Horrible day today. Woke up and checked my accounts to see a margin call or house call from my broker. A margin call or house call is when you borrow too much money and you don't have sufficient equity. Think of being underwater on a house and owing way more money than you put down as a down payment. There is only one problem....I should have never received a margin call. I had plenty of equity as of yesterday and I made money yesterday!!!
I don't have time to call customer service to ask and I am thinking that if I can make the first move, I can sell the assets I want instead of being forced to sell something I may not want to. I immediately sell my BAC and V stake to bring my account in line but I'm trapped out of my account all day long. When I do have the time to call my broker, I'm on hold for over 7 minutes. I constantly look at my account, how could I have had a margin call? I finally get on with a rep and explain my situation. He tells me its been happening to people all morning and that its a FUCKING COMPUTER GLITCH!!!!!!!!!! FML!!! I am furious now. I tell him that I would have never sold my stock if this was the case and that I want my money back from my commissions at least. He tells me to stay on the line and he will talk to someone. I'm waiting for 3 minutes on hold and next thing I know....click. Motherfuckers!!!!
Remember when I was telling everyone I wanted to pay down my $10K margin debt? Done. My goal this year is to pay down $17,000 of debt. Looks like I should up it to $20,000.
Markets were getting punished all day with more news from GM and its impending bankruptcy.
DOW down 173.47, S&P 500 down 17.27 and the portfolio was down $14.21.
Two trades.....BAC and V. I hope tomorrow is a better day
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday
First day of trading after the holiday yesterday. I hope everyone had a good memorial day. Consumer confidence index came out today higher than expected. It was expected to go from 40 to 42 and it ended up being in the 50s. This is good news that people are more confident in the economy. Prices for homes have dropped another 18%.....It might be a good time to buy a house, in another 8 months.
DOW up 196.17, S&P 500 up 23.33 and portfolio up $159.73. Ho hum.
I'm looking to buy back my two GE covered calls and either rolling them out a couple of months or just waiting for it and trying to do it again in a couple of weeks. I'm not going to buy back those AA puts. I think AA will keep moving up and I'll make 100% minus commissions on that trade.
DOW up 196.17, S&P 500 up 23.33 and portfolio up $159.73. Ho hum.
I'm looking to buy back my two GE covered calls and either rolling them out a couple of months or just waiting for it and trying to do it again in a couple of weeks. I'm not going to buy back those AA puts. I think AA will keep moving up and I'll make 100% minus commissions on that trade.
Weekly Recap 5/18 - 5/22
Weekly Recap 5/18 - 5/22
DOW up 8.68
S&P 500 up 4.12
Portfolio up $499.66
Trades 1
Trades Closed 0
Winners N/A
Losers N/A
Dividends $23.09
One trade this week. Sold Short AA June 09 $8 Puts (AARH) for $.27. I will have to buy AA for $8 in the third week of June if this trade goes bad. If it goes good. AA will be over $8 and no one will "assign" me to buy the shares and I will have made 100% of my premium minus commissions.
DOW up 8.68
S&P 500 up 4.12
Portfolio up $499.66
Trades 1
Trades Closed 0
Winners N/A
Losers N/A
Dividends $23.09
One trade this week. Sold Short AA June 09 $8 Puts (AARH) for $.27. I will have to buy AA for $8 in the third week of June if this trade goes bad. If it goes good. AA will be over $8 and no one will "assign" me to buy the shares and I will have made 100% of my premium minus commissions.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday and Thursday
First thing first... Who watch the Magic-Cav game last night??? Was that great or was that great?
Thursday
Dow down 129.91
S&P 500 down 15.14
Portfolio down $662.28
Had two orders lined up but neither of them hit. Both were buy orders to close out short covered calls against GE. Both expire in Sep but one is for $15 and the other $16. Missed buy a lot, but I'm in no rush to buy them back just yet.
Wednesday
Dow down 52.81
S&P 500 down 4.66
Portfolio down $78.20
No trades today. Just a quiet $500 intraday swing
Thursday
Dow down 129.91
S&P 500 down 15.14
Portfolio down $662.28
Had two orders lined up but neither of them hit. Both were buy orders to close out short covered calls against GE. Both expire in Sep but one is for $15 and the other $16. Missed buy a lot, but I'm in no rush to buy them back just yet.
Wednesday
Dow down 52.81
S&P 500 down 4.66
Portfolio down $78.20
No trades today. Just a quiet $500 intraday swing
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tuesday Update
Had some mistakes yesterday on my spreadsheet. Looks like my portfolio was up yesterday $2,148.46. Sorry about the confusion. All it means is that my loss today is even bigger then when I first tried to calculate it.
