INTRO
I meant to do this earlier, but was distracted watching "Planet Earth" disk 3. Good stuff!
Today in stocks I learned something. Your going to have trades that you set up with a percent trailing stops. You'll then get stopped out at your specific percent that you set. Then you'll find out that the stock/option ended up just going 4 cents above that percent stop and then ended up moving back in the direction you were playing. Such was the case today with my ENR Put position. Was at a $50.00 dollar gain in the morning and ended getting stopped out around 1ish PM with $10.00 profit. I guess it's all part of the game.
PICKS
I'm setting up on "X" to go below $38.39 during professional hour. If it goes below $38.39 and is trending down going into and during professional hour I'll purchase an X Aug 39 Put.
I will purchase an FLS Aug 85 Put if it crosses below $83.00 as well as it's sector trending down into and during professional hour on 5-min bars.
I would also like to set up on GS using a breakout/vertical spread. If I can figure out how to do so. I've never done one of these kinds of trades before. I have some follow through rules in order to get into these trades, but like I mentioned before I can't get into this unless I know how to do the trade. So, most likely I won't be getting into GS.
FLASH FROM THE PAST
Trade #3 Deck Directional Pattern Alteration entry date 4/12/10. Entered in because price passed lower threshold. Was stopped out by a 10% trailing stop on the option. This traded turned out to be a 14% loss. Like my other PA trades. I purchased this a little late in the game. What can I learn? I can learn that when I miss the first crossing of the threshold I need to get in or don't get in. I guess from my notes this thing didn't really have smooth equity trader momentum. It also moved down 2.5 points in 25 min.
OPEN POSITIONS
BP Jul 55 Call- At a loss. Will let expire worthless unless major movement to the upside
NKE Jul 80 Call- At a loss. Will let expire worthless unless major movement to the upside
RIMM Jul 65 Call- At a loss. Will let expire worthless unless major movement to the upside
CLOSED POSITIONS
I was going to do an evaluation on a stock I closed today in this section, but I'm thinking I'll just do it in my "Flash from the Past" section. If anybody reading this thinks I should do this section. Please advise by commenting. Or if you think I should just do it in the "Flash from the Past" section of the blog let me know. Right, now I'm going to bypass this because it's late and I have to work in the morning.
CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE
$900.60- Still at a loss.
Please feel free to leave feedback, comments, and questions.
Disclaimer- This trade journal blog is for education and
entertainment purpose only. In no way am I implying that you
purchase any of the stocks that I setup on. Stocks and option
trading is extremely risky.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
6-30-10 A Past Due Post
INTRO-
My apologizes that this post is way past due. I do have some legit excuses for why this post is past due. Reason #1, I've been busy helping my family with their business that they are starting. Check it out www.freshlymilledbreads.com (website still underway) Reason #2, I'm trying to get into a coaching program with Rob Allen. Anyways, enough with my excuses. Let's talk about stocks shall we?
PICKS
I have no picks for tomorrow, but if I find some from some of the sites I visit I'll enter into the position tomorrow.
FLASH FROM THE PAST
Trade #2
BUCY, Direction Pattern Alteration. Entry date 3/23/10. I entered this trade because price passed the upper threshold I set for this stock. I exit this trade on 3/24/10 based on a 7% trailing stop on the option. Like my trade with CHRW I entered this trade a little late. This trade turned out to be a 4% lost. What can I learn from this trade? I learned several things. First, I entered this trade too late. Next time I need to enter in immediately after price passes my upper threshold. Second, I did not go deep enough in the money, and third stocks that breakout in the late afternoon are breakouts that we should consider not entering into.
OPEN POSITIONS
I'm pressing for time right now because it is getting late. I'm going to be brief.
Last post I did I mentioned a couple of strangles that I wanted to get into. I ended up getting into them (NKE and BBBY) in addition to this I also purchased an ENR directional put and a strangle for RIMM. I'll explain the results of these when they close. Meanwhile I'm still in NKE and RIMM. Here are the stats. It may not make sense, but I'll explain in a later post what is taking place.
