Name of one of many signals so that I can know why I entered into a trade after the fact (8 is the version number of B) Basically its my "powerhouse" signal that I do the best with in terms of overall gains to date. Have a good weekend Robert
Good day of trading today Wow what a day. Really felt like it was a day from the first half of 2009. Lots of signals and the only thing holding me back from doing better was going slow and not putting on to big of size. Many âcloseâ signals as well. Perhaps I could have done a better job with USG as I bailed on it before if fell further into target but I was working on another project and with such a tight range I took a smaller than wanted gain to avoid it shooting higher into the close. APPL hitting new highs again and now over-bought. I wanted to short but was also very careful as the price moved higher after filling the gap so I waiting until near the end before I put on my last trade that I am holding over the weekend. I shorted the May 280 Calls to collect some time premium and to be short AAPL which is slightly better than even at the close AAPL M270C + 51 scalped this a couple of times today but did not try to get much as I expected it would be more likely than not that the price will move towards a HOD into the close. AAPL M280C currently short and this was my second attempt as I was stopped out in my first and then waited until near close to enter again which turned into a good move as I shorted at a higher price + 8 HOT This was my carryover from yesterday and ended up a loser overall. Basically to aggressive early on yesterday but I was happy with how I traded it today. I made several trades around my BE and was able to capture some of the hit from yesterday. + 239 LEN was a B8 that worked out great as I hit the very top. Only problem was I was already in a couple other trades so I kept my size very small and that of course limited my gains. + 233 SM B8 that I started out not caring if I entered or not. No news that I could find at the time of the trade but it really went on fire for a while. It moved beyond my entry quite a ways and then I stepped on it a little harder and ended up not catching the top but really up there considering how far it kept going. Great trade all around. + 510 USG B8 that was such a great setup that I stepped on it a little more than normal. I entered in a little early so my basis was lower than it would have otherwise been. This was not needed in this case as it made it all the way to qualify and then some so I would have been just as well off waiting but often it wonât make it. In the chat room I called this my âshort f the dayâ which I actually only call out about one every week or two. But it was about as good of a short fade as I see. The only part that could have been better is if it would have died hard after I went short but it just did not. I was over agressive on my attempted gains and USG held a price near 24 for the better part of the day. My basis was over 24 so that was not a big deal. I did start to short above 24 and buy back just under 24 and I could have done it many more times than I did but I also was aware that I did not want to get my hand caught in the cookie jar to many times. Near the close I covered so that I would not risk an upside breakout. + 503 I think today was the best day of the month and if not it is probably close + 1545
Well its been a busy time since the last post. I have an offer on a house that was accepted so we are looking at moving about 15 miles away that should give us more room. Still some details to work out so I can't say that it's a done deal yet. Took finals for classes and did well so I am happy with that although I have about a weeks worth of work left. I also am getting my 15 minutes of fame as I have a small article in ActiveTrader magazine written about me under the monthly feature "The Face of Trading" so that is fun I also finished up another profitable month in April and today is starting the month out well. BP is giving me a little bit of pain but I did manage to trade it a little bit for some gains. With any luck we will have some more good news out see it spike up VRX + 58 THOR covered right before the open missing out on the huge drop. I can't say I am happy about this one but it goes the other way a lot as well so I guess it all evens out + 440 PWER + 15 MEE will be looking to write some more puts and take another stab at this one soon. for today I was stopped out + 3 HAR MAY 37.5 P + 114 GS JUN 130 P + 78 GIS afterhours trade I went long just 100 shares looking to hold longer but it moved up and just sat there for a couple of hours so I walked away. I will look to enter again tomorrow via shorting puts if there is any action but the options look pretty low volume. + 35 DTG 8 CLH + 13 BP M45P I am short the J50P and the M52.50P and they are underwater but simple time decay can turn them into winners without any price help. +83 + 851
Congratulations on the house and article! If you can, post it here, or p.m. it to me. I used to read Active Trader at the book store, along with about every other magazine, while I waited for the kids at Tae Kwon Do 3 days a week.
Thanks and I will do. Funny thing is that of all the magazines I get each month the one I am in was destroyed on the way to my mailbox so I need to get another. Maybe I will use this one and cut the page out and frame it or something.
