Two Quiet Weeks While Oil Did the Talking

Week of Mar 23–Apr 5, 2026

Another merged entry, because the log is empty again: two weeks, zero orders, one strangle on the books doing its quiet work. The 7.90 credit collected on March 18 needed exactly one thing from the market, for the S&P to stay between 4500 and 7600 into May, and the market spent these two weeks obliging while the world around it stayed loud.

What actually happened

Nothing, in the account. The context is the entry: March ended with oil capping one of the biggest monthly gains in the history of the market, Brent up around 51% and pump prices near $4, while the equity market finally stopped falling. The S&P’s losing streak broke, and the first days of April began the recovery run that would carry the index upward for weeks.

A short strangle doesn’t care which direction the recovery comes from, only that price stays inside the strikes and time passes. Time passed. Both strikes stayed far away.

What moved the market this week?

The handoff from panic to recovery. Oil stayed the dominant story, but equities decoupled from it enough to start climbing. For this position specifically, the rally’s early innings were the friendly kind: steady, not vertical, with the call strike at 7600 still comfortably overhead.

Anything new tried?

No. Second multi-week silence of the record, and like the first one, it ends with a profitable close in the following week’s entry.

Takeaway

Two entries in a row now follow the same shape: sell wide, wait through noise, touch nothing. The next few weeks of the record start to show what happens when that patience gets paid, and then what happens when the waiting stops being comfortable.

Frequently asked questions

What was in the account during these weeks?

One position: the 2-contract /ES May 8 4500/7600 short strangle sold March 18 for a 7.90 credit. No orders were placed for the entire two-week stretch.

What was happening to oil and gas prices?

March 2026 closed out one of the largest monthly oil price jumps on record, with Brent up roughly 51% on the month and gasoline hitting about $4 a gallon in the U.S., all driven by the war's disruption to Gulf supply.

When did the stock market bottom?

The S&P's four-week losing streak ended in late March, and by early April the index had started the recovery run that would stretch into mid-April. This account's log shows no reaction to either the lows or the turn.