http://screencast.com/t/C0HvdiA53

Total Contracts Traded:  11

I sold off the rest of my STT contracts yesterday as they report this morning.  One of two things will happen.  When they report, the selloff will be horrible and I’ll feel bad for not leaving some of my shorts on the table.  Or after they report, STT rallies as investors will have more clarity into their business.  Either way, I don’t care to play earnings and STT’s given me a cool 200%+ return so who can complain.

Within the first 15 minutes, my DIA/SPY calls used to hedge against any upside were stopped out.  After seeing the pre-morning action and noticed futures ever so slowly declining, I put the stops in place which were immediately hit.  Needless to say, it worked out fairly well.  I did re-enter into some hedged positions but that may have been a mistake.  I’ll know more when I land later this morning.

Profits:  $377

Yes, I’m hitting new highs.  I re-read parts of Trading in the Zone and should have a post sometime in the next couple of days regarding the last chapter in the book.

First leg of my journey home begins in about an hour.  I’m upset I’ll be missing the market open but hopefully the markets don’t tank too hard without me in the game.

Around 2:30 (yes, that 2:30 reversal period), the Qs and the rest of the market went right down the toilet.  I think the bears were mocking the bulls and were loading up just to give them some false sense of hope before they brought out the bombers and obliterated any rally today.  Now that the carnage is over, how’d I do?

Trades Taken

• 2 x NQ
• -1 x JASO June 25 Call
• 1 x LVS June 65 Put
• 1 x BBD June 25 Call

Profit / Loss for the Day: $132.50

Profit / Loss Currently Open: $32.50

I think something odd happened when I sold half of my JASO position.  I sold one JASO contract at $2.75 for a profit of ($2.75 – $1.25) $150.  However, my P/L for the day in JASO is $87.50 (JASO declined during the nasty selloff).  Anywho, on the NQ front, I managed to escape with $80 on the day.  I need to begin letting my NQs run a bit more.  I could have easily captured another 5-10 points on the NQs had I let them run and watched my indicators.  But that’s how one learns.  It’s a matter of learning by experience.

Took a position against LVS near the close.  LVS in the past has been very good to me so we’ll see if it cooperates with me this time around.  I have a very tight leash on it with an entry near $72.20 and a stop around $72.50 + 0.5%.  I also went ahead and increased my max risk level on BBD.  Over the past couple of days, I’ve noticed BBD consolidating.  While it’s close to violating my trendline, it’s still in play and so I increased my position to my max risk (using the initial purchase price for my BBD contracts).

Options expiry is Friday and I’m glad I’m done with my May options.  Another options cycle is close to being in the books.  Any thoughts on what tomorrow’s action will bring?

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.