Lately, my DMs are flooded with the same question: Why does the price drop as soon as I buy, and rise as soon as I sell? It feels like someone is monitoring my account.

Don’t overthink it. It’s not bad luck—it’s just that the current market is designed to wear people down.

The aftershocks of the yen rate hike haven’t faded, the Fed’s rate cut expectations are still hanging in the air, BlackRock occasionally dumps some holdings, yet ETF inflows continue... All these news are tangled together like a mess of threads. The result is that the market is stuck in a range, trading volume fluctuates wildly, just when it looks like a breakout is coming it suddenly reverses, and just when it seems like it's about to crash, it bounces back up.

In times like this, even the best technical skills can get you whipsawed. It’s not that you’re not good enough—the market is just built this way, purposely designed to drain retail traders’ patience.

My view is straightforward:

If you can’t see a clear direction, don’t force your way in. Trade small, test the waters, and if you’re wrong, get out quickly. Protecting your capital is more important than anything else.

The biggest risk in a choppy market is losing your cool. Trading impulsively is basically handing over your money.

If you’ve been shaken up recently and don’t know what to do, just take a break. Stop overtrading. Wait until the market shows a clear trend—there’s still time to catch up then. That’s when the big players end up handing you the money.

Choppy markets are tough, but they’re often the best time to spot opportunities—provided you wait for the right signal.