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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