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Issue No. 23 • Tuesday June 23, 2026

THE TRADING ADDICT

by Maria Helmick

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» Story No. 1 of 2 · Maria's Market Watch

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Broadcom's Dip: Noise, or Opportunity?

AVGO pulled back, but the AI story does not look broken.

Broadcom pulled back, but I don't think this looks like a broken AI story.

The stock sold off because Wall Street wanted perfect numbers. Broadcom still guided for about $16 billion in AI semiconductor revenue next quarter, up more than 200% year over year, but that was a little short of what analysts wanted. The fiscal 2026 AI outlook was also a little light at about $56 billion.

That's why the stock got hit.

But here's what matters to me: demand is still there. Broadcom is still showing huge AI growth, and its fiscal 2027 AI framework is still above $100 billion.

JPMorgan is also pushing back on the noise around possible Google TPU delays. They say the Broadcom-Google AI chip roadmap is still on track, with no delays and no cancellations. JPMorgan kept an Overweight rating on AVGO and raised its price target from $500 to $580.

Other analysts are still mostly positive too. Benchmark kept a Buy rating and raised its target to $545. KeyBanc stayed Overweight and raised its target to $575. Cantor stayed Overweight with a $525 target. Rosenblatt stayed Buy with a $500 target. DA Davidson is more cautious with a Neutral rating, but even they raised their target from $375 to $400.

The message is simple: Wall Street may not love every number, but the Broadcom story is not being thrown out.

The bigger reason AVGO still interests me is Google. Broadcom reportedly has a long-term agreement with Google that supports future TPU chip work through 2031. That gives Broadcom something a lot of AI names do not have: visibility.

Nvidia is still the king of AI chips. No argument there.

But Broadcom has its own lane. It helps big tech companies build custom AI chips for their own systems. That makes AVGO one of the more important names in the AI infrastructure trade.

So to me, this pullback looks more like a reset than a breakdown.

Broadcom is not cheap, and expectations are still high. But there is a big difference between a stock pulling back because the business is falling apart and a stock pulling back because Wall Street wanted even more.

Maria's Bottom Line

I'm not just watching AVGO as a news story. I'm looking at it as a possible trade.

Trade I'm Watching

The trade I'm watching now is the August 21, 2026 $350 put, which was showing around an $11.50 to $12.00 credit, about a 24 delta, with a break-even near $338.15 if filled around $11.85. ROR is about 3.36%, with excellent open interest.

Expiration

Aug. 21, 2026

Strike

$350 Put

Credit

$11.50–$12.00

Break-even

Near $338.15

AVGO Aug 21, 2026 $350 put — possible setup with credit around $11.50–$12.00 and break-even near $338.15. Tap to enlarge.

I like this better than chasing the stock. It gives the trade more time, moves the strike lower, and lets me lean bullish without buying AVGO after a big AI run.

There is still risk. AVGO is expensive, expectations are high, and AI stocks can get punished fast.

But with the Google deal through 2031, the mostly bullish analyst ratings, and the continued AI growth, this does not look like a broken story to me. So for me, this is a watchlist trade.

Bottom line, I'd rather sell the put down here than chase the stock higher. The story still looks good, and this trade gives me time.

Educational only. Not financial advice. Options involve risk and are not suitable for every investor.

» Story No. 2 of 2 · SPX 0DTE • AI Bots • Backtesting

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Backtesting, Bots, and the Dreaded M&M Day

Why traders are using data and automation to bring more structure to fast-moving SPX 0DTE trades.

Everybody is talking about backtesting and trading bots right now.

And honestly, I get why.

SPX 0DTE trading is fast. The trade goes on, moves around, and is usually done the same day. There is not a lot of time to think, panic, adjust, or talk yourself into something stupid.

That is why backtesting matters. Backtesting is not some fancy Wall Street secret. It is simply testing a trade idea against past market data to see how it would have acted. Not just on the easy days, but on the hard days too.

And that is the part I care about. Every 0DTE trader eventually meets the dreaded M&M Day.

And I do not mean the candy.

M&M Day means the Market-Moving, Monster-Move day. The day SPX picks a direction and keeps going.

It is the day premium looks good in the morning, the trade looks fine at lunch, and then the market decides to move like it has somewhere to be.

That is the day that separates a cute backtest from a real trading plan.

Anybody can love a strategy when the market is calm. The real question is what happens when SPX trends hard, volatility jumps, and the trade gets tested.

Backtesting lets you see how the strategy handled those ugly days before you let real money find out for you. Did the trade survive? Did the stop help? Did the strikes have enough cushion? Was the size too big? Did the strategy make money most of the time but give too much back on the bad days?

That is not being negative. That is trading smart and knowing what you are dealing with before real money is on the line. The goal of backtesting is not to scare you out of trading. The goal is to help you trade with your eyes open.

And when you combine that with a trading bot, it gets even more interesting. A bot can place the trade automatically. It can follow the entry time, manage the exit, take profits, and follow the stop if that is part of the system.

That matters because traders are human. We hesitate. We chase. We get annoyed after a loss. We get too confident after a win. We start touching the trade when the plan said to leave it alone.

A bot does not do that; it just follows the rules you set. But here is the key: the bot is only as good as the rules behind it. You do not want a bot randomly firing trades just because automation sounds cool. That is not a strategy. That is just a faster way to make mistakes.

The right order is to test the idea first, build the rules, understand the bad days, and then let the bot execute the plan.

For SPX 0DTE, that kind of structure can be powerful because speed matters. The market moves fast, and the bot can react without emotion. It does not get nervous, it does not debate, and it does not decide halfway through the trade that today “feels different.”

It simply runs the play.

This is not about making trading effortless. It is about making trading more disciplined, more consistent, and less emotional.

The bot is not there to think for you. It is there to execute the plan you already built. The trader still has to choose the setup, understand the risk, size it correctly, and know when the system should or should not be used.

Used the right way, backtesting and bots can help traders stop guessing and start trading with more structure. That does not mean every trade wins. It means the trade is being placed for a reason, managed by rules, and kept inside a plan.

Maria's Bottom Line

I like backtesting because it takes some of the guessing out of 0DTE trading.

But the real value is when the test turns into rules, and the rules turn into execution. That is where the bot helps. It keeps the trade from becoming emotional.

To me, the goal is simple: know the setup, know the bad-day risk, keep the size reasonable, and let the system do its job.

The bot is not there to gamble. It is there to follow the plan.

Educational content only. Not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors.

Math Makes Money

TRADES OF THE WEEK

0DTE SPX • $30K SCHWAB ACCOUNT

Week of June 22, 2026

Entry (ET)	Premium	Type	Wings	Stop
11:53 AM	$3.00	MEIC	50W	95%
12:00 PM	$2.25	MEIC	50W	95%
3:09 PM	$3.50	MEIC	50W	95%
3:09 PM	$2.25	MEIC	50W	95%
3:30 PM	$3.00	MEIC	50W	95%
3:44 PM	$1.45	MEIC	50W	95%

All trades 0dte SPX iron condors on the $30K Schwab account. MEIC = Multiple Entry Iron Condor. 50W = 50-wide wings. 95% = stop loss on short leg. No profit target — let trades expire.

Risk Warning

At the time of this writing, we plan on entering most of these trades, but they are part of a much greater and larger trading program and should be considered for educational and entertainment purposes only. Not financial advice of any kind.

Trading involves substantial risk and is not suitable for every investor. You can lose some or all of your money. Nothing here is financial advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or copy any trade. Do not copy trades blindly. Do your own due diligence, understand the risk, and make decisions based on your own account, risk tolerance, and financial situation.