Anytime I’m doing a credit spread I always have a standing GTC order to close if the trade reaches -.05 to buy back. My CFC naked put reached that today. My total on this is +.33 - .05 = +.28/4.00 = +7%
I’m not usually a trader of below $20 stocks but this one was brought to me by a friend and I like his reasonings and the pattern to this stock…not to mention the credits.
I’m really working on trying to learn calendars and to perfect them so I am putting on a LOT of them. Last night in our trade meeting we discussed the “pukey” chart of CSCO. After running the numbers against the analyzer we decided to do a double calendar at the 25/26 strikes for Jun/Jul for a debit of -.37 each. Making a total debit of -.74
I chose to do a double because of where the current price is and the close range in strikes for the options.
A few days ago I opened a Jun/Jul Guerrila calendar on V at the 75 strike. The stock price had just touched the 75 and the price of the calendar was great at -1.20. Subsequently the stock price has moved against me and I have to close half my positions and protect the topside with a second calendar. I still feel this is a good trade so I choose to stay in the trade with this adjustment. I bought a protecting calendar at the 85s for -1.65 and have significantly widened my breakevens. Unfortunately I didn’t get filled on my order to sell half the position but I got filled on the covering calendar. Therefor, I reset a new GTC order to close my entire 75 position as it was so far out of the money.
-1.20 (open price) + 1.00 (close first positions) - 1.65 (covering calendar). The real math on this is -1.20 + 1.00 = -.20 / 1.20 = -16.6% for my first set closed. - 1.65 (Current Cost Basis).
MSFT was a decent setup at the time I placed the trade, however it has done nothing but go against me from day one. After smoking the hopium for a while and trying to save the trade by selling a call I have decided to cut my losses and get out.
I am selling my calendar for a loss but keeping the call as that is still profitable so I might recoup some of my loss. -.41 (open price) + .35 (closing price) = -.06 = .06/.41 = -14% I sold the calls for +.47 but I only did enough contracts to fix my deltas, not match the number of contracts I did on the calendar. Due to this fact I am not calculating this adjustment in for the total ROI of the trade but rather a separate trade by itself. In hindsight, although this trade was going against me I could have become profitable by matching the contracts of the calls, and then subsequently closing the trade. Live, learn, grow!
This past month has been up and down for me in my personal life, crazy busy and only getting busier. I will post the entire set up of my monthly results after working hours tonight.
I am happy to report that although April was scary there for a while for me I did pull out a win at 2.3%. I did a lot of trades and was twice as many wins as losses. I had 12 wins and 6 losses.
May was a much slower month, trade wise. I only put on 7 trades for the month!! The good news…ALL 7 WERE WINNING TRADES!! I pulled out a cool 3.1% for the month and I didn’t feel stressed about how anything was going and I didn’t need to make a lot of during market hour adjustments. This is the type of trading I want to really perfect. Limited at work hours for maximum return.
As far as my personal 2008 goals….well…lets see how I did there.
* I will become MCSE Certified by the end of the Year.
I still have not done anything with this…but work is talking about sending me to training.
* I currently weigh 190lbs. I will weigh 145 by the end of the Year.
I am VERY bad with this. I currently weigh 185…I need to re commit to this to make it happen.
* I will set up a working network at home to include but not limited to: Domain Controllers, File Server, Print server.
My husband has taken on the troubleshooting of the network. So I will refrain from this until he is done playing.
* I will have 6 months of profitable trading on think or swim papermoney.
3 down…3 more to go!!
* I will take at least one class per semester at George Mason University.
I just finished my first class with an A. I have yet to talk to an advisor to see what I should take next but I’m trying to get a class over the summer.
* I will save at least $5000 in a high interest savings account ING or Emigrant Direct.
I am WELL on my way to meeting this goal…I am farther along than expected.
* I will document my success and failures for my 2008 Goals.
I am staying successful at documenting…now I need to work on fulfilling
* I will start a journal of my daily activities.
I have not done this. I am still keeping track of the work one but it is not daily.
* I will attend at least one marriage seminar to improve the quality of my marriage regardless of how good I have it.
Still no progress on this one.
* I will attend at least one ‘better my understanding’ class to improve myself as a human being. This is not a desire to change who I am only to build upon my desire to be a great person.
I have completed 2 courses and am currently in the process of a 3rd and final class to complete the Landmark Curriculum for Living.
* I will limit my time on computer games to weekends and no more than 3 weekdays a month.
I blew this big time this month…I gamed every day last week.
* I will take 1 vacation with my husband this year that requires us to leave the current time zone.
We are going to Kansas to partake in a family reunion for the Seibenmorgans the end of July.
* I will organize and file ALL paperwork in a timely fashion to relieve both home and office of paper clutter.
Office…60%, Home…0%. Must make more effort for the house.
* 10 years, $1Mill Dollars. I will solely make $1 mill by the time I’m 36. This is on top of the salary I make with the government.
Short of the $5K for this year, I am very behind on this. I will try and get a good system for how to calculate this by the next time I update these goals.
A friend of mine in one of my trading groups is a financials fanatic!! He will buy any financial using hopium that it will go up. That also being said, he is a fundamentalist and I am not.
However, one financial that I have seen a very distinct pattern in lately is CFC. It has been bouncing around between $6 and $4.50 for a few months. With the low price of the stock I’m not looking for a “protected” position like a calendar or a vertical because the spread is almost not worth it.
I put on a naked put at the $4 strike today for +.33. For a potential ROI of .33/4.00 = +8.2%. This is a risky trade because I am not protected but I feel it is well worth it with the consolidation of the stock.
My friend plays this stock like this: buy when it is at or below $5 and sell when it gets to $6. For this trade my rule is sell when the buy back is -.05.
Happy Trading!
Another stock that I lost money on initially but am looking to make that back.
NTRI is channeling in a very tight channel between 22.50 and 17.50 and the IV is relatively low. I placed a calendar at the 20 strike for a debit of -1.20 in the Jun/Sep Months. This will give me the potential of 3 rolls.
With expiration today and TGT ultimately in the money at the 52.50 strike I set a GTC order to close for +1.80 and got filled.
-1.67 (Opening Price) + 1.80 (Closing) / 1.67 = +.13/1.67 = +7.7%
This didn’t take off in volatility like I was planning but I think that’s because earnings is coming out after expiration. Just something to add to my rules about pre-earnings plays.
BCS is a Brittish ADR stock that is channeling between 40 and 32. IV (Implied Volatility) is at it’s lowest point and rising.
I placed a double calendar at the 30 and 35 Jun/Sep strikes because the current price is 32.30 and dropping.
This trade cost me -.96 and -.85 for the two calendars for a total debit of -1.81
I opened a calendar on MSFT today for -.41 at the $30 put Jun/Jul strike. MSFT’s volatility has been extremely low lately. I chose the $30 instead of the $29 because I see the channel forming between 27 and 32 and I’d rather have a little upside protection with this potentially bullish stock.