DOW down 29.23, S&P 500 down 1.58 and the Portfolio was down $574.18. No trades today. Had those covered calls for MS move against me today in a big way. MS was up 2.23% and now this June call I sold is ITM (in the money) and moved 20.98% today alone. I'm still in the money myself. I sold the call for $1.70 at a strike price of $28 so I would still be making more money on anything under $29.70 selling this call.
The VIX (volatility index) just dipped below 30 for the first time in a long time. This is going to start dropping the prices of options. Time to implement your options strategy is now!!!1
DOW down 29.23, S&P 500 down 1.58 and the Portfolio was down $574.18. No trades today. Had those covered calls for MS move against me today in a big way. MS was up 2.23% and now this June call I sold is ITM (in the money) and moved 20.98% today alone. I'm still in the money myself. I sold the call for $1.70 at a strike price of $28 so I would still be making more money on anything under $29.70 selling this call.
The VIX (volatility index) just dipped below 30 for the first time in a long time. This is going to start dropping the prices of options. Time to implement your options strategy is now!!!1
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday and Weekly Recap. 5/18 post
Monday 5-18
Huge day in the markets today. BAC was upgraded to a buy and Lowes posted better than expected earnings. What you can infer from the Lowes' earning report is that Americans are spending money on their houses. The consensus around the "financial" fireplace is in order for America to get back on track, housing has to get back on track. Lowes' earnings may turn out to be the proof the markets needed that America is close to being back on track.
DOW up 235.44, S&P 500 up 26.83 and the Portfolio was up $2,099.10. Is it time to get long again? I'm not so sure. This is a massive run up for a day and we may see some pullback as early as tomorrow. No trades today but here are some updates
GE Sep 09 $15 Call (GEWH) -4.62% (cumulative, short this position)
GE Sep 09 $16 Call (GEWIQ) 8.26% (cumulative, short this position)
As you can see, I am short this two options (covered calls on my GE position). I'm not worried about the day to day movement of these. The only thing I would be concerened about would be to buy these back if I wanted to hang on to my GE position.
WEEKLY RECAP 5/11 - 5/15
DOW down 306.04
S&P 500 down 26.36
Portfolio down $7,039.19
Trades 3
Trades Closed 1
winners 1
losers 0
Dividends $13.33
Friday 5-15
DOW down 62.68, S&P 500 down 10.19, Portfolio down $1,057.82. No trades today. Dividend should hit tonight for MS.
Huge day in the markets today. BAC was upgraded to a buy and Lowes posted better than expected earnings. What you can infer from the Lowes' earning report is that Americans are spending money on their houses. The consensus around the "financial" fireplace is in order for America to get back on track, housing has to get back on track. Lowes' earnings may turn out to be the proof the markets needed that America is close to being back on track.
DOW up 235.44, S&P 500 up 26.83 and the Portfolio was up $2,099.10. Is it time to get long again? I'm not so sure. This is a massive run up for a day and we may see some pullback as early as tomorrow. No trades today but here are some updates
GE Sep 09 $15 Call (GEWH) -4.62% (cumulative, short this position)
GE Sep 09 $16 Call (GEWIQ) 8.26% (cumulative, short this position)
As you can see, I am short this two options (covered calls on my GE position). I'm not worried about the day to day movement of these. The only thing I would be concerened about would be to buy these back if I wanted to hang on to my GE position.
WEEKLY RECAP 5/11 - 5/15
DOW down 306.04
S&P 500 down 26.36
Portfolio down $7,039.19
Trades 3
Trades Closed 1
winners 1
losers 0
Dividends $13.33
Friday 5-15
DOW down 62.68, S&P 500 down 10.19, Portfolio down $1,057.82. No trades today. Dividend should hit tonight for MS.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
couple of days
Sorry about the delayed posting. I have been pretty busy this week and haven't had the time to post anything. I'll start with Tuesday
Tuesday
Dow up 50.34
S&P 500 down .89
Portfolio down $1,521.23
Bought to close my BAC May 09 $16 Call for $.02. I was thinking that I could let this option expire worthless on Friday, but why take a chance for the extra two cents? I just want to minimize my risk at this point in the game and not maximize my profits. profit of 69.24%
Bought to open 5 contracts of BAC June 09 $15 Call for $.66. Thought BAC would take a quick turn up...I know can see writing this today (Thursday) this was a classic rookie mistake. I should have waited this out and bought only on an upswing. I have a feeling this trade will be a loser.
Sold to open MS June 09 $28 Call for $1.70. I am betting that MS will close the third week of June below $28. If this happens, I will pocket the $1.70. In reality though, I just want MS to go down enough to were I can repurchase this option for a profit. A huge potential profit.
