The Capstone — One Simulated Week

This is the final examination of Alpha Academy — and it is not a quiz. Quizzes test what you can remember. The Capstone tests what you can do: plan a session, size a position, refuse a bad trade, honor a stop, and keep an honest ledger, for five straight simulated days, with every position carrying over and every dollar counting.

You will run a $25,000 paper account through one scripted week, Monday to Friday. Each day hands you the pre-market facts — index levels, the overnight futures range, and the day's catalyst — then the day unfolds in front of you: a midday development, a temptation, a rule that gets tested. At each Decision Point you write down what you do and show your math before reading on. Nothing is hidden and nothing is random: every price you need is in the text, and the week's numbers tie together exactly, the way a real account does.

Work one day at a time. Write your plan before the session, answer each Decision Point in writing as you reach it, and close each day with a journal entry. Do not read the grading key (a separate document) until the week is finished — grading yourself honestly is part of the test.

Your Rulebook for the Week

These are the Academy rules you have already learned. They are the law inside the Capstone — every Decision Point is graded against them.

• Risk per trade: 1% of the account. On $25,000, the maximum planned loss on any single position is $250.
• Total open risk: never more than 5% — $1,250 across all open positions combined.
• Daily loss limit for day trades: $500. Hit it and you are done for the day.
• Every position is written down before entry: entry, stop, target. No exceptions.
• Defined risk only. No naked short options, ever, at any size.
• Stops are honored. A stop that is hit is an exit, not a discussion.
• Stops move only at pre-written triggers — never because a trade "feels" different mid-session.
• On a gap through a stop, you exit at the opening print. That print is your fill. Stops do not protect against gaps; position size is what protects you.
• Plan before the session, journal after it. A day with no journal entry caps that day's Decision Points at half credit.

The Week at a Glance

Your two cast members: NWRO (Northwind Robotics, fictional), a stock in an uptrend that has pulled back into a base — Friday's close $84.00, support at $80.00, prior high $96.00. NWRO's own earnings are next week, but its largest competitor reports Thursday after the close. And SPX 0DTE options, which appear when the day's plan allows them.

Monday — The Plan Is the Trade

Before the Open

• SPX closed Friday at 5,980. ES futures ranged overnight between 5,962 and 6,004 and sit at 5,992 — a quiet, slightly firm tape.
• Catalyst: the 8:30 AM retail sales report came in exactly as expected. No other major releases today.
• NWRO: closed Friday at $84.00 after four weeks of basing. Support sits at $80.00. The prior high — your target zone — is $96.00.

Your Sunday plan, already written: Buy NWRO at the open near $84. Stop $80, under support. Target $96, the prior high. Size by the 1% rule.

Decision Point 1 — Size the Swing

Before the bell: compute the position. State (a) how many shares, (b) the total cost, (c) the exact dollar risk if the stop is hit, and (d) whether the reward-to-risk is acceptable and why.

The Day Unfolds

Your limit order fills at the open: $84.00. By midday NWRO is $86.40 and SPX is 6,012. Then your phone buzzes: a chat-room alert is pounding the table on VLTX, a small stock up 18% today at $36.20 on a headline. It has run straight up from $30 this morning. There is no base, no pullback, and no support anyone can point to.

Decision Point 2 — The Chase

Do you buy VLTX? If yes, state your size, stop, and the math. If no, state exactly which rule kills the trade.

The Close

NWRO closes at $86.00 — up $2.00 on your entry, a clean first day. SPX closes 6,012.

Decision Point 3 — The Stop Question

A voice in your head says: "Move the stop up to $84 — now it's a free trade." Do you move it? Answer with the rule that decides this, then write tonight's journal entry: position, fill, closing mark, unrealized P&L, and a one-line rule check.

Tuesday — Structures Have Sizes

Before the Open

• SPX closed Monday at 6,012. ES ranged overnight 5,998–6,038, last 6,030.
• Catalyst: big-bank earnings before the open beat expectations; financials are bid and the tape is firm.
• NWRO is indicated near $86.50. Your stop stays at $80, per plan.

Your written plan for today: *If SPX trends up through the first hour, I may take ONE defined-risk 0DTE long structure. Exit any 0DTE position at 2× the debit paid, or at 3:30 PM, whichever comes first. Risk cap $250, as always.*

At 10:30 AM, SPX is 6,030 and rising steadily. Your broker shows two bull call spreads expiring today:

• Structure A: buy the 6030 call / sell the 6050 call (20 wide) — debit $6.10
• Structure B: buy the 6040 call / sell the 6050 call (10 wide) — debit $2.40

Decision Point 4 — Pick Your Structure

Which structure, if any, do you buy, and how many? Show the maximum loss and maximum gain of both structures in dollars before you answer.

The Day Unfolds

You make your decision at 10:30. The trend day continues: by 1:00 PM SPX is 6,044, and at 1:15 PM Structure B prints $4.90. Your written exit trigger for a 0DTE position is 2× the debit — $4.80.

Decision Point 5 — The Exit Rule

The trend looks strong and the chat room is shouting "let it ride." What do you do with Structure B, and what is the exact dollar result of your action?

The Close

SPX closes at 6,052. NWRO closes at $88.00. Tomorrow at 8:30 AM brings the week's biggest scheduled event: the CPI inflation report.

Decision Point 6 — The Night Before CPI

Write tonight's plan for tomorrow morning: What happens to your open NWRO position? Do you add anything tonight or before the print? Do you take any position ahead of CPI? Include one check you run on NWRO itself before tomorrow.