BP Jul 55 Call is at a loss. Will let this expire worthless
ENR Aug 50 Put is at a gain. Have a 1% trailing stop base off of the stock
NKE Jul 80 Call. Possibly let this expire worthless
RIMM Jul 65 Call. Will most likely let this expire worthless
Note- To clarify. I'm still in NKE and RIMM because I bought a strangle on these (Put and call) I sold the puts at a profit, but ended up keeping the calls. They were already worthless and to sell them would be an unnecessary bite from my profits from hefty commissions I have to pay. When I state that I may let these expire worthless. There is a chance that the stock of these options may go up in price which would result in my calls going up. Anyways, NKE and RIMM are both gains despite letting the call option go worthless. I'll explain this in more depth once I'm completely out of this trade.
God willing, tomorrow I'll document how my trade with BBBY went. Since I got out of it today at a lost.
CURRENT ACCOUNT VALUE
$944.57- sill at a lost. To be at break even it needs to be at $1150.00.
Well there you have it. Please feel free to leave feedback, comments, and questions.
Disclaimer- This trade journal blog is for education and entertainment purpose only. In no way am I implying that you purchase any of the stocks that I setup on. Stocks and option trading is extremely risky.
My apologizes that this post is way past due. I do have some legit excuses for why this post is past due. Reason #1, I've been busy helping my family with their business that they are starting. Check it out www.freshlymilledbreads.com (website still underway) Reason #2, I'm trying to get into a coaching program with Rob Allen. Anyways, enough with my excuses. Let's talk about stocks shall we?
PICKS
I have no picks for tomorrow, but if I find some from some of the sites I visit I'll enter into the position tomorrow.
FLASH FROM THE PAST
Trade #2
BUCY, Direction Pattern Alteration. Entry date 3/23/10. I entered this trade because price passed the upper threshold I set for this stock. I exit this trade on 3/24/10 based on a 7% trailing stop on the option. Like my trade with CHRW I entered this trade a little late. This trade turned out to be a 4% lost. What can I learn from this trade? I learned several things. First, I entered this trade too late. Next time I need to enter in immediately after price passes my upper threshold. Second, I did not go deep enough in the money, and third stocks that breakout in the late afternoon are breakouts that we should consider not entering into.
OPEN POSITIONS
I'm pressing for time right now because it is getting late. I'm going to be brief.
Last post I did I mentioned a couple of strangles that I wanted to get into. I ended up getting into them (NKE and BBBY) in addition to this I also purchased an ENR directional put and a strangle for RIMM. I'll explain the results of these when they close. Meanwhile I'm still in NKE and RIMM. Here are the stats. It may not make sense, but I'll explain in a later post what is taking place.
BP Jul 55 Call is at a loss. Will let this expire worthless
ENR Aug 50 Put is at a gain. Have a 1% trailing stop base off of the stock
NKE Jul 80 Call. Possibly let this expire worthless
RIMM Jul 65 Call. Will most likely let this expire worthless
Note- To clarify. I'm still in NKE and RIMM because I bought a strangle on these (Put and call) I sold the puts at a profit, but ended up keeping the calls. They were already worthless and to sell them would be an unnecessary bite from my profits from hefty commissions I have to pay. When I state that I may let these expire worthless. There is a chance that the stock of these options may go up in price which would result in my calls going up. Anyways, NKE and RIMM are both gains despite letting the call option go worthless. I'll explain this in more depth once I'm completely out of this trade.
God willing, tomorrow I'll document how my trade with BBBY went. Since I got out of it today at a lost.
CURRENT ACCOUNT VALUE
$944.57- sill at a lost. To be at break even it needs to be at $1150.00.
Well there you have it. Please feel free to leave feedback, comments, and questions.
Disclaimer- This trade journal blog is for education and entertainment purpose only. In no way am I implying that you purchase any of the stocks that I setup on. Stocks and option trading is extremely risky.
Friday, June 25, 2010
6-25-10
Sorry I haven't been able to blog. I've busy working on some other work projects. Tomorrow I'll give you a run down on how my stock portfolio is going. See you soon!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
6-23-10
Intro-
It seems like I have to give a title for each post that I create. I guess I'll start with the date and if something interesting or exciting is coming up I'll include it in the title. Until then I'll just post the date.
