LABU Trade Review: 11.76% in 10 Trading Days—Why We Sold

The hardest button to press in a winning trade? Sell.

There’s always that voice: What if it keeps going? What if this is the big breakout?

We closed our LABU position with an 11.76% gain in 10 trading days. The trade opened on August 10, 2026, and closed on August 21.

We had a profit. We also had a reason to protect it.

In this LABU trade review, I’ll walk through the breakout that attracted us, the resistance that prompted our exit, and the warning signs that kept us from buying back in.

Would you have taken the money—or held for more?

LABU Trade Review: The Breakout That Got Our Attention

Our interest began with a change in the chart.

LABU had reversed from the lower support band and broken out of a bull flag. Moreover, the price structure was improving. Instead of continuing its downtrend, the ETF was making higher lows and stepping upward.

That combination got our attention:

• A reversal from support.
• A breakout from consolidation.
• Higher lows supporting the advance.

The path of least resistance appeared to be shifting higher. However, a promising setup still needed an entry.

For that, we turned to the daily chart.

Why We Entered LABU on August 10

The daily chart showed follow-through on Friday, August 7.

Then, on Monday, August 10, an attempt to push LABU lower reversed, and the ETF closed higher. Buyers had stepped in.

That mattered because the daily action supported the improving weekly structure. We had a broader setup and a shorter-term signal pointing in the same direction.

We entered because the chart gave us a reason—not because the ticker looked cheap.

LABU subsequently advanced. Although there was a brief interruption, the move recovered and our attention shifted to the next decision: where to take profits.

Why We Took Profits at Weekly Resistance

A winning position can make you forget the question that matters:

Would I still want this much exposure at this price?

During the week of August 17, LABU reached the rising upper resistance band of its weekly channel. It also backed away from the week’s highs.

Resistance does not guarantee a reversal. LABU could have continued climbing along that upper boundary. It could even have broken above it.

Nevertheless, we had already captured a gain in a short period. Holding the entire position meant continuing to risk that gain near a level where sellers could emerge.

We chose to close the trade and make the profit real.

Our plan was to watch for a pullback toward support and evaluate a possible new entry. Selling did not mean we would never trade LABU again.

It meant the existing trade had reached our exit decision.

The Lower Highs That Kept Us Out

Initially, LABU pulled back and held support. Then it rallied.

However, the rebound did not produce the clean continuation we wanted. Instead, the chart began showing repeated rejections and lower highs.

Each rally was meeting resistance sooner.

That weakened the bullish case. Therefore, we stayed in cash rather than forcing another entry.

During the week of October 12, LABU broke the critical support level discussed in the video.

The later breakdown reinforced our decision to remain on the sidelines. But it was not the signal behind our August exit. Weekly resistance had already given us a reason to take profits.

Trading a Leveraged ETF Requires an Exit Plan

LABU’s leverage makes trade management especially important.

Daily compounding can help during a sustained favorable trend. However, volatile back-and-forth moves can create volatility drag. Returns over several days can therefore differ substantially from a simple multiple of the underlying index’s total move.

That is why we evaluate the setup, the trend, and the exit together.

A breakout gets our attention. It does not earn unlimited patience.

The Lesson From This LABU Trade Review

We did not need to predict the October breakdown to execute the August trade.

We needed to recognize the entry, identify resistance, and decide how much profit we were willing to put back at risk.

The result was 11.76% in 10 trading days, followed by a closed position and the freedom to consider other opportunities.

Could a partial exit have worked? Certainly. Could holding for a breakout have produced more? That possibility existed when we sold.

Good trading means making a defensible decision before you know the ending.

Watch the video below for the chart-by-chart breakdown.

Your Turn: Sell, Trim, or Hold?

Put yourself at weekly resistance with an 11.76% gain.

Would you close the position, take partial profits, or hold everything for a breakout?

Leave your choice in the comments—and tell me what would trigger your exit.

For more chart analysis and swing-trading education, visit The Contrarian Trader.

This article reviews a historical trade for educational purposes. Past performance does not guarantee