My focus this week was on Visa. Earlier in the week, I tried to short, figuring it was near the top. While I was wrong at the time, I was right overall. The past couple of days has seen Visa drop about 10%. Perfect play.. wrong time of entry.
Futures trading is pretty exciting. I’ve only been trading futures for about three days now, but I’ve learned quite a bit. With options, I pick a good entry/exit point and hold. Futures trading is much, much quicker taking a quick point or two and exiting. I think if I can get used to the fact that all I need is a point or two in my direction with futures trading, I may be alright. And I thought options trading was fast and exiting.
Weekly Profit / Loss: -$130
While not a huge loss, it’s a loss nonetheless. Next week is options expiry week. While I don’t care to trade during options expiry week, options pricing for the next month out is usually pretty decent. I’ll be compiling a shopping list and hopefully picking up a couple of trades here or there while I continue to learn the ropes of the futures market.
I’m on deck to potentially join the Virtual Office. While not as capitalized as they are, I think I can hold my own. And if not, I’m sure DT will promptly boot me, hah!
I have next week off once again so hopefully I can make some headway and perhaps turn a weekly profit. I’m in desperate need of one. Have a great weekend!
The action today was anemic. Now I understand what folks like Dinosaur Trader and others complain about when the markets behave like today. It also didn’t help that oil reached a record $126.22ish at its high. Visa took another hit today, down another 4 points. It’s reaching my entry/exit target of ~$81. My feeling is that folks will begin to buy Visa next week and perhaps pin it near the 85 strike price but only Monday can tell. There’s quite a bit of call open interest from 80, 85, and 90, so I would expect Visa to recover rather nicely. With the larger bankroll I have, I’ll probably purchase one or two May 85 calls and one or two June 90s for a longer term hold.
Trades Taken: 3 x NQ
P/L: +$10
That’s right, I’m positive on the day and trading the NQs at that! A victory is a victory.
We’re off to Yappy Hour (happy hour for dogs… don’t ask). See you tomorrow!
No trades taken yesterday due to other commitments. I was around in the morning and could have traded a perfect short on Visa but was unable to pull the trigger. I’ve noticed that happening more and more as of late which reminds me of my trading fears about 3 months ago after the markets crashed about 20%. But today’s another day and my account continues to grow from deposits. Need to work on fear… must reread Trading in the Zone…
Crude is now over $125 this morning. Be very careful. As oil goes higher, there’s very little chance the markets can follow. AIG also missed earnings last night which has helped put a damper on the markets this morning. Futures are down about 90 points with fair value around positive 40, for a net difference at the open of about -130. I don’t forsee this being a pretty day.
Another rough day and once again it’s inexperience that causes me so much pain. Today additional funds were deposited into my account, finally giving me access to futures trading. My first NQ futures trade was successful, no matter how small the victory. Subsequent attempts at trading the NQs resulted in failure.
Trades taken: 5 x NQ
P/L: -$90
After becoming frustrated early in the day, I took the rest of the day off. Going back, I realized a few things about my first attempt at futures trading.
First, my stops were entirely too tight. I didn’t give my futures time to move and as a result I paid dearly for it with money left on the table. Trailing stops also don’t work well in a choppy market. This morning, the markets were extremely choppy. Of course hindsight’s 20/20, but it would have been best to sit out most of the morning. Around lunch time, futures across the board dropped but by then I was done for the day. This afternoon was probably the easiest time to have made a nice sum of money. C’est la vie.
Tomorrow’s another day although I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll see choppy action in the morning. Maybe taking the rest of the week off isn’t a bad idea.
By the way, crude just topped $124.
STOP DAYTRADING!
Someone please remind me to do the above. I’m not an options day trader. I’m losing too much money trying to day trade. Sigh.
Trades taken: 2 (Visa puts)
P/L: -$50
Today appears to be a better day. First, my deposits into my account have cleared. Our tax rebates have finally come in as well. Overall, I have a bit more firepower to play with so in terms of being properly capitalized and diversified, we’re one step closer.
On that note, I may dip my hand at trading the NQ futures. I’m still on the fence about it but we’ll see how the day’s actions go.
Oil topped $122 yesterday before settling near $121. Oil is currently sitting at $121.80. Goldman Sachs is predicting oil near $200 within the next 6 to 18 months which is scary in and of itself. Note that a couple of years ago, Goldman predicted $100 oil within the next two years. Look where we’re at now.
Stay sharp today!