Wednesday — Event Day

Before the Open

• SPX closed Tuesday at 6,052. ES ranged overnight 6,030–6,065, last 6,058.
• Catalyst: CPI at 8:30 AM. FOMC minutes follow at 2:00 PM.

At 8:30 the print lands: inflation +0.4% for the month, against +0.2% expected — hot. Futures drop immediately. SPX opens at 6,015. At 8:35 AM the chat is screaming that this is the top, and your broker shows a 0DTE put spread — buy the 5980 put / sell the 5960 put — quoted at a $7.50 debit, with spreads wide and prices jumping.

Decision Point 7 — Trading the Print

Do you buy the put spread? Give every rule that applies to this decision — there is more than one.

Midday Development

The morning storm fades. By 1:00 PM SPX has stabilized at 6,010, and NWRO — which dipped to $84.30 late morning — has recovered to $85.60. Meanwhile a second stock has earned a look: HELX (fictional) is breaking out of a clean base at $52.00. Support under the base is $49.00; the measured target is $61.00. HELX has no earnings for three weeks. Your weekend notes already contain a plan for it: Breakout entry $52, stop $49, target $61 — if total open risk allows.

Decision Point 8 — The Second Position

Size HELX. Show the shares, the cost, the dollar risk — and the one check most students forget: the total open risk of the whole account after this trade. Then state your decision.

The Close

Your HELX order fills at $52.00 at 2:05 PM. The 2:00 PM FOMC minutes knock it down to $51.40 for a few minutes — above your stop — and it closes at $52.80. NWRO closes at $85.20. SPX closes at 6,015.

One more fact for tonight: NWRO's largest competitor reports earnings tomorrow (Thursday) after the close. Peers move together; a bad print can gap NWRO on Friday.

Decision Point 9 — Hold, Sell, or Double?

Tonight, for NWRO, do you: (A) sell at $85.20 "to be safe," (B) hold per plan, or (C) add to the position because it "survived CPI"? Choose one and defend it with the rules — including what protection you already own against Friday's gap risk.

Thursday — Rules Pay Rent

Before the Open

• SPX closed Wednesday at 6,015. ES ranged overnight 6,000–6,040, last 6,028.
• Catalyst: jobless claims at 8:30 AM, in line. The peer earnings print lands after today's close.
• Positions: NWRO 62 shares from $84 (stop $80). HELX from $52 (stop $49).

Midday Development

A strong morning. SPX reaches 6,036, NWRO is $86.10 — and HELX spikes to $58.30. Your written swing rule for HELX, set before entry: at +2R, sell half the position and move the stop on the rest to breakeven. (Reminder: HELX risk per share was $3.00, so +2R is $58.00.)

Decision Point 10 — Execute the Rule

HELX is through your trigger. State exactly what you do: how many shares you sell and keep, the price you get, the realized profit in dollars, where the stop goes, and the open risk remaining on HELX afterward.

Afternoon Development

By 2:30 PM the tape fades: SPX slides to 6,002 and NWRO slips to $83.20. The chat pivots to a "bounce trade": a 0DTE call spread — buy the 6005 call / sell the 6020 call — for a $1.80 debit ($180 risk). It was in nobody's plan this morning. It is not in yours.

Decision Point 11 — The Trade That Fits the Cap

$180 is inside your $250 risk cap. Is that enough? Take it or pass — and name the deciding rule.

The Close

SPX closes at 5,998. NWRO closes at $82.60 — below your entry, still above the $80 stop. HELX closes at $57.80. In a few hours, the competitor reports.

Decision Point 12 — Write Friday's Plan Tonight

Write, in full, your pre-committed plan for NWRO on Friday morning — covering both a gap down through your stop and a gap up or hold. Add one line covering HELX's status. This document is the deliverable; Friday you will simply execute it.

Friday — The Gap Test

Before the Open

The competitor missed badly — its stock is down 9% after hours. ES ranged overnight 5,960–6,000 and points to a soft open. Today is also monthly options expiration (OPEX), with consumer sentiment at 10:00 AM — a day famous for prices pinning near big strikes into the close.

At 9:30 AM, NWRO opens at $79.40 — straight through your $80.00 stop.

Decision Point 13 — Act

It is 9:30 AM. Your plan from last night is sitting in front of you. What do you do with all 62 shares, at what price do you assume your fill, and what is the exact realized result? Show the math, including how it compares to the loss you originally planned.

Midday Development

You have executed your plan. SPX chops between 5,970 and 5,995, magnetized near 5,985. HELX pulls back to $56.20, comfortably above its breakeven stop. At 1:00 PM a confident voice in the chat offers the week's last idea: "SPX is pinned. Sell the 5995 call naked — it's free premium, it can't move."

Decision Point 14 — Free Money?

Do you sell the naked call? Answer with the rule — and with what "pinned" actually is and is not.

The Close and the Final Ledger

HELX closes at $56.60. SPX closes at 5,985.

Decision Point 15 — Close the Books

Produce the week's final accounting, showing your work:

• Total realized P&L for the week, trade by trade
• Your ending cash balance
• What you still hold, its closing value, its unrealized P&L, and its remaining open risk
• The ending account value and the week's percentage return
• A three-line weekly review: where the money was made, where it was lost, and the rule that mattered most

What This Week Tests

Grading: 100 points total, 80 to pass. Every Decision Point is scored in the separate grading key, with partial credit for correct method shown in your math. A week can be passed with a losing trade in it — it cannot be passed with broken rules in it.