Sometimes you just have to follow a hunch. Yesterday I got a quick hunch to move my NDX stop by one point, so I moved it to 2651. As it turns out, NDX traded exactly to 2650 and bounced back down. Will this be the scenario where we back off from here? Who knows, all I know is that I gained another weekend on the trade!
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5 comments:
Hi Gustavo
I hope you are still in this ndx butterfly trade, because today seems to be a good move in your favor.
They say football is a game of inches. I guess trading can be a game of pennies. That decision to move up your exit point hopefully made a big difference.
Best of luck
Dave
Hey Dave, yes and no..
I saw 7% of profit on Monday, but decided to push for a profit goal (being stuborn) and ended up seing it evaporate all the way to hit the stop loss this week.
Well, lesson learned, there is a reason people coined the concept of "take your money and run"
Cheers!
Gustavo
Hi Gustavo
You are not alone. I sold some NDX iron condors last Tuesday after getting my awaited volatility pop. To make matters worse I decided it was time to increase my standard margin per trade as I have been doing so well the past 9 months. Since then I've been scrambling more than I ever have in the past to keep adjusting to the upside.
I'm very pleased with most of my adjustments (saved the trade and a lot of money) but I was making 2 trades per day, constantly planning the next adjust, and fatigue set in a couple days ago, and the trade is losing ground. I'm down about 10% on the trade. Lots of lessons learned on this end too.
But time to pick my jaw off the floor and hit the reset button. We all strike out sometime.
Good luck
Dave
Sorry to hear that Dave.
I'm actually planning to take a "leave" and stop trading for a while. There are too many things going on in different areas of our lives right now that I don't feel I can fully focus and function well with the option trading..
I guess the key is if you can't focus 100%, you shouldn't be trading.
The actual mechanical action of trading is limited to 20 minutes of so with setting up contingent orders or entering/exiting trades. The challenge is being focused and having time to do a lot of research/backtesting and studying so that your 20 min. action is indeed the best one. Makes sense?
Cheers!
Gustavo
Hey Gustavo
Taking a break definitely makes sense. The options market will still be here when you have more time to research and plan. And less family responsibility.
That remains my grand question. Can I generate a consistent return (15-20% per year) and also have fun, without jeopardizing too much free time planning adjustments or nervously watching the market for every sudden change in price?
If I can't do this, then it's best to buy stable high dividend stocks, put on a leap collar for protection and shoot for 8-10%.
In the meantime focus on the family and enjoy your time off, you live in Florida for goodness sake. You could be an Okie - not that there's anything wrong with that.
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