wow, what a day for the 30yr bonds In what appears to be a flight to safety the 30yrs were on fire today. The Jun futures contract is over 120 which is the highest I have seen it in a while. I am short from before the 119 calls and even with the premium and some time decay I am underwater. the US debt being used as a place of safety is almost comical but I guess perception is reality. It would be one thing if only the market went down and the bonds went up as we were taught in trading 101 but when the market moves down as a result of Greece having serious debt issues and compounded by maybe Spain having problems as well that is not a reason to buy US debt in my opinion. While the US may have a few extra dollars in the purse due to repayments from TARP ect⦠it is not like Washington will go to bed at night without coming up with useful ways to use the money to get re-elected umm I mean help the American people. Unless tomorrow the Treasury comes out and says âoh by the way we canceled the auctions today as we are no longer going further into debtâ we are going further into debt and that will mean at some point rates will go up. I would expect the inventory to be lower tomorrow but someone help us if it isnât. also while the fed sells off C and keeps the price of that item under $5 for the time being at some point they will run out of stock and it will be time to fire up the printers and see how many bonds we can print off and dump on those that are dumb enough to buy them at sub 5% interest for a 30year bond. Seriously, if the best idea you have to invest your money is to commit to 30 years to a country that has a debt level that is accelerating and off balance sheet accounting of obligated future payments that gives us a negative net worth then you better not be asking anyone to pay you for your advise. One thing is for sure with taking swing trades. Options are often vastly superior in that you can be wrong and still make money. the 30yr has moved over 2 points against my opening basis and I am currently down about 1 1/2 points with half of that being intrinsic value that falls every day. I also in after hours added to my bond short with a Jun 122 short that is near even as of this post. Market down heavy but both GS and BP held up very well I thought. I covered most of my GS (options) and waiting to see if it has another leg down before adding. I shorted one Jun MEE 33P although I had more offered and did so right before the close at 2.06. MEE has been beaten like a seal pup and any good news should give it a strong pop. So it may continue lower for the next few days but it would appear that the worst is over for large moves down with the stock. I would gather even some more bad news is not going to push it down much further. Otherwise it was a mixed day. A few trades and one big trade with EXBD but didnât go as well as I would have liked. EXBD B8 signal, entered a little early with a very strong move higher. Kept going and going and traded around the position much of the day including covering at a loss. Held on to within a few minutes of the bell but didnât want to hold overnight so flattened out with it. + 251 PSER + 33 VVUS early B8 + 34 PBR + 50 OSTK traded the reopen of the stock. This one seems to always be a good short. especially with a CEO that is more worried about the stock price than he is about making money. If he learns that making money = good stock price he will be that much further ahead. + 105 NTRI + 127 JTX lotto ticket that I took a stop loss â 71 + 531
Trading results 5/5/10 Pretty busy day of trading I am writting this a day late and after today with the crazyness of the market I dont recall all of the signals and I am worn out so I am just putting down the trades. AMMD + 46 DM + 34 ESRX + 1 ITMN + 541 SIRO + 56 BP Jun 50P + 3 still short one contract MEE Jun 33P + 49 ZB JUN 122C + 305 + 1037
Total madness today With as bad as today was it could have been much worse. I took a hit like many did today and I am sure those that had shorts in play are living it up tonight. What turned out to be the most painful is the 30 yr bonds. They spiked like I have never seen and I was already underwater going into today. I actually left mid day for my sons school program and the free fall just started before I came back. Going into the fall I held short puts on GS and BP and all in all they held up pretty well. Especially so with BP after being beat up so badly. I guess it already reached a point that the holders for the most part are staying the course. GS took it on the chin a little bit but if I was exercised today I would still not lose a lot but I am holding Jun puts so I have a ways to go. BP would be a loser if exercised today as well but only by a small amount. I still have C and the calls I wrote against it SEP 5s dropped by two cents since I wrote them and actually went up in value today. Very frustrating but given enough time they will decay. I did have some good trades today and some bad ones for a day that I was pretty tough. FIS + 138 MGA + 212 TSL MayP + 17 Jun 30 yr tres + 1335 I faded the move and at least with this trade I was real pleased with the results. The most contracts I held was three and was very conservative as I did not scalp it due to holding re-shorts asks pretty high Covered 1 of 2 Jun 30yr 199Calls and while the other one currently is not a double of this loss it sure has turned into a tough trade. â 2917 I also re-shorted the 30yr 122C and they are currently underwater. After today there is no market for many of the options. I guess the normal market makers had their fill for one day. I will probably take a loss on the 119 tomorrow along with some of the 122s and short a higher strike price like 124s and maybe also if the IV is still very high tomorrow short a put to offer some protection against the bonds going higher and to capture some very large time decay going on from here to expiration day. Basically I am underwater in everything I am holding and the silver lining after today is that they do not have to really move back my way and I will come out fine. I just need them to stop moving against me and that may be a tall order after today. I will find out the answer to my and everybody elseâs question of âis this market going to stabilize and maybe go higher or is it going to continue downwardâ. The large recovery today was encouraging that the wheels have not fallen off. Any good news and I would expect a nice bounce as we have some numbers coming out with employment and we have also had three days down which may give us a retracement and some bargain hunting. - 1213
Mostly a watch and see kind of day I held back on many trades today with the thought like I am sure many had that it was Friday and we could see some serious weight on the market. I did have a few trades though. I covered some for the 122 Jun bond calls before the equity markets opened and then shorted another one after the open when the Jun futures climbed higher. I think waiting for a higher price would have been a better move as it turns out I was early. The market did come back but hovered several times including the close at a slightly worse price which became comical. TNDM + 33 GS Jun145P â 28 DNDN + 58 30yr Jun 124 C + 106 Still short the 30yr bond futures and long C, GS, BP all via short options + 169