I’ve been neutral to bearish lately, so I decided to put my money where my mouth is and leg into an SSO short straddle. While SSO was trading at $30.95 I sold to open two SSO September 32 calls (SOJIF) for $1.05 each and received $198.49 after commissions. Last week I sold SSO September 30…
Author: Alex Fotopoulos
S&P 500 Chart – August 14, 2009
I charted the S&P 500 ($SPX) after the markets closed on Friday, August 14, 2009 when the SPX closed at 1,004.09. This chart has a lot going on and it all points to more uncertainty. Stay tuned though, it’s interesting and should offer a solid clue of direction within the next few days. I drew…
Sold FCX September 55 Naked Puts
This has been a rollercoaster week and that doesn’t even count the big ups and downs of the markets. I started on Monday with the news that I’d stay employed for at least another month, but at a $15k pay cut. In the afternoon I found out my dad was in the hospital and had to…
Sold SSO September 30 Naked Puts
I’ve been so shy about not getting too deeply invested for the past couple of months I’ve missed out on a lot of potential gains. After today’s rally started I gave in a little. I decided to ease in with a half order on SSO, the double S&P 500 ETF. While SSO was trading at $31.16…
Dow Jones Chart – August 7, 2009
I charted the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJI) daily prices for the year to date after the markets closed on Friday at 9,370.07.
Still Employed
A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I was told my job was being cut at the end of July. The end of July came and went, but my job didn’t. I’m still sitting in the same chair. Finally on Wednesday, three business days into August, I went to my boss’ office for something else…
Stock Picks – August 3, 2009
I’m posting some new stock picks I’ve gathered over the past few days from other blogs and a few from today’s Barron’s. If you have more stock picks you’d like to share, please email me (alex AT mytradersjournal.com) or post a comment below. AKS – from The Wild Investor – his post includes bullish chart analysis…
Russell 2000 Chart – Hitting Resistance
I charted the Russell 2000 index ($RUT) after the markets closed on Friday, July 31, 2009 when it finished the month at 556.71.
End of Month Summary – July 2009
I kept my streak alive in July with another month of gains. After finishing June 2009 with an account balance of $78,417.54 I stayed far more risk averse than I should have in hind sight. I’m still not jumping in to this rally in full belief that we can’t have another leg down, but do realize…