I would like to know how pal traded $1000 into $22,000+/- in one year using ITM options w/o getting wiped out on close trades. I'm saying it is possible and very likely for a professional or seasoned trader but i fail to see how you did it with your perception and knowledge. Thanks.
i agree with you. this is a put-it-on-and-leave-it position for me. i was gonna wait for a bounce to $6, but i just threw out a bid for .90 when the quote was .85 x 1.00. someone hit my bid after 7 minutes. was gonna take it out if the market starts going up (like it has done in the past 1 1/2 hours). bbi, imo, will be lower than $4 in the next month or so. whether it goes to 6 (or 7) first, is another story. of course, i reserve the right to be completely wrong, especially if some big company decides to buy them out or any news of that nature. it's lower than $5 and end of the month is coming, the fundies are not gonna want this on their list of holdings. imo peace.
i'm not sure about this post... this seems very much like an insult, but you did manage to put that "thanks" at the end the account is now down to 18.5k because i decided to close all positions yesterday instead of today. i took a 3.3k loss for the week, which at this time could have been cut to less than 1500. it's eating me up, but this is a continuous market, so there will be other opportunities, if this last bbi put-position survives. now, to your question.... i am willing to post all positions (entries and exits) since 7/1/05 (when i started my spreadsheet). that's a lot of typing, but i don't mind doing it... you gotta do something for me, though... at least throw me a bone. what are your current trades/positions (or past few trades if you have none at this time) so that i can look into your strategies. i'm not gonna trade off of them, but at least it shows good faith that you're real trader. me, i've been trading options for 4-5 years, so my perception and knowledge are worth a couple of cents. if you're asking philosophically as to how i did it, short answer is " a lot of luck" thanks.
Yeah. I guess reading my post after your response one could see it as an insult. I apologize for this. My interest was how you managed your margins with $1000 in starting principal. It seems like a small amount to trade options. You answered my questions in your response post so thank you. My trades this week: CHK, ROK, XLE, XLF, XLY, SPY, EOG, CVS, WAG all with a short bias except for a few select long opportunities. I usually trade a handful of stocks and ETF's from a list of about 100 selections. It's just me; i don't have support staff. I did have a thread on CHK and ROK and LYO but i do not post exact position entries or exits. I try to bring your attention to the area of interest and allow you to work for your goals. This is the best way i find that allows everyone to participate and learn from each other. I have been trading retail and in equities part-time since 1997 with forays into other businesses and fulltime since 2000. I have the disease and passion. This year i plan to grow my options and currencies knowledge; and devote some % of trading capital to trading options and currencies on select calendar days; with high readings in indicators that some have shared with me here and i have tweaked for my purposes. I have enjoyed watching you progress in your posts. There is no need to post all of your trades. Thanks and Good Luck to you. Jacques Clouseau
Many thanks for sharing, Jacques. Best wishes to you and your trading, as well. Your last post also cleared-up some things on my end. i was also confused as to how you couldn't see a $1k position in options can turn into $22k. if i had simply left the original 7 sept cme 260 calls and closed them out on 6/30, the position was worth $37.5k give or take a few hundreds. now, i understand that you're thinking i write options and using $1k as margin. i don't think that kind of gain is possible writing options on such a small capital. i'm on the "suckers" end of the options-trading. once in a while, buyers of options hit a "lottery" ticket. i did in 2000, but the winning lottery tickets back then were a dime a dozen. that got me hooked. been losing money for the past 3-4 years buying options. i usually dedicate 3-4k a year, and when they're gone, i stop. so, $1k was just the start and it just so happened it hit and i didn't need to add the other 2-3k. the returns would not be as impressive if i said i started with $3k, though there's another thread that seems to have the same scenario as mine: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55802 i was doing really well until last week and this week. i've read a lot of books on trading (all 3 wizards books, disciplined trading, fooled by randomness, zen of trading, pit bull, mcmillans on options, warrior trader, zurich axioms, etc.) so i think i have an idea what i did wrong the past 2 weeks, and i'm trying very hard to go back to the same mode i was in 1 1/2 months ago. the problem is, i'm only allowing myself one more bullet, and if this bbi put-position doesn't work out, i will not let myself wipe out all of the other gains, so in order to do that, i will give up trading options for the rest of the year. by the way, eventhough it has cost me dearly for this week, i'm still bullish on the markets (specifically on the s&p 500) for the short to medium term. i just looked at the recent CFTC data, and the commercials are within spitting distance of being "net long" on the s&p contracts (full and mini's combined). wow... i suppose i could dedicate another $3k on some nov or dec spy calls... i'd be violating my plan, so i really have to think and run this many times in my head over the weekend. thanks and good luck to you. jerry
mini-update 9/26/2005: opened a call-position SPY SPY Nov 123 calls (spyks) - 15 calls @ 1.75/ea. risk-capital $2625 stoploss of around $1200 (around 118.5 on the spy/underlying) so i only semi-violate my "plan to stop trading for the year" i will cut the losses at the point where i know i'm wrong. Peace.
i guess that's what makes a market... buyers and sellers. did you actually sell those calls? i wouldn't... it seems we're closer to support than resistance. i also have a few other stuff i'm looking at, altho, i was wrong on one of them. the commercial traders increased their net short positions for last week. i should be thankful for that one piece of info, as it made me not buy at the open and only get in if i can get a good price. i got those calls at very near the low of the day. tomorrow will be another day, though...
I am just beting the market does nothing.. in the next few weeks.. if anything it should trend lower.. for it to make new yearly highs would be surprising.. and probably just sold into... If naz breaks 2100 the party is over
mini-update 10/4/2005: position is currently showing a loss of $600 Because of time-decay and lower IV (about 1.5%), the stop-loss has been moved up to around 119.5 on the underlying (SPY). the $1200 stop-loss is not the amount of loss that will be taken, but the amount of risk-capital that will be left on the position. actual loss would be around $1400. i'm still in a "funk". will probably close this SPY-position even if the stop-loss is not hit by friday. wednesday (tomorrow) should be a good day for reversal on the market-direction. peace.