2/17 IBM Calendar (Feb/Mar) Weekly Summary

2/17 Update: Closed the trade for 22% ROI, nice return for the journey.

2/16 Update: Plan is to close the trade Tomorrow, IBM in quiet mode

2/15 Update: Getting there, a couple more days to go

2/14 Update: My fingers are itching to close the trade, yet I will be good and follow it the same way backtested: till the final day.

2/13 Update: IBM closed about the same as last Friday, the position is looking good, navigating it expiration week. It has been a long time since I traded a position till the very last week.

2/10 NDX Iron Butterfly (MAR)

2/10 update: NDX backed off from Yesterday, yet this move brought some volatility back into the market and it hit the butterfly a bit. Nothing major, just something to keep an eye on.

2/9 update: Moved a bit higher Today, other indexes are not following suit, I have contingent orders to close (so I can re-position) the butterfly if we close beyond my adjustment point.

2/8 update: Small up move

2/7 update: No major change from Yesterday

2/6 update: Started the MAR NDX iron butterfly Today.

2/10 IBM Calendar (Mar/Jul) Weekly Summary

2/10 Update: This wraps up the first week of this trade, still a lot of time to go, for now it is looking as good as it gets!

2/9 Update: Always good to see the P/L line growing without major changes in the trade.. It is like watching the grass grow, money grass that is :)

2/8 Update: No major change

2/7 Update: Started the Mar/Jul position Today, because IBM is in the middle of 2 strikes I decided to wait and position the final 3rd of the position if and when it touches 190 or 195.

2/10 IBM Calendar (Feb/Mar) Weekly Summary

2/10 Update: Looks like we had a pop on volatility and the trade is looking really awesome by the end of this week.

2/9 Update: Looking great Today, I'm riding this through the expiration week

2/8 Update: Got a rush of adrenaline when I saw an email on my inbox that I had been assigned 600 shares of IBM at 185,, then got myself to cool off. After all, these were hedged with the long APR calls, so I had no reason to panic. When I got a bit of free time I went in there and bought back the 600 IBM shares and sold off the long 185 calls. Turns out whoever assigned me these shares gave me a $400 gift, so thanks!

2/7 Update: No major change from Yesterday, still looking down by a little bit

2/6 Update: As expected, showing recovery from Friday's P/L state, looks like Friday was a mis-print, either that or a good price manipulation by end of day.

2/3 IBM Calendar - Weekly Summary

2/3 Update: I find it hard to follow the P/L on calendars, tracking and estimating volatility on front-month and back-month is very tricky, so the P/L chart gets quite a bit of variation, as of Today it looks to be down again. This tends to be amplified on Fridays.

2/2 Update: I bit of improvement on the position Today, IBM moved back down and it helped the trade

2/1 Update: IBM Moved higher intra-day Today, almost at the 195 level, then it faded in the afternoon. This shows some resistance at those levels and I'm looking for a pull back to benefit the position.

1/31 Update: No major change on this trade when compared with Yesterday.

1/30 Update: IBM moved higher Today and it seems volatility on the IBM Calendar didn't drop as much, trading showing very good improvement from last week.

1/27 NDX Iron Butterfly - Weekly Summary

Weekly Summary: I had to close the trade this week, made the mistake of not having contingent orders to stop or hedge the trade and ended up taking a bigger than expected loss (-22% instead of -15%). This impacts my running status and quite a punch to the face. I have since then decided to regroup my efforts and be a lot more diligent moving forward. More on that as I post later on during the weekend.

1/26: Took a 22% Loss instead of a 15% loss by not closing the trade with a contingent order at the right stop point. This is the lesson to be learned during this cycle. Back to the drawing board.

1/27 IBM Calendar Weekly Summary

Weekly Summary: I had to do another adjustment this week when IBM went through the roof after earnings. The trade took a 3 st. deviation move and still showing possibility of profits.

On 1/27: IBM retreated a bit more and vols have increased a bit, which helped the trade, note it is showing slight better numbers than Yesterday

On 1/26: After performing 2 adjustments on this trade, it still shows possibility for small profits 2 to 3 weeks away