There are charts right now having absolutely incredible runs.
And if you're not in them, it's frustrating to watch these stocks continue ripping without you. (I'm looking at you, $DE and $XPO!!)
I get it. The feeling is visceral. You see a stock up 50%, 100%, 200% from where you first noticed it, and every day it goes higher feels like money being taken directly from your pocket.
That's FOMO. Fear of missing out. One of the most powerful emotions in trading. And one of the most dangerous.
But here's what I want you to consider: what if instead of letting FOMO drive you into bad decisions, you transform it into something useful?
Turn FOMO into INFO.
When you see stocks ripping without you, the instinct is to chase. Get in now before it goes even higher. Don't miss any more of the move.
This is almost always a terrible idea.
The odds of getting burned are elevated when you chase extended moves. You're buying at exactly the moment when everyone else is excited, when the stock is far from any reasonable entry point, when any pullback will immediately put you underwater.
It's too late for you to participate in that particular move. Accept that. Mourn it if you need to. But don't chase it.
Instead, observe. Use these ripping stocks as information about risk appetite in the market.
When multiple stocks are making extended runs—going parabolic, printing new highs daily, showing the kind of strength that makes you want to jump in—that tells you something important about market conditions.
It tells you that risk appetite is high. Money is flowing into aggressive positions. Traders and investors are willing to chase momentum.
This is valuable information.
If these charts keep going, that's a good signal that a fresh setup and fresh breakout could be a solid buy. The market environment is conducive to momentum plays. New breakouts are more likely to work because there's capital ready to chase them.
But if all the biggest running names start rolling over? If the parabolic moves begin failing? If the stocks that were unstoppable suddenly aren't?
That's a signal that any new breakouts from here are likely to fail. At minimum, it signals the need for extra diligence. Maybe smaller position sizing. Maybe waiting for more confirmation before entry.
The stocks you're not in are giving you real-time feedback about market conditions.
Are the leaders holding their gains? That's strength. That suggests new leaders can emerge.
Are the leaders giving back their moves? That's weakness. That suggests the environment has shifted and breakouts are more likely to fail.
This is how you turn FOMO into actionable intelligence.
Instead of: "I missed that, I need to get in now!" Think: "That stock's behavior is telling me something about whether my next trade has a high probability of working."
This requires discipline. Real discipline. You have to watch stocks rip without you and resist the urge to chase. That's hard. It goes against every instinct.
But the alternative—chasing extended moves, buying at tops, getting shaken out on the inevitable pullback—is harder. That actually costs you money.
Missing a move costs you nothing except the emotional pain of watching. And that pain fades. Chasing a move costs you real capital. And that's much harder to recover from.
Right now, there are names making incredible moves. You're probably not in most of them. I'm probably not in most of them. That's okay.
What I am doing is watching how they behave. Are they consolidating their gains healthily? Are they continuing to make new highs? Or are they starting to crack?
The answer to those questions informs my next decision.
If the leaders are acting well, I'm more aggressive with new breakout setups. I'm more willing to enter positions quickly. I'm confident that the environment supports momentum.
If the leaders are starting to fail, I'm more cautious. I wait for better confirmation. I size smaller. I recognize that the market is shifting and what worked last week might not work this week.
FOMO assumes you need to be in everything to succeed. That's false. You don't need to catch every move. You need to catch enough moves at the right times with the right position sizing and risk management. (Read that again)
The stocks you're not in aren't taunting you. They're teaching you. They're showing you what's possible in current conditions. They're revealing market psychology. They're demonstrating whether there's follow-through after breakouts or immediate failure.
All of that is valuable information for your next trade.
When everyone else is experiencing FOMO and making emotional decisions—chasing extended moves, over-leveraging into parabolic stocks, ignoring risk because they don't want to miss out—you can be calm.
Not because you don't feel FOMO. You do. We all do. But because you've trained yourself to transform that emotion into something useful. Information instead of impulse.
That's how you stay one step ahead of the crowd. The crowd chases. You observe and act strategically. The crowd buys tops. You wait for proper entries. The crowd panics when their chased positions fail. You were never in them to begin with.
Turn FOMO into INFO, and you'll make better decisions than 90% of traders out there.
Want to learn how to read market conditions instead of chasing moves? All Star Options teaches not just which trades to take, but how to recognize when market conditions support your approach. Join us and stop letting FOMO drive your decisions.
Sean McLaughlin | Chief Options Strategist, All Star Charts
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