Who cares? We all get lucky and/or have runaway winners at times: 27 March 2007 Order Number: 36292176 Symbol : .UKODA Description : DNDN APR 5 Call Stock : DNDN at 4.73 Action : BOT TO OPEN Quantity : 10 contract(s) Price : $1.05 Commission : $15.00 Reg Fees : $0.00 Net Amt : $1,065.00 30 March 2007 Order Number: 36412700 Symbol : .UKODA Description : DNDN APR 5 Call Stock : DNDN at 14.96 Action : SLD TO CLOSE Quantity : 10 contract(s) Price : $11.80 Commission : $15.00 Reg Fees : $0.19 Net Amt : $11,784.81 Total crapshoot trade and it paid off well during that "Mother of All Short Squeezes" -- yes, it was my 'best' options trade thus far, but it's all part of the process. No need to gloat about it.[1] [1] Yes, I realise posting a trade report can be viewed as 'gloating' but it proves my point. We win some, we lose some. Would that we post our 100% (or gods forbid >100%) losses with such enthusiasm as well, right?
Yeah I remember Jim Cramer saying on "Bear Stearns Friday" that BSC would not survive in its (then) current form and I agreed. So I held some short calls over that weekend and it was a nice return when they were offered at 5 cents on the Monday. But the biggest and best trade in 2008 was shorting FRE and FNM. That was one giant goldmine. Even though I was short for many weeks waiting for the situation to be resolved, on the Friday evening, after the 4pm close but before the 8pm AH close, CNBC broke the story that they were being put into conservatorship. So I added to my already large position and shorted some more. I've also had my share of losing trades, but 2008 was a lot of fun: BSC FRE FNM IMB/IDMC WM WB LEH up until the government decided that financial firms were no longer allowed to fail.
I remember that friday like it was yesterday. I kept thinking 'dude just short more and more, put a huge position in, you are right on this one' but I didn't pull the trigger. Still made quite a bit of money but I should have retired or something
Could you post an EliteTrader link to this trade? Where these trades conducted live on EliteTrader? Post a link. Post an EliteTrader link to any live trade that surpassed a percentage gain of 770%.
That was me as well. I barely moved from my desk from the moment the JPM announcement came out on the Friday morning. I posted on ET about how I didn't think the stock would be above $1 on the Monday morning, but obviously I was wrong given that the buyout was $2, and then it was changed to $10 I think. here is the thread - good memories: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=121098&highlight=bsc As for my position, I also wanted to take a larger position, but still made a good amount on what I had. Although I don't believe in the efficient market hypothesis, I couldn't stop thinking that people were still confident in buying the stock over $30 and holding over the weekend - surely that many people couldn't be wrong. In 2008, with BSC, FRE and FNM and all the others, I gradually realised that a lot of people didn't quite understand that financials can go insolvent very quickly, and that the stockmarket isn't as efficient as the textbooks say it is.