By far the most profitable time of my trading career was when I actively traded my positions and adhered to the short-term intent I started off with. As many issues arise in life, such as work, family or errands, I’ve lost track of what was most profitable. Trading is a discipline in which not many can succeed (estimates indicate over 90% who attempt trading give up). It’s sheer brutality at times can send chills down the spine and numb the senses. Of course here I am differentiating between investing and trading. Investing like Warren Buffett works for the long run and buy and hold in value stocks is also worthy for capital appreciation or dividend gains. However, I have found myself to enjoy watching the markets daily. I feel comfortable being able to take my account flat at any time I like. Sitting on cash is a good feeling when market whiplash is more than I can handle. There is something empowering about being able to control my capital allocation in just seconds. Is steel booming? Jump in. Is the yen changing directions drastically? go leverage the foreign exchange. I always have some shares “invested” in my back pocket but at most 15% of my capital. Perhaps one day I’ll settle down and “invest” but as of now; nothing beats the thrill of capital markets for the short run.
April 2006
Sun 30 Apr 2006
Fri 28 Apr 2006
INTC’s morning volatility wave carried me to sell 2 call options at .50. I have 8 left and all were purchased at a price of .10. 400% gain for 4 days hold time is not too shabby in my book. Of course, this is one of those times where one wishes they put a lot more into the trade but I’m not complaining, profit is profit.
Thu 27 Apr 2006
A good day for intc today. It closed +1.02 or 5.35% at 20.08. ~$19.90 seems to be the AH close. The last trade for the options was $0.45. This is up $.35 from my purchase. Not bad for 3 days hold time. I will look to sell 2 contracts at .5 tomorrow so that i can cover all the cost of the options and let 8 remaining contracts ride for free.
Wed 26 Apr 2006
i picked up some intc may 20 calls at .10 yesterday. they traded at .20 today. it looks like a higher low in the recent candlesticks so i’ll continue to hold. I only bought 10 contracts so it’s an all or nothing trade.