In order to get a degree to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer or whatever field you desire to get into you have to go to a school. When you go to a school you have to pay a tuition. Paying tuition for a degree is part of the game. No tuition, no degree. I bring this up because I feel the same principle applies to investing. When I take a loss I am paying tuition. The Market is my University. Losses are inevitable. It's not if they happen its, when they happen. The thing that matters is how you deal with the losses. You can either get emotional about it, lose focus and not change a thing or you can take the loss, evaluate what you did wrong, and learn from your mistakes. Since, I've been trading I've taken a good share of losses. You'll hear about these in the "Flash of the Past" in upcoming posts. I like to also add that there is a proper balance between your loses and gains. This has to do with money management which I'll share in a later post. I'd like to leave you with a thought that I read in a book called “Trading for a Living” by Elder Alexandar. He basically says that engineers don't build bridges and buildings expecting them to collapse. To do so would be stupidity. In the same way we need to treat our portfolio/account the same way. We don't trade expecting to crash and burn. We trade with confidence, but sometimes the unexpected happens which we have no control over. We just need to be ready for whatever comes our way.
Picks
Tomorrow I'm looking to open up a position with RIMM purchasing a strangle Jul 65 call/ Jul 55 Put. In order to enter this trade it will need to be trading within 65 and 55. If it exceeds this I will not enter the position.
The reason I am setting up a strangle for RIMM is because I'm expecting this stock to have major price movement after earnings. If you look at a 2 year chart you can see that most of the times the day after earnings there was a major price movement. If I get in this position I'll most likely exit on Friday.
Flash from the Past
Trade #1
My first trade took place 3/16/10 with CHRW May 50 Call. The reason I set up on this stock was because it was consolidating and it looked like it was going to break out soon.
I entered this trade because my list of follow through rules (I'll explain what this is in an upcoming post)were met. I exited the trade on 3/19/10 using a 3% trailing stop on the underlying stock. The results of this trade was a 13% gain. I learned from this trade that when the criteria of my rules are met. I need to automatically place the trade rather than linger and wait. Had I gone in sooner I would have had more profit.
Current Positions
When I exit these trades, I'll explain why I got into these stock in the first place. I'm just posting what positions I'm in and if there at a gain or loss.
2 Contracts of BP Jul 55 Call- at loss. I'm going to let this stock expire worthless
Strangle
3 Contracts of NKE Jul 80 Call- at loss
3 Contracts of NKE Jul 70 Put- at a profit
Strangle
BBBY Jul 42 Call- at a profit
BBBY Jul 38 Put- at a loss
Current Account Balance
$914.40- Currently at a loss
Well guys I hope the above post made sense to y'all. If it did not please feel free to email me or leave a comment. I'll try to answer you questions to best of my ability. If there is anything you don't understand and would like me to explain please let me know. Meanwhile, I'll continue to figure out ways to make this post better.
It seems like I have to give a title for each post that I create. I guess I'll start with the date and if something interesting or exciting is coming up I'll include it in the title. Until then I'll just post the date.
In order to get a degree to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer or whatever field you desire to get into you have to go to a school. When you go to a school you have to pay a tuition. Paying tuition for a degree is part of the game. No tuition, no degree. I bring this up because I feel the same principle applies to investing. When I take a loss I am paying tuition. The Market is my University. Losses are inevitable. It's not if they happen its, when they happen. The thing that matters is how you deal with the losses. You can either get emotional about it, lose focus and not change a thing or you can take the loss, evaluate what you did wrong, and learn from your mistakes. Since, I've been trading I've taken a good share of losses. You'll hear about these in the "Flash of the Past" in upcoming posts. I like to also add that there is a proper balance between your loses and gains. This has to do with money management which I'll share in a later post. I'd like to leave you with a thought that I read in a book called “Trading for a Living” by Elder Alexandar. He basically says that engineers don't build bridges and buildings expecting them to collapse. To do so would be stupidity. In the same way we need to treat our portfolio/account the same way. We don't trade expecting to crash and burn. We trade with confidence, but sometimes the unexpected happens which we have no control over. We just need to be ready for whatever comes our way.
