I keep feeling like I’m missing out on something since I haven’t been trading much over the past month and a half. The good news is that I haven’t missed out. My account balance grows when the market stays flat and when it moves higher. The surge in prices today got me to add some…
Author: Alex Fotopoulos
End of Month Summary – August 2013
I fared better than the broader markets in August, but still lost a few bucks on paper. It wasn’t a bad month in that view, but felt like a wasted month in some ways. I barely traded and had a puny realized gain for the month. In other ways, it seemed like a good consolidation…
SPX Chart – August 30, 2013
I charted the daily prices for the year to date on the S&P 500 index ($SPX) after the index closed at 1,632.97 on Friday, August 30, 2013. The spoiler in that bearish call could be support from the higher trend line of higher lows that ignores some of the short-lived moves below the trend line….
Sold November SPY Naked Put
This August has been my most passive month for trades since I started trading options more than a decade ago. Today’s trade was only my second trade for the month and doubt I’ll make a trade tomorrow, the final trading day of the month. The driving force in my wait-and-see attitude came from slump since…
S&P 500 Index Chart – August 17, 2013
I charted the daily prices for the past six months on the S&P 500 index ($SPX) after the index closed at 1,655.83 on Friday, August 17, 2013. By the close on Friday, the S&P 500 was sitting below its 50-sma and its 10 and 20-sma were both descending. In addition, the Williams %R indicator showed…
Options Expiration – August 2013
QCOM options were my only contracts left to expire today. My one QCOM $62.50 naked put will expire worthless and my two QCOM $62.50 covered calls will be assigned. This takes me out of QCOM completely for the first time in well over a year. In March 2012, I sold a single QCOM naked put…
Sold OTM SSO Naked Puts
The current bull market is over four years old. That age seems to be the time when most bull markets begin to fade, but I’m betting this one is different. The main reason is that the preceding recession was deeper than the usual decline and that means the recovery should be longer as a reversion…
Dow Jones Chart – August 9, 2013
I charted the daily prices for the past three months on the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DJIA, $INDU, $DJI, the Dow) after the index closed for the week at 15,425.51 on Friday, August 9, 2013. By the beginning of this week, the 14-day Williams %R indicator moved below the overbought range for the second time in two…
S&P 500 Chart – August 2, 2013
I charted the daily prices for the past three months on the S&P 500 index ($SPX) after the index closed at 1,631.89 on Friday, August 2, 2013. When I charted the SPX last month, I commented that if the 50-day moving average (dma) held support the bulls would be in charge and new all time highs…