Okay.. someone explain to me what the heck just happened. Here’s a 1 minute chart of the Q’s.
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?
Another day in the books and another recap to be had. Quick and dirty since I’m at work today, unfortunately.
Trades Taken
Profit / Loss for the Day: $145
Profit / Loss Open: $115
Another good day. Slowly but surely I’m getting my bearings. The next step is to develop my own stock scans. If any of you have any tips feel free to drop by. Books or websites would be extremely helpful!
Took a quick NQ trade near the end of the day for a point scalp. I know I lose a bit on commissions but it’s more about learning than anything else. Once I’m more confident, I can begin to increase the point spreads. But for now, it’s just a matter of learning.
Solars broke out today and I was in position with JASO thanks to the OA crew. I know that most of what I trade is based off his teachings and there’s going to be a point where I need to learn how to fish for myself thus the urgency in learning proper stock screening techniques for swing traders. As with everything, it just takes time.
Tomorrow morning consists of a vet visit so I’ll be missing a bit of the morning’s actions. I need to go back and review thinkorswim’s lecture on options expiry week, but if I recall correctly, tomorrow’s going to be a big day one way or another. Yesterday and today felt very slow which may indicate consolidation so we’ll see. I’m currently in a long portfolio which somewhat scares me so I’ll need to hunt for puts over the next couple of days.
Overall, while still another loss, it wasn’t a bad day. Once again, however, tight stops on futures got the best of me. It’s a work in progress though. Once I refine my futures trading skills, I’ll be able to post more consistent profits. I did notice around lunch time trading in a zone somewhat. Remember that scene from Office Space where they head to the psychoanalyst and that funky music plays in the background as Peter’s hypnotized? Yeah, it was almost like that. Anywho…
Trades taken
- 2xNQs
- 1 June 95 V Call
- 2 June 25 JASO Calls
- 2 June 25 BBD Calls
Today’s Profit / Loss: -$25
Minor loss although off my lows for the day. Some strength near the close helped cut my NQ losses in half. Other than that, while I’m concerned I’m overly bullish, I couldn’t find many put plays today. I noticed the Option Addict boards discussing Valero (VLO), but if oil prices do begin to come down, I think VLO and other refiners benefit due to the decrease in crack spreads, making it more profitable for them to crank out the good stuff. Volume was awful as well as I’m sure others are saying. I haven’t been trading long enough to understand what the differences are between a low volume and a high volume day, but it appears there is quite the difference.
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!