Picks
Tomorrow I'm looking to open up a position with RIMM purchasing a strangle Jul 65 call/ Jul 55 Put. In order to enter this trade it will need to be trading within 65 and 55. If it exceeds this I will not enter the position.
The reason I am setting up a strangle for RIMM is because I'm expecting this stock to have major price movement after earnings. If you look at a 2 year chart you can see that most of the times the day after earnings there was a major price movement. If I get in this position I'll most likely exit on Friday.
Flash from the Past
Trade #1
My first trade took place 3/16/10 with CHRW May 50 Call. The reason I set up on this stock was because it was consolidating and it looked like it was going to break out soon.
I entered this trade because my list of follow through rules (I'll explain what this is in an upcoming post)were met. I exited the trade on 3/19/10 using a 3% trailing stop on the underlying stock. The results of this trade was a 13% gain. I learned from this trade that when the criteria of my rules are met. I need to automatically place the trade rather than linger and wait. Had I gone in sooner I would have had more profit.
Current Positions
When I exit these trades, I'll explain why I got into these stock in the first place. I'm just posting what positions I'm in and if there at a gain or loss.
2 Contracts of BP Jul 55 Call- at loss. I'm going to let this stock expire worthless
Strangle
3 Contracts of NKE Jul 80 Call- at loss
3 Contracts of NKE Jul 70 Put- at a profit
Strangle
BBBY Jul 42 Call- at a profit
BBBY Jul 38 Put- at a loss
Current Account Balance
$914.40- Currently at a loss
Well guys I hope the above post made sense to y'all. If it did not please feel free to email me or leave a comment. I'll try to answer you questions to best of my ability. If there is anything you don't understand and would like me to explain please let me know. Meanwhile, I'll continue to figure out ways to make this post better.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
6-23-10 First Post!
Well, this is the first post for my investing blog. I'm not sure how or where to start. So, lets start by sharing what this blog is going to be about. As stated in the description this blog is going to be about my investment journey. The goal is to take an account of $1,150.00 and turn into $1,000,000.00. I will not be adding any more money to this particular account. The only way for this account to grow is going to be from ROI's (return on investment). Can it be done? Will it be done? How long will it take? I honestly have no idea. The reason I am shooting for 1 million is because they say if you aim for the sun you may end up at the moon. Maybe I'll reach a million maybe I won't, but I should like to think that I will. Nevertheless, we shall see what God has in store.
Anyways, in this blog I'll be posting many times a week. In each post I will share with you some stocks I'm interested in investing the next day. I will also explain the reason why I am interested in this particular stock and how I plan on going about getting into the trade. I will also share what I'm learning as well as different strategies I am studying. At the end of each post I will give an update on what positions I'm in, trades I'm considering exiting, and what my current account value is. I'll also share about insights I've gleaned from my past trades or studies.
With all this said, let me go ahead and share with you how I went about getting into stocks. It all started in the summer of 2009 when my parents suggested I check out stocks. The reason they suggested this was because they thought I was wasting a little too much (not sure if this is grammatically correct) time on Xbox. To make a long story short, I started to read some books on stocks, but eventually the whole idea ended up fading away into the abyss. It was not until November of 2009 that I had a wake up call. What was the wake up call you may be asking. Well, the wake up call came after I purchased a certain game called, “Modern Warfare 2”. I literally logged in 20+ hours in less than five days into this game! I know Bad bad bad! Upon doing this I realized that I was wasting a lot of precious time. Being 26 I realized that I needed to get a "little" more serious about life and start looking for ways to make a living. So hence my venture to study stocks and options began. Since then I have been learning all that I can. I'm currently taking online courses, in a trading group that meets 5 days a week, reading all that I can, and I'm actively trading. To bring you up to date on trades I've done in the past (my first live trade was in mid march) I will post a section called "Flash from the Past" which will basically consist of details of a past trade that took place before this blog. This section will come from my trade journal that keeps a record of all my trades.
