And back to cash as I dump my SPX position for .45 for about 85% loss...but not bad considering it's a hedge I hoped this would expire worthless. Bumped the week's profits to to 13% and change.
With all my positions closed and only two days left, my "week" of trading is over. I was close enough on my broad market call this week, because much with horse shoes and hand grenades, in options trades close counts. Followers of this thread have probably figured out that price movement isn't my cup of tea either up or down, so I wasn't thrilled with this week after the tech correction and impending FOMC. In that respect I'm quite pleased to have turned 13% in two days (that's also good because 8% is my threshold for a good vs. bad week being the strategy's statistical target). I wasn't thrilled about dumping IBM, and I still like that position from a price movement point; but it also carried with it the ability to turn a good week into a crummy one if held solo. So a good risk management trade, if a bad speculative trade. (As I typed this, IBM dumped .60, and no longer looks like a good position going forward, but a great closing opportunity for 1.53--would have been 100%) Tomorrow, I'll get an early start on next "week", which means I'll be looking for premiums 25% higher than usual since I'll have 7 trading days. That means more time to hit early exits, more opportunities to present a second round of opening orders, less absolute risk, and more contracts--all of which spell more profit opportunity. So, I'll be looking for a statistical target of 11% next week (my good vs. bad pivot point), and hopefully toeing 40% maximum profit on core positions. Still bullish for the time being, but that's not in stone. And one final thought--the exits on AAPL, BA, MO, and UNP all actually are looking really good in hindsight (two of those have changed since I started typing this post).
...so we all juggle with machetes, but you ever set them down and realize that they were on fire when you pull off your blindfold? That's about how I feel at the moment. Really pleased with my exits now--I can even overlook the second guessing on the hedges.
Well I sat yesterday out...and while I didn't have a clear direction on the market, the real reason was the crippling hangover. Still equally unclear on market direction (still defaulting to leaning bullish). This week, I'm going to try something a bit different, I'm going to go against my sentiment to test how the strategy works--in theory it favors a stagnant market, but should be a winner for anything but a modest move (0.5% or more) in the opposite direction, at least on a systemic level. Overlaying individual securities trends should tip this slightly more in my favor. But I digress--I'll be a wrong-way driver this week, and we'll test it out all the same. Now just need the SPX (or SPY) to move to a level that meets my price and profit potential targets to open up the hedge first... MSFT 70-71.50 call spread opened for .43 debit
BABA 136-137 call spread for .33 credit NFLX 155-157.50 call spread for .68 credit BA 197.50-200 call spread for .88 credit
Exited NFLX for 1.06. And MSFT for .74 And flat after selling V at .44 Lots to say about today when I get to a keyboard.