07/07 Daily Update

First a bit of housekeeping: I posted my results for the JULY positions, see the link on the left-side navigation. I am also looking to add a Double Diagonal for AUG/09, giving the current market sell-off, I'm going to scale the position little by little, I plan on entering the first half (or third) Tomorrow, depending on how the market is moving.

My two paper positions are giving me a workout. They both took another hit Today. By the look on the charts, I think Tomorrow will be another down-day, I sure am glad these are not live positions.

My lessons here is mainly to be careful when adjusting to the up-side, there were things I did that could be avoided, such as adding PUT credit spreads, and keeping the adjustment contingent orders too close to the price. I'll run a day-by-day review of these paper trades with all the improvements that could be made.

Current Positions:
07/07 SPX Iron Butterfly
07/07 RUT Iron Butterfly

07/07 SPX Iron Butterfly

Took a hit, not major, but SPX moved 1 st. deviation down and something tells me there is more to come. Hopefully Tomorrow it will take a break. Let's see how it goes. I added a small iron butterfly to increase theta.

Position's history day-by-day:
07/02 SPX Iron Butterfly
07/01 SPX Iron Butterfly
06/30 SPX Iron Butterfly
06/29 SPX Iron Butterfly
06/25 SPX Iron Butterfly
06/24 SPX Iron Butterfly
06/23 SPX Iron Butterfly
06/22 SPX Iron Butterfly

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07/07 RUT Iron Butterfly

The position took another hit Today, RUT moved by almost 1 st. deviation to the down-side, I added another small Iron Butterfly to increase theta, however, this is the last draw. This paper trade is sure giving me a workout! I'm glad it is paper, it shows I still have work to do in order to get used to trading RUT, I think the next trade will run smoother though..

Position's history day-by-day:

07/03 RUT Iron Butterfly

07/02 RUT Iron Butterfly

07/01 RUT Iron Butterfly

06/30 RUT Iron Butterfly

06/29 RUT Iron Butterfly

06/25 RUT Iron Butterfly

06/24 RUT Iron Butterfly

06/23 RUT Iron Butterfly

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JUL MNX Iron Butterfly (day-by-day review)

I exited the trade after it gave me 10% in just 10 trading sessions. I decided to just head for the exits and take some time between live positions.

Start: 06/16/09
Finish: 07/01/09
Duration: 2 weeks
Results: +10.80%

07/01 MNX Iron Butterfly *Closed*

06/30 MNX Iron Butterfly - "I started peeling off spreads on the trade."

06/29 MNX Iron Butterfly - "I almost cut my deltas at 149 Today, was thinking about doing that when MNX was trading at 147 (first hour of the day). I even posted an adjustment in twitter and the blog. After spending some time thinking about it, I decided to stick with Friday's plan. "

06/26 MNX Iron Butterfly - "Decided to not touch the trade at the end of day. MNX pushed a bit higher, but its 1-hour chart was showing real weakness at the top. As of now, theta:delta ratio is about 1:1"

06/25 MNX Iron Butterfly - "MNX reached the 147 adjustment point, I cut the deltas in 1/2 and have the contingent orders to continue cutting if we keep moving up Tomorrow."

06/24 MNX Iron Butterfly - "MNX hit the first adjustment level I had to the up-side Today. It was moving by more than 1 st. deviation intra-day, then faded after the interest rate announcement."

06/23 MNX Iron Butterfly - "The trade got the benefits from a quiet day in the markets. I have the contingent orders in place and let's see what happens next. "

06/22 SPX Iron Butterfly

06/19 MNX Iron Butterfly - "As I had planned on my pre-opening plan, I did add the Long AUG Call to cut the deltas in 1/2 once they were around twice my theta"

06/18 MNX Iron Butterfly - "I just love how quickly these trades build up profit. Look at it, almost as much as the SPY Double Diagonal, the DD has been there for almost 3 weeks, this thing has been here for 3 days!"

06/17 MNX Iron Butterfly

06/16 MNX Iron Butterfly *New*

JUL 09 Trades

This is a summary of all my JUL/09 positions, it was a good month for me, the only trade that didn't profit was the 50-day condor, all the others were profitable, a month to celebrate!

Here is each position in details:
JUL RUT 50-Day Iron Condor (day-by-day review)
JUL SPY Double Diagonal (day-by-day review)

JUL RUT 30-Day Iron Condor (day-by-day review)

JUL MNX Iron Butterfly (day-by-day review)