One last thing before I end this long post(I'm assuming this is going to be the longest post I ever post since it's the intro. Ha ha). Going back to the beginning of the post when I mentioned that I want to take $1,150.00 to $1,000,000.00. My intentions is not just to be wealthy, but also because I want to keep myself accountable. I realize that if I show you what my account is currently at, it will make me want to trade intelligently rather than on sheer emotions. Of which I am guilty of. I'll mention these horrible trades in the "Flash from the Past" section of the post.
One last thing. I promise. Right now I'm doing trading as a hobby, but my goal is to one day be able to trade "full-time". In other words I want my trading to be a business. The reason I want my trading to be a business is because I have a desire to do full time ministry, but I don't want to be supported by the ministry. In other words I want to have a continual source of income coming in so that I can just focus on what I enjoy doing, which is the ministry. As of right now this is where the Lord is leading. Will he continue to lead me this way? I'm not sure. It's all in His hands. All I know is that I'm going to continue to stay focus on him and as he leads me elsewhere, I'm willing to go in the direction he leads. Well, folks this is the end of my first post. Please feel free to comment or email me with any questions, thoughts, or feedback. I'll be the first to admit that my grammar is not the greatest. English was never my favorite subject. Anyways, thanks for reading.
Anyways, in this blog I'll be posting many times a week. In each post I will share with you some stocks I'm interested in investing the next day. I will also explain the reason why I am interested in this particular stock and how I plan on going about getting into the trade. I will also share what I'm learning as well as different strategies I am studying. At the end of each post I will give an update on what positions I'm in, trades I'm considering exiting, and what my current account value is. I'll also share about insights I've gleaned from my past trades or studies.
With all this said, let me go ahead and share with you how I went about getting into stocks. It all started in the summer of 2009 when my parents suggested I check out stocks. The reason they suggested this was because they thought I was wasting a little too much (not sure if this is grammatically correct) time on Xbox. To make a long story short, I started to read some books on stocks, but eventually the whole idea ended up fading away into the abyss. It was not until November of 2009 that I had a wake up call. What was the wake up call you may be asking. Well, the wake up call came after I purchased a certain game called, “Modern Warfare 2”. I literally logged in 20+ hours in less than five days into this game! I know Bad bad bad! Upon doing this I realized that I was wasting a lot of precious time. Being 26 I realized that I needed to get a "little" more serious about life and start looking for ways to make a living. So hence my venture to study stocks and options began. Since then I have been learning all that I can. I'm currently taking online courses, in a trading group that meets 5 days a week, reading all that I can, and I'm actively trading. To bring you up to date on trades I've done in the past (my first live trade was in mid march) I will post a section called "Flash from the Past" which will basically consist of details of a past trade that took place before this blog. This section will come from my trade journal that keeps a record of all my trades.
One last thing before I end this long post(I'm assuming this is going to be the longest post I ever post since it's the intro. Ha ha). Going back to the beginning of the post when I mentioned that I want to take $1,150.00 to $1,000,000.00. My intentions is not just to be wealthy, but also because I want to keep myself accountable. I realize that if I show you what my account is currently at, it will make me want to trade intelligently rather than on sheer emotions. Of which I am guilty of. I'll mention these horrible trades in the "Flash from the Past" section of the post.
One last thing. I promise. Right now I'm doing trading as a hobby, but my goal is to one day be able to trade "full-time". In other words I want my trading to be a business. The reason I want my trading to be a business is because I have a desire to do full time ministry, but I don't want to be supported by the ministry. In other words I want to have a continual source of income coming in so that I can just focus on what I enjoy doing, which is the ministry. As of right now this is where the Lord is leading. Will he continue to lead me this way? I'm not sure. It's all in His hands. All I know is that I'm going to continue to stay focus on him and as he leads me elsewhere, I'm willing to go in the direction he leads. Well, folks this is the end of my first post. Please feel free to comment or email me with any questions, thoughts, or feedback. I'll be the first to admit that my grammar is not the greatest. English was never my favorite subject. Anyways, thanks for reading.
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