this.

It’s called a stop-loss order.

Let’s say your stock’s trading at $100. You could place a stop-loss order at $95 or $93 — maybe 5–7% below the current price.

If the stock drops that far, your broker sells the position automatically.

Simple. Clean. And it forces discipline — which a lot of traders lack when panic hits.

Trailing Stops: Lock in Gains as You Go

A fancier version of this is called the trailing stop-loss.

Instead of setting a one specific price to sell at, the trailing stop-loss follows the stock up.

If your stock climbs from $100 to $110, your trailing stop moves up with it. If the stock pulls back from $110 to $105? It gets triggered, and you’re out — locking in that gain.

It’s like a ratchet. You can only go one direction: up.

Not Saying I Want the Market To Crash, But…

Look — I’m not saying I want the market to crash. But the truth is, I like a little volatility.

Markets that just go up, up, up? They’re tougher to trade, because they start to feel extended. You end up wondering how long the party can keep going.

That’s why I’m getting more cautious here.

Not bearish… just smart.

Because I’ve seen this movie before. And I’m not about to let a little market euphoria wipe out my hard-earned gains.

So hedge yourself. Use married puts and stop-loss orders to insulate yourself from big losses.

Because the market can do whatever it wants… but that doesn’t mean you have to sit there unprotected.

Trade well,
Jack Carter

P.S. Another smart strategy? Trading one of the most volatile stocks on the market for weekly income. Check it out here.

Trending Stocks of the Week — July 22, 2025

Jack Carter | July 22, 2025

Think trading the most volatile stock on the market is scary?
It doesn’t have to be

To help you discover the power of trends, every week I share with you a handful of the top trending stocks.

These stocks are picked by my purpose-built, custom-made TrendPoint software to pick the strongest trending stocks in the market right now.

If you know anything about me, you know that every trade I get into starts with a trending stock.

Unless a stock is in a strong trend, I don’t want to hear about it. In my book, wishy washy stocks are the quickest way to losing money.

This Week’s Stocks

Markets continue their upward march. SPY and QQQ.

DIA is a bit weaker. Then again, remember what I’ve said in the past: When price moves too far, too fast it usually comes back down to test its short-term 20 day trendline.

And that’s what we’ve seen from DIA, with the index surging as soon as it had a bullish crossover in the 20/200 day trendlines. It was due for a cool off.

That said, note how so far it’s been bouncing nicely at its 20 day trend line.

All in all, markets are very bullish. Perfect for bullish income plays.

My scan this week picked up on three bullish stocks:

  • APH
  • AVGO
  • DLTR

And don’t forget about last week’s list, which you can find here. (careful, one of those is a bit stretched and the other two are testing their 20 day trendlines.

What can you do with these stocks?

Well, there are a couple of things you could consider — after doing your own research, of course:

  1. Buy or short — For bullish stocks, this is probably the simplest thing you could do. Then just wait for it to go up and sell when you hit a profit target you’re comfortable with. This is only for upward-trending stocks we’re long on.

    For downward-trending stocks (those that we’re bearish on), you can short them. This is a little more advanced, so if you’re just getting started, I wouldn’t recommend this play. Remember, just like buying a stock, shorting comes with unlimited risk if the stock moves against you, so always have a clear stop-loss in place.
  2. You could buy an option.

    For bullish stocks, this means buying a call option.
    For bearish stocks, this means buying a put option.

    You know I’m not a fan of speculative plays, but every once in a while it doesn’t hurt to throw a little cash at a speculative option. Just remember, while options can move bigtime if the stock goes up… the downside of options is that you have a time limit on how quickly you need the stock to make that move.

    So think about your risk tolerance when you consider buying calls on bullish stocks or buying puts on bearish stocks.
  3. You could collect instant income.

    If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know that I’m a big fan of income plays, because they massively increase your odds of winning. We do this by SELLING options instead of buying them.

    Not only do income plays let you get paid instantly — as soon as you place the trade. You massively increase your odds of winning, because the way we trade them, you don’t have to be 100% right about the direction of the stock.

    If you haven’t tried your hand at income trading yet, I urge you to try this exercise for yourself. Without risking any money, it will really let you see the power of income trading and why it’s my favorite method.

    Income plays on bullish stocks can be naked puts, covered calls or a bull put spread.

    Income plays on bearish stocks will be a little more complicated. But if you’re a more advanced trader, you can look into doing a short term bear call spread, which involves selling an out-of-the-money call and buying a call one strike price higher.

That’s all for now.

Stay tuned, because I’ll be sending you a new list of TrendPoint Best Trending Stocks every week! (usually Mondays)

Trade well,

Jack Carter