http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options Investing in Stocks Through Options Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:26:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I charted the S&P 500 ($SPX) after the markets closed on Friday, March 12, 2010, when the SPX closed at 1,149.99 for the week. // I decided to go with a monthly chart this weekend after having an email conversation with a reader who had a question about the 200 month ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/03/13/5-year-sp-500-chart/ The stock market can make you laugh at yourself sometimes.  UCO is playing its roll as the comedian today.  In my post on Monday I mentioned that I was trying to work a calendar spread on UCO.  I couldn't get the limit order I wanted to work for me on a combined order so ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/03/12/opened-uco-put-calendar-spread/ Occasionally when the markets are slow, like they've been recently, I mess around with a penny stock trade to try to make a little extra cash.  The risks of complete loss are fairly high with these stocks compared to my normal trades so I don't "play" with much.  This is much more ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/03/11/penny-stock-trade/ My CSCO position started with a mistake.  While getting used to the platform after switching my account to IB I mistakenly sold calls instead of a put, as if I hadn't made hundreds of trades for years and didn't know what I was doing.  I didn't panic.  Instead of closing ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/03/08/closed-csco-position/ I charted the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJIA) after the markets closed on Friday, March 3, 2010 when the Dow finished the week at 10,566.20. // In my S&P 500 chart last weekend I wrote that Monday would be a great indicator for how the markets would likely follow through.  Monday was a big ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/03/06/dow-jones-chart-break-out-attempt/ Yesterday afternoon I place a few limit orders late in the trading day for new naked puts on three different underlying stocks and ETFs - UWM, ITRI and JPM.  All of them were sitting at levels that I would have been comfortable selling the options, but I wanted to try for ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/03/02/sold-jpm-naked-puts/ I'm pretty happy with how February worked out for me, especially considering that I'm not fully invested still.   I finished February with a combined balance of $103,076.06 ($91,897.17 with IBKR and $11,178.89 with AMTD) which is up from my January finishing balance of $98,663.75.  $1,500 of the increase is from the deposit ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/03/01/end-of-month-summary-february-2010/ I charted the S&P 500 ($SPX) after the markets closed on Friday, February 26, 2010 when the index closed at 1104.49. // A few weeks ago when I posted a chart of the SPX I said the Williams %R indicator would give us the best indicator of when to buy.  A few days ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/02/27/sp-500-chart-february-26-2010/ I thought UCO would dip a little more than it has, but the lower US dollar opened the door for higher oil prices and I decided to take a nibble.  I mentioned in my post yesterday that I would probably sell April 11 puts on UCO, but with the move ... http://mytradersjournal.com/stock-options/2010/02/24/opened-small-uco-position/