Results Week Ending 9/3/21
Labor Day is here, and we’re approaching the end of the 3rd quarter. If you look at my Trade History 2021 page it shows I had a very nice year. However, I’m having a losing year….so far! I’m not getting crushed but my account is down about 18%. This sounds horrible but after doing north of 200% last year, I can accept this only being in the 3rd quarter.
The big question is why am I down? The answer is because of my holdings. I’m not talking about positions I want to hold long term like Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft or Walmart, which you will not see in my trading account. They’re in my other account. An account I use for holding positions long term. This account is not on margin. I figured, if I want to hold a position long term, why pay margin interest?
I’m talking about positions I did Covered Calls with and was never assigned. I’ve been assigned on plenty of positions, this is what I want to happen, always! When assigned I get the money I signed up for, and move on! If I’m not assigned, not only did my stock not hit my Strike price, but many times it’s below where I bought in. Never to get back to my buy-in price. This has been my problem this year. My account is down because I was not getting assigned.
I’ve preached many times, “I don’t like owning stock.” I do own a few choice stocks, but most stocks I only want to trade. Own for a very short time! This is my strategy. If I don’t get assigned many times I end up owning stock for a long time. Exactly what I don’t want.
While the indexes are all at their highs, I own stocks that are nowhere need my buy-in price. This is the craziest year ever!
So, what am I going to do? I’m going to continue to do what I do best, which is what I’ve been doing for years. But I’m going to slowly get out of bad positions, even at a loss, to become more liquid. And, as I’ve been writing in my post, I am studying and practicing my Day Trading skills. This will have me owning stocks for even a shorter time than with my one week Covered Call option plays.
I’ve been studying and I started trading some small positions for a limited gain. My goal is $200 a day with my Day Trading. I started on Aug 27th and I made at least one trade a day. I hit my goal of $200 every day. And I’ve made up to $500 on one of the days. I’m not posting these trades until I know what the hell I’m doing. Of course my 30 years of experience is helping me move a little faster, but it is a bit of a different game. For one you have to be near your computer. The good thing is I hit my goal many days in the first hour of the market. Sometimes not.
With my early strategy I’m buying 1000 shares of a stock between $10 and $25 per share. When I buy the stock I immediately place a sell order 20¢ higher than my buy-in price. When it hits, I’m out! 20¢ is not much of a move but with 1000 shares it gives me a $200 profit.
So far I’m having fun learning and testing my $200 goal. I’ll let you know how I’m doing as I progress. Just think, there are 250 trading days in a year. If you made $200 a day it would be $50K for the year. I want to make more than $50 thousand a year, but If you add this to my normal trading it could be a nice situation. I think Day Trading can be nice ammunition added to my trading/investing arsenal.
Maybe the fact that this is a craziest year, and me looking for ways to make it successful, adding Day Trading will be a blessing from 2021 to help me for years to come.
The bottom line is trading or investing is not easy. It takes time and a lot of studying. A lot of happy times and a lot of heart pounding, scary times. You must put in the time to learn, but while you do that you will lose some money. I look at losing money as my cost of education. But in the long run I look at my trading as a blessing, especially during COVID. I can sit at home and make real nice money without stepping out of the house. I feel, whatever this crazy ass government does I’ll always be able to make money without relying on anyone. That’s independence!
Speaking of making nice money let’s take a look at this week’s results.
Lately I’ve only been posting my Grasshopper Trades in my weekly report. While I’m trying to get this year into the black, I’ve been making less Grasshopper Trades. I’m sorry for that. But I feel I need to put in the time with my Day Trading strategy. Grasshopper Trades will return.
While only having 2 Grasshopper Trades expire totaling $170 I had a great week with my Master Trades. This week I locked in $10,510. I love making $10K a week!
Harley Davidson
Harley Davidson (HOG) is one of the stocks I was talking about earlier. I bought the stock for a Covered Call. I wasn’t assigned and I’ve been holding the stock for almost 4 months. It never got back up to my buy-in price….but all indexes are at their all time highs! I’m very close to just bailing out with a loss. Not only is it a crap stock but it has low premiums.
8/24/21 – Sell to Open 2 HOG 9/3/21 $41.50 C @ 45¢ (+$90)
9/3/21 – Expired 2 HOG 9/3/21 $41.50 C
Profit +$90
U.S. Steel
I also want out of U.S. Steel (X). I’m always on the verge of getting assigned but it never happens. This was not a bad trade for a 1 day position. But I still want out!
9/2/21 – Sell to Open 4 X 9/3/21 $28.00 C @ 20¢ (+80)
9/3/21 – Expired 4 X 9/3/21 $28.00 C
Profit +$80
Total Weekly Gain +$170
We know this $170 was only for the Grasshopper Trades. Below I’ll list all my trades to check out. They will be without explanation so if you have a question send me an email. This list also includes the Grasshopper Trades. This is the way they’re listed on my Trade History 2021 page.
Nvidia
Post 4:1 Split “Sell to Close”
Sold 2 of 4 Contracts
7/19/21 – Buy to Open 1 NVDA 1/21/22 $760.00 C @ $83.00 ($20.75 post split)
8/30/21 – Sell to Close 2 NVDA 1/21/22 $760.00 C @ $45.75
Profit +$5000
Ultra Vix Short 2X ETF
9/1/21 – Buy 1000 Shares UVXY @ $21.25
9/3/21 – Sell 1000 Shares UVXY @ $21.55
Profit +$300
Zoom
8/31/21 – Buy to Open 5 ZM 1/21/22 $300.00 C @ $28.50
9/3/21 – Sell to Close 5 ZM 1/21/22 $300.00 C @ $31.00
Profit +$1250
Square
7/26/21 – Buy 300 Shares SQ @ $263.50
9/3/21 – Sell 300 Shares SQ @ $269.00
Profit +$1650
Desktop Metal
8/10/21 – Buy to Open 2 DM 1/21/22 $10.00 C @ $1.80
9/3/21 – Sell to Close 2 DM 1/21/22 $10.00 C @ $1.15
Loss -$130
Advanced Micro Devices
8/23/21 – Sell to Open 3 AMD 9/3/21 $115.00 C @ 90¢ (+$270)
9/3/21 – Expired 3 AMD 9/3/21 $115.00 C
Profit +$270
First Solar
8/26/21 – Sell to Open 5 FSLR 9/3/21 $95.50 C @ $1.60 (+$800)
9/3/21 – Expired 5 FSLR 9/3/21 $95.50 C
Profit +$800
Square
8/30/21 – Sell to Open 3 SQ 9/3/21 $272.50 C @ $3.50 (+$1050)
9/3/21 – Expired 3 SQ 9/3/21 $272.50 C
Profit +$1050
Macy’s
9/1/21 – Sell to Open 10 M 9/3/21 $23.00 C @ 15¢ (+$150)
9/3/21 – Expired 10 M 9/3/21 $23.00 C
Profit +$150
Harley Davidson
8/24/21 – Sell to Open 2 HOG 9/3/21 $41.50 C @ 45¢ (+$90)
9/3/21 – Expired 2 HOG 9/3/21 $41.50 C
Profit +$90
U.S. Steel
9/2/21 – Sell to Open 4 X 9/3/21 $28.00 C @ 20¢ (+80)
9/3/21 – Expired 2 X 9/3/21 $28.00 C
Profit +$80
Entire Account
Total Weekly Gain +$10,510
Enjoy the rest of the 3 day weekend, the unofficial end of the summer. Don’t worry, we have plenty of nice weather ahead.
Successful trading,
Steve
The Options Coach