I'm skeptical on reaching 1M by the end of this year. I got a great start only because January was one of those blue moon months where the market went up everyday. It took me a bit longer to find out what kind of pattern was displayed in February, but I got lucky on the weekend on Feb. 16-20 where I bought some of those positions heading into the weekend and took some nice profits by Monday/Tuesday. I didn't catch the pattern last weekend and took a loss on trades like AMZN because I jumped into the positions too late. The key was to get into these "leading stocks" like AMZN, NFLX, and NVDA on Friday when the market bottomed out by lunch time, and then hold them into Monday/Tuesday. If things hold true tomorrow, then I'll lock in gains on NFLX and NVDA again doing this pattern, and I'll look for the pattern again on Friday. I feel like as long as the market was in a correction, this pattern should hold true as it has in the past 3 weeks. I'm only using leading stocks, because there were clear divergence among the leaders and laggards. Personally, I want to see the DJIA test 24000 again before I can really believe in the market rallying to new highs. But, as long as this correction holds, I'll look for patterns. The other part of this pattern is that during the Tuesday-Thursday trade, the weaker stocks are falling farther and struggling to hold onto any support at all. If I can fade into these weekend rallies and buy into the selling on Friday, then I should be able to capture the entire correction wave. I've noticed industrials like BA and CAT to be among the weaker stocks along with some techs like FB. Hopefully, everyone else sees some kind of pattern that this market has given and are taking advantage of it.
I wouldn't set any crazy goals like that because it could affect your excellent thinking and trade patterns you normally follow. Just keep doing what seems right to you and you will do great.
Well, market is back to its pattern, except it looks like it is starting sooner. I'm closing out NVDA calls within 15 mins of the open as that one is a little weaker. I will also lock in some gains on NFLX, but hold onto JWN. The JWN play is not on market pattern, but instead it is a play on the takeout rumors still swirling around.
NVDA positions closed out for +950, NFLX was rolled up (so I closed the 295 calls for +2300) and added the 310 calls at 3.3-3.4 range. Also took 1/2 off the JWN position, and added JPM 112 weekly calls with jobs report out on Friday.
I may have taken a loss on the earnings play, but I'm going back long SQ today using Apr 50 calls. The breakout looks very strong and it should push through 50 soon. I still love the base set up and this one will actually be a much longer play than recent trades.
Note: I've adjusted my position size from 2-3 to 4+ today. Account this morning was at 30,144. I certainly do feel like the account is going much fast with an extra 1-2 calls. It does help that the NFLX 310 calls I rolled up to went from 3.4 to 10 in one day. That JPM 112 weekly call also jumped from 1.65 range to 3.90. I will hold all of these positions into tomorrow to see if they continue to follow through. There's still the chance that Trump tweets out something out of left field and derails the entire market. For now, the market does look stronger, but if pattern holds we could selling come in on Wednesday and Thursday.
My hat off to you. Your calls/views of the market directions and stock/options selections are truly impressive. I enjoyed following your trades and thank you for sharing your thoughts. Regards,
I had to close out the NFLX calls; the gains on this one ended at +3500. Locked in gains in JPM too; I jumped in yesterday morning at 1.63 avg and gains came to just under +1100. I'm taking a hit in the JWN play though, with news that the Family were only buying it for $50/sh. That's definitely too low, and should just be their test of how the market takes it. The only other weekly position I have now is the SQ 49 calls. SQ opened lower this morning, but should bounce. I am probably done for the day, unless there are some shorts/put positions that looks interesting from now into Friday morning. I'll look at leaders again on Friday morning for a repeat, and I'll repeat it until it doesn't work anymore.
Thank you ironchef, I started this journal to keep tracks of my thoughts as I buy and sell every positions. This way, I have an idea of how to adjust to my future positions. I also tried to put my trades and at least my general ideas here asap so that any one who wants to give it a shot can test my strategy too. I don't know who have and have not, but comments like yours and jeff's do show that maybe a few have tried some of the trades and have gained some change from it. If nothing more, I hope you continue to enjoy it.
I thought I was done, but I screened a breakout this morning. A quick review shows solid earning results from BZUN (chinese stock). I dipped into this one using about $600 risk or 2%. The breakout looks solid, and I'm still conflicted on actual earning reports from Chinese stocks, but I'll give this one a chance using the Mar 45 calls. BZUN is at 44.50, and I'm looking for a move to $50 on momentum over the next 4-5 days where I want to close out at least a couple of days before next Friday's expiration. I put a stop on at 1.00 for now and will adjust as needed.