Wednesday
Dow down 184.22
S&P 500 down 24.43
Portfolio down $2,219.25
No trades today. Just watching the market kill my portfolio. Complete blood bath across the board. To afraid to trade and make a mistake.. Waiting it out for now
Thursday
Dow up 46.43
S&P 500 down 9.15
Portfolio up $577.27
No trades today. Just taking it easy right before option expiration and waiting to see what the markets do. Should have two dividends hit tomorrow, PGH and MS.
Tuesday
Dow up 50.34
S&P 500 down .89
Portfolio down $1,521.23
Bought to close my BAC May 09 $16 Call for $.02. I was thinking that I could let this option expire worthless on Friday, but why take a chance for the extra two cents? I just want to minimize my risk at this point in the game and not maximize my profits. profit of 69.24%
Bought to open 5 contracts of BAC June 09 $15 Call for $.66. Thought BAC would take a quick turn up...I know can see writing this today (Thursday) this was a classic rookie mistake. I should have waited this out and bought only on an upswing. I have a feeling this trade will be a loser.
Sold to open MS June 09 $28 Call for $1.70. I am betting that MS will close the third week of June below $28. If this happens, I will pocket the $1.70. In reality though, I just want MS to go down enough to were I can repurchase this option for a profit. A huge potential profit.
Wednesday
Dow down 184.22
S&P 500 down 24.43
Portfolio down $2,219.25
No trades today. Just watching the market kill my portfolio. Complete blood bath across the board. To afraid to trade and make a mistake.. Waiting it out for now
Thursday
Dow up 46.43
S&P 500 down 9.15
Portfolio up $577.27
No trades today. Just taking it easy right before option expiration and waiting to see what the markets do. Should have two dividends hit tomorrow, PGH and MS.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Weekly Recap 5/4 - 5/8 and Monday
Monday
Nothing doing today. Just watching the market continue on its slide down after such a huge run up. Typical Monday.. No moves today
DOW down 155.88
S&P 500 down 19.99
Portfolio down $2,817.86
Weekly Recap
5/4 - 5/8
DOW up 362.24
S&P 500 up 51.71
Portfolio up $7,532.12
Trades 11
Trades Closed 5
Winners 3
Losers 2
Dividends $0
Monster week. Up over $7,500 and making more trades then I probably should. Time to wait the market out.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday update
Not a bad day considering the news. Was up early in the day over $2,000 but slowly tapered off and finished down for the day $75.22. The indexes were down 102.43 and 12.14 for the DOW and S&P 500, respectively.
Made one bonehead move today. I bought to close my covered call on MS even though I knew I shouldn't have. I tried to cancel the order but stupid Etrade wouldn't let me because I had put it in as a market order. I always always put in my orders as limit orders so I'm not sure why I did this. Anyways I bought it for $4 when I could have bought it later in the day for less than $2. Total damage -$732. A huge loss that I'm not used to taking.
oh well.
Made one bonehead move today. I bought to close my covered call on MS even though I knew I shouldn't have. I tried to cancel the order but stupid Etrade wouldn't let me because I had put it in as a market order. I always always put in my orders as limit orders so I'm not sure why I did this. Anyways I bought it for $4 when I could have bought it later in the day for less than $2. Total damage -$732. A huge loss that I'm not used to taking.
oh well.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Day before Stress Test
Some new results were released through "anonymous" sources about what banks need what monies. Seems that the news was not as bad as some feared and the financials and the markets in general took off. The DOW was up 101.63 points, S&P 500 up 15.73 and the Portfolio was up $1,993.55.
Made a lot of trades today. The most I have ever made in my life actually. I closed 3 different positions and opened a couple up. I closed one in the IRA for a 62% gain.
Here is what I closed out in the Portfolio
BYOQF for a 60% gain
MSQD for a 77% gain
I think that both would have gone and expired worthless. But with them both being close to zero, the reward of getting a couple of more dollars just didn't seem worth it to me in this volatility. I was short both these options so my margin increased buying them back. I really need to try and get that margin to $0 soon. No rush I guess.
I bought some protection today for my BAC position. I purchased 8 contracts of the June 09 $7 Put (BYORG) for $.25. This will be worth something if BAC goes down. I don't won't this to make money but its just a little insurance contract. It kind of feels like I'm wasting my money but its really not that much money for a little piece of mind.
I offset set some of this money out by selling a covered call against BAC. May 09 $16 Call (BYOEP) for $.15. This makes me obligated to sell my BAC shares for $16 no matter where it is next week.
