Day 96: What We Learned - February 01, 2026

Day 96 of 90 | Sunday, February 01, 2026

Answer Block

Answer Block: 0 days remaining in our journey to build a profitable AI trading system.

0 days remaining in our journey to build a profitable AI trading system.

Today was a wake-up call. Two critical issues surfaced that could have derailed our entire trading operation. Here’s what went wrong and how we’re fixing it.

---

The Hard Lessons

These are the moments that test us. Critical issues that demanded immediate attention.

SOFI Position Held Through Earnings Blackout

SOFI CSP (Feb 6 expiration) was held despite Jan 30 earnings date approaching.

Key takeaway: Put option loss: -$13.

The Four Pillars of Wealth Building

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE                    │
│                       $6K/month after tax                    │
├─

**Key takeaway:** Result after 7 years: **~$215,000** (2.

### SOFI Loss Realized - Jan 14, 2026

1. SOFI stock + CSP opened Day 74 (Jan 13)

**Key takeaway:** System allowed trade despite CLAUDE.


## Important Discoveries

*Not emergencies, but insights that will shape how we trade going forward.*

### Iron Condor Entry Signals & Timing

System not generating enough trade signals. Need clear entry criteria.

### Q1 2026 Tax Action Plan

Concrete action items for Q1 2026 tax planning. This is the "do this now" version of the comprehensive tax strategy (LL-297).

### Iron Condor Optimization for $30K Account

New $30K paper account established. Need optimized iron condor parameters for:
- Above $25K = NO PDT restrictions
- Target: $400-800/month (1.3-2.7% monthly return)
- Risk: Max 5% per trade ($1,500)


## Quick Wins & Refinements

- **RAG Webhook Compound Query Routing Fix** - LL-274: RAG Webhook Compound Query Routing Fix

 Date
2026-01-22

 Severity
HIGH

 Summary
Fixed Dial...
- **CEO Identity and North Star Commitment** - LL-320: CEO Identity and North Star Commitment

Date: January 30, 2026
Severity: PERMANENT
Category:...
- **Ralph Proactive Scan Findings** - Ralph Proactive Scan Findings

Date: 2026-01-28
Type: Automated Proactive Scan

 Issues Found

- Sec...
- **Ralph Proactive Scan Findings** - Ralph Proactive Scan Findings

Date: 2026-01-29
Type: Automated Proactive Scan

 Issues Found

- Sec...


---

## Today's Numbers

| What | Count |
|------|-------|
| Lessons Learned | **23** |
| Critical Issues | 3 |
| High Priority | 10 |
| Improvements | 10 |

---

## Tech Stack Behind the Lessons

Every lesson we learn is captured, analyzed, and stored by our AI infrastructure:

<div class="mermaid">
flowchart LR
    subgraph Learning["Learning Pipeline"]
        ERROR["Error/Insight<br/>Detected"] --> CLAUDE["Claude Opus<br/>(Analysis)"]
        CLAUDE --> RAG["legacy RAG<br/>(Storage)"]
        RAG --> BLOG["GitHub Pages<br/>(Publishing)"]
        BLOG --> DEVTO["Dev.to<br/>(Distribution)"]
    end
</div>

### How We Learn Autonomously

| Component | Role in Learning |
|-----------|------------------|
| **Claude Opus 4.5** | Analyzes errors, extracts insights, determines severity |
| **legacy RAG** | Stores lessons with 768D embeddings for semantic search |
| **Gemini 2.0 Flash** | Retrieves relevant past lessons before new trades |
| **OpenRouter (DeepSeek)** | Cost-effective sentiment analysis and research |

### Why This Matters

1. **No Lesson Lost**: Every insight persists in our RAG corpus
2. **Contextual Recall**: Before each trade, we query similar past situations
3. **Continuous Improvement**: 200+ lessons shape every decision
4. **Transparent Journey**: All learnings published publicly

*[Full Tech Stack Documentation](/trading/tech-stack/)*

---

## The Journey So Far

We're building an autonomous AI trading system that learns from every mistake. This isn't about getting rich quick - it's about building a system that can consistently generate income through disciplined options trading.

**Our approach:**
- Paper trade for 90 days to validate the strategy
- Document every lesson, every failure, every win
- Use AI (Claude) as CTO to automate and improve
- Follow Phil Town's Rule #1: Don't lose money

Want to follow along? Check out the [full project on GitHub](https://github.com/IgorGanapolsky/trading).

---

*Day 96/90 complete. 0 to go.*