My account balance has come down considerably from its recent highs. I figured it would whenever UCO stopped its ascent. It still isn’t fun to see this, even knowing the decline was bound to happen eventually. I mistimed the long options I bought earlier this month by a few days. Had I bought longer dated…
Month: February 2013
Sold SPY Bear Put Combination
I spent nearly an hour today trying to figure out how to make a worthwhile options trade on GLD. I think the gold ETF is going to move higher soon, but I couldn’t decide on an order that would manage my risk for the little reward I was getting. Finally, I turned back to SPY,…
S&P 500 Chart – Borrowed Time
I charted the daily prices for the past six months on the S&P 500 ($SPX) after the index closed at 1,515.60 on Friday, February 22, 2013. Last week, the S&P 500 fell below its multi-month trend line of higher lows. At the same time, it fell below its 10-day moving average (dma) and 20-dma. All three…
Sold IWM March Put Spread
I mentioned in a post at the end of last week that I planned to get back into IWM today. I almost decided not to since the small-cap ETF continued to climb and appeared ready to correct. Then I opted to change my approach and allow room for a correction or a continued small rally….
DJIA – Year to Date Chart
I charted the daily prices for the year to date on the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJIA, $INDU, $DJI, the Dow) after the index closed at 13,981.76 on Friday, February 15, 2013. The moving averages offer some help here too. The 10-day moving average (dma) is still above the 20 dma. Traders will know to cut…
Options Expiration – February 2013
This seemed like a very low-key expiration day, but I freed-up a lot of cash today. Now, I have to figure out what my next move is. Small-cap and mid-cap stocks have melted higher over the past few days, but larger stocks have flattened out or drifted lower recently. This doesn’t give a lot of…
Bought a Floor for UCO
Mid-afternoon on Friday, I was doing a round of chart reviews for everything in my account and for what I was considering for my account. When I got to my oil position, I didn’t like what I saw in the UCO chart. It had fallen below its 10-day moving average (dma) every day that week…
S&P 500 Chart – February 8, 2013
I charted the monthly prices for the past 10 years on the S&P 500 ($SPX) after the index closed at 1,517.93 on Friday, February 8, 2013. The S&P 500 threw out some red flags this past week with three moves below its 10-day moving average (dma). However, only the first move below the short-term moving average…
Opened New DIS Position
I exited my last Disney (DIS) position almost five years ago when DIS was trading for $31.94. I was smart to do so since DIS lost more than half of its value within a few quarters after I dumped it. However, if I had sucked it up and became a buy and hold investor (ick!),…