The last trade I made was a covered call for GE. GE Sep 09 $16 Call (GEWIQ) for $.70. Its a long trade out to September but I think I will be able to buy it back and make some money of this trade.
Made a lot of trades today. The most I have ever made in my life actually. I closed 3 different positions and opened a couple up. I closed one in the IRA for a 62% gain.
Here is what I closed out in the Portfolio
BYOQF for a 60% gain
MSQD for a 77% gain
I think that both would have gone and expired worthless. But with them both being close to zero, the reward of getting a couple of more dollars just didn't seem worth it to me in this volatility. I was short both these options so my margin increased buying them back. I really need to try and get that margin to $0 soon. No rush I guess.
I bought some protection today for my BAC position. I purchased 8 contracts of the June 09 $7 Put (BYORG) for $.25. This will be worth something if BAC goes down. I don't won't this to make money but its just a little insurance contract. It kind of feels like I'm wasting my money but its really not that much money for a little piece of mind.
I offset set some of this money out by selling a covered call against BAC. May 09 $16 Call (BYOEP) for $.15. This makes me obligated to sell my BAC shares for $16 no matter where it is next week.
The last trade I made was a covered call for GE. GE Sep 09 $16 Call (GEWIQ) for $.70. Its a long trade out to September but I think I will be able to buy it back and make some money of this trade.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Cinco De Mayo
Cinco de Mayo today. The day when all patriotic Mexicans celebrate the freedom of Mexico from foreign invaders (French). Also, the same day Americans get drunk off Corona and Patron yelling in Spanish.
Markets were relatively unchanged today. DOW down 16.09 points, S&P 500 down 3.44 points and the Portfolio was up $219.27. Made a couple of trades today. I sold a May 09 $13 Call on GE for $.39 a week ago. This was when GE was trading around $11 something. It has since exploded to the upside and is ITM (in the money). I really didn't want to sell my shares for $13, I think they have more room to the upside so I "rolled" my contract.
I bought back my contract for contract for $.71. I took a loss on this trade of $.71-$.39=$.32 (Sold to open @ $.39 and bought back @ $.71) and sold to open a Sept 09 $15 Call for $.92. I sold a higher strike price further out for a credit (money in) of $.92-$.32= $.60 and now I can sell the stock for $2 more. It was a net credit but commissions took a healthy chunk of that "$.60" credit.
Remember a month of go when I recommended S....well go take a look at it now..coulda woulda shoulda....
Markets were relatively unchanged today. DOW down 16.09 points, S&P 500 down 3.44 points and the Portfolio was up $219.27. Made a couple of trades today. I sold a May 09 $13 Call on GE for $.39 a week ago. This was when GE was trading around $11 something. It has since exploded to the upside and is ITM (in the money). I really didn't want to sell my shares for $13, I think they have more room to the upside so I "rolled" my contract.
I bought back my contract for contract for $.71. I took a loss on this trade of $.71-$.39=$.32 (Sold to open @ $.39 and bought back @ $.71) and sold to open a Sept 09 $15 Call for $.92. I sold a higher strike price further out for a credit (money in) of $.92-$.32= $.60 and now I can sell the stock for $2 more. It was a net credit but commissions took a healthy chunk of that "$.60" credit.
Remember a month of go when I recommended S....well go take a look at it now..coulda woulda shoulda....
Monday, May 4, 2009
Update from Friday and Today
No update on Friday. Went to happy hour after work on Friday and woke up with a headache on Monday morning.
Friday
DOW up 44.29
S&P 500 up 4.71
Portfolio up $542.07
One trade. Sold short a call for GE May 09 $13 Call (GEWEM) for $.39
Monday
DOW up 214.33
S&P 500 up 28.72
Portfolio up $2,744.90
No trades today. Call I sold against GE and MS are down for me. This means that I probably left some profits on the table as of right now. Down -53.76% for the GE call and -428.27%.
Monster day for the markets as well as my portfolio. BAC and MS were up huge today and ETFC. Lets see whats going on for tomorrow
Friday, May 1, 2009
Thursday Update
Hey guys. Its the end of the month and since I have been keeping better track of things, I have accurate numbers to show.
Month of April
DOW up 559.20
S&P 500 up 74.94
Portfolio up $2,592.91
I took $5,000 out of my account yesterday (Thursday) to use for another venture. Other than that, yesterday was down $93.52. Just been a horrible week for me so far (Down $2,862.89). No trades yesterday.
Month of April
DOW up 559.20
S&P 500 up 74.94
Portfolio up $2,592.91
I took $5,000 out of my account yesterday (Thursday) to use for another venture. Other than that, yesterday was down $93.52. Just been a horrible week for me so far (Down $2,862.89). No trades yesterday.
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