I sold SPY calls on Friday and made about 2%, which is of course, nothing to brag about, but I’m still struggling with timing options. Soooo… I’m happy to get out mildly positive/flat.

LYG (international bank, money center) is my only open position and I’m currently in the black on it. I plan to add AZK (profitable junior gold miner) when it corrects.

Will keep scanning charts, maybe I’ll find something more interesting than AZK. But for now, that is the plan.

Earth Lights, Earth at Night
Click to enlarge

Related Articles

• Trade Updates, January 7

P&L: ($6,440.57)

I didn’t do too bad… just hear me out — if not for EEV hold-over from October, I’d actually be in the black.

Much more careful with double-ETFs now, especially with the ones that are so complex. EEV has a lot of components, it’s the ultimate psycho stock, nearly impossible to predict.

Overall, I’m still preoccupied with work. Thankfully the urge to trade just for the sake of trading is going away. I’m becoming more patient and don’t gamble as much.

Related Articles

• No Related Post

Losers: 103
Average loss: $232.28

Win percentage: 71.22%

This last week really messed up my results. I didn’t switch over to the light side quickly enough and it cost me.

Areas that need work:

• I need sleep. For the last couple of months I’m in a constant haze, like a semi-drunk state. Now that the huge work project is wrapping up I may be able to sleep more and better, and improve concentration. I’ve been so jumpy, and move at supersonic speeds when startled (often). Really weird.
• Must read a book on trader psychology and controlling impulses.
• Trailing stops work better than the other kind. Since I trade diETFs a lot, set a wide stop at first, when profitable tighten.
• Not sure what the problem is, BUT… sometimes I’m too quick to take a small loss (scared) even when confident in my setup. Need to give time for the setup to work. At other times, I refuse to see that it’s going against me and don’t cut the trade fast enough. Again, sleep will help to think more clearly and be less afraid.
• Have a more narrow focus list.

Winners (made me money):
MA, POT, MOS, SDS, FXP, LEG, FSLR, MSFT, DRYS, HGR, UYG, JCP, COCO, AMZN, SKF, SDP, EEV, EEM, PTRY, CPO, NDN

Losers (lost me money):
PWE, AUY, SSO, RBS, ENER, BAC, QID, TCB, XOM, AAPL, EBAY, CF, GDX, EL, SLW, HUN

Related Articles

• No Related Post

Losers: 21
Average loss: $216.34

Win percentage: 81.25%

I addition to this, I realized -$1,871 loss from my long-term investments. I have a long way to go in that department. It hurts to sell them, but is also liberating.

Overall, including unrealized losses from the investments, I’m still in the red for the year.

Looking back at September mistakes…

• Still – try to have more patience!
• Do not overtrade

Related Articles

• No Related Post

Losers: 11
Average loss: $104.15

Win percentage: 70.27%

All in all, not a bad month, but would be even better if I just sat on my hands this last week.

Looking back at August mistakes…

• Do not deal with indices directly (QQQQ, SPY). Not enough volatility to make it worthwhile.
• Try to stick to individual stocks. I know I’ve been saying this forever, but I’ll try to stay out of Proshares ETFs unless it’s obviously low-hanging fruit.
• Do not jump into trades on a whim. This is not a game.
• Having a watch list and sticking to it has been working really well. Stuff that I find during the day is a hit or miss, usually. Since I try to not daytrade, and my average holding time is probably about 3 days, preparation in advance is the key.
• If I don’t understand why a stock is behaving a certain way, get out fast. I don’t care much to find out the fundamentals of each particular company in detail, and if a stock is being irrational there may be something brewing that’ll mess up my trade.
• Have more patience.
• Do not over-margin. My biggest trading losses have been from margin calls.
• Do not buy on anonymous blog tips without research. There are a few good blogs where I get ideas, but I used to just blindly trust them without research (yep, idiot).

I must say after reading somewhere that people consider this market to be “the toughest in the last 50 years”, I feel good about having made money at all!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Related Articles

• No Related Post