At the halfway point of 2016, my account looks terrible. Until I started writing this post, I didn’t realize that I did not make a single trade in June. That didn’t stop me from losing a boatload of money on paper. TLT hit an all-time high and I’m still not hedged. I only have three other…
Options Expiration – June 2016
I had no options expire today, so I’ll give a short account summary instead. This is what’s in my account right now: +300 shares of IWM +100 shares of MDY +100 shares of DIS -1,300 shares of TLT -800 contracts on TLT July $127 covered puts My account balance has been massacred by the run…
End of the Month Summary – May 2016
Short-term memory can be deceiving sometimes and that’s one of the many reasons I find it important to keep a trader’s journal. If I had not looked back to see my balance at the end of April, I would’ve thought I had killed it in May. Instead, I simply came back strong from the mid-month…
Closed TLT June Call Options
I spent some money today, $3,752.39 to be exact. As I did at the end of May, I closed out my ratio spread on TLT that included short in the money calls. TLT dropped hard at the open, down nearly a $1 and I jumped on the opportunity to get out of my short option…
Options Expiration – May 2016
I only had two options expire today – 10 TLT May $125 covered puts and three TLT May $134 naked calls. Both legs were set to expire worthless and I planned to sell new puts and calls for July, but margin limitations didn’t agree with my plans. Since both legs were far enough out of…
End of the Month Summary – April 2016
My account continued to regain value in April even after March’s amazing month of gains. My account value peaked a few thousand dollars higher than I finished, but still am happy to have another solid month in the books. I expect May to help me again, but it will really depend on how bonds move…
Closed TLT May Call Ratio Spread
Taking a loss is never fun, but I should’ve done it sooner maybe. My ratio call spread on TLT set to expire in May didn’t quite go as planned. While TLT was trading at $128.43 this afternoon, I bought to close 10 TLT May $126 calls for $2.85 each and sold to close 20 TLT…
Options Expiration – April 2016
Once again, I have no options expiring today. I haven’t even made a trade in weeks. So, I’ll give a portfolio update instead. I was planning to sell covered calls on my IWM, MDY, DIS shares, but the charts showed a lot of upside available and I waited. Now, I’m thinking about it again and…
End of the Month Summary – March 2016
March was a fantastic month for nearly everyone who was long stocks. My gains were cut by my short position on TLT, the 20-year Treasury ETF, but I still had a really good month. My stock ETFs produced all of my gains. My TLT shares that I’m short cost me $3,884, but my options on…