Launch Day: The Machine Goes Live
Today is the first live trading day for MoneyMonster.
I built MoneyMonster to convert earnings-call language into tradeable signals. Each morning I’ll publish what the system wants to trade. After the close, I’ll publish what happened—fills, P&L, and what I’m changing (if anything). No mythology, just a running scorecard.
Today’s Buys
These trades are made at market open 9:30 Eastern. Video is from 9:35am. So I cheated a little - but couldn’t resist watching 8x8 go up 16%, let’s hope it stays that way.
EGHT — 8x8
a company that sells yet another cloud calling, conferencing, and contact-center subscription nobody needs
Micro-cap TechnologyQ3 was a clear beat: total revenue ($185M) and service revenue ($179.7M) both topped the high end of guidance by ~$3M, operating margin was 11.7% vs. 9–10% guided, EPS beat the high end by $0.03, and operating cash flow exceeded guidance.
WFRD - Weatherford International,
a company that extracts fossil fuel while promising sustainability and failing.
Mid-cap energy.Q4 showed solid execution (rev +5% q/q, EBITDA margin 22.6% +74 bps, $222M FCF), low net leverage (0.42x), and stronger shareholder returns (10% dividend hike, buybacks), which are typically supportive. However, Q1 guidance reflects seasonality and 1H softness, FY26 margin guide is slightly below Q4, and Mexico collections remain a watch item. Net effect: modestly better-than-even odds of an up day.
JCI - Johnson Controls International
a company that outfits buildings with costly climate-control systems that rarely behave.
Large-cap industrials.
Q1 FY26 was a clear beat on profitability and slightly ahead on revenue. Organic revenue grew 6% and management said the quarter came in ahead of expectations, while adjusted EBIT margin expanded 190 bps to 12.4% and EPS of $0.89 rose ~40% and exceeded their guidance. Orders surged ~40% and backlog rose 20% to a record $18B, supporting visibility. TThat’s it so far but there are still 25 calls in progress.
What is Money Monster?
MoneyMonster is an automated trading system. There is no human decision making. The input is language (earnings transcripts back to 2016) and price movements. The system then decides whether to buy or not.
The rules
Universe: U.S. equities (NYSE / NASDAQ / AMEX), filtered for liquidity.
Holding window: intraday only. Entries after the open, exits 15 minutes before the close.
Positions per day: typically 0–5, often none, occasionally more.
Sizing: equal-weight “units” with a max cap per name.
No discretion: I don’t override anything. There are stop loss (-10%) and take profit (+15%) orders outside of the AI.
What to expect
Some days: the day’s trades (tickers + direction + position unit + short rationale)
After-close recap: results + post-mortem
Weekly: performance context + model changes + what I learned
Thanks for being here on Day 1. I’ll be back after the close with what actually happened.