Hey all, I've been trading stocks for a few years now and in February I started trading options. I don't believe in paper trading and believe the best way to learn about anything in the market is through using real money. As a result, I've learned a lot recently, but I'm down nearly 25% on the year. The purpose of this journal is to document my journey back to an even P&L on the year. I plan to do this by limiting options trades, which I have been using exclusively for the past 3 months, and going back to what has worked for me (trading/swing trading stocks & ETF's).
Holding overnight, stopped out when 60min candle closes above trendline. Also, commissions are $1.00 per 100 shares. Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I'm still short heading into Monday. If spy gaps lower tomorrow morning by anything more than .5%, I will cover half of my position. I have been working on letting my winners run however, so lets see where this week takes us.
I covered all 38 shares at 38.61. Last night I said I would cover half of the shares if spy gapped down over .5%. I did not do this because spy opened below its daily trendline-support. I then figured spy would trade lower to test the 100sma on the daily chart. I left for my 9 o'clock class and set a buy order for all 38 @ 121.61 (just above the 100sma). I decided to cover all shares because the market, if it reached my 131.61 target, would be way over extended. pictured below are the daily charts showing this trade; the chart on the left is from last thursday when I put the trade on and the chart on the right is today. Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Forgot to add: Starting capital = $2670 Spy short trade = +$113 Current capital = $2780 Goal.... $3500 +4.1% account gain on trade and since start of journal. (Figures may be a bit off due to commissions and an 18$ options contract I am still holding)
Thanks Sidw. Short spy at @ 132.7 Stop is ~ 134.5 area. Don't know why it says I got filled before the chart reached 132.7... Looking to hold this for a while, preferably down to the 124/125 area. Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Still short, I knew when I put this trade on that I would probably take some heat. Market is reverting to the mean right now... not worried. If we close at highs today, I will look to see the market gap higher on Friday, in which case I will add to my position as I expect there will be heavy selling into the weekend, and early next week.