Three Days In A Row 8-31-17

Market is excited about the talks of tax reform proposal. Today's unemployment figures came out better than expected. Tech sector led the push up along with RUT. Both closed above 1%. Market is expecting a good employment report so all majors closed on their high notes. SPX and NASDAQ appear ready to make new highs. It may happen tomorrow with the job report or after the long weekend.

Made 5 trades with 2 deep ITM rollovers and couple SPY profit taking and roll up hedging. The rollover of SPY and IWM from yesterday were timely. I missed the up swing of QQQ since I hesitated to enter its calls yesterday. The rolling of the deep ITM positions were difficult with today's upswing and low volatility. I have 3 more to do tomorrow. Need to be focus and flexible.

Net liq lost 5.8K on this 1% upswing. It's down to 143K now. Luckily I was able to exit 2 RUT bear calls on the pull back earlier this month. Otherwise I would have been sweating already. The two bear calls in ET are under pressure.

The Up Swing Continues 8-30-17

Market continued its up swing today with last quarter GDP adjusted to 3% annualized growth. NASDAQ was leading the pack up more than 1%. SPX and RUT gained over 0.5%. They all crossed their recent down trend lines. The shallow August pull back is over.

Made 4 trades today. There are 3 small directional roll ups and one exit, another no premiums day. The directional calls in SPY and IWM may generate some profit. I still don't have a good, consistent directional strategy. I am leaning broken wing butterfly and ratio spreads. Need to hurry up. Have 5 calls to roll out tomorrow and Friday unless we get an unexpected 15-20 point drop in RUT.

Net liq gave back 3.6K on this 0.5% surge. Margin ratio is above 50% before the weekend. I have get more call hedges tomorrow.

Turn Around Tuesday 8-29-17

The overnight sell off on N.K's missile lunch met with buyers this morning. Major indices didn't get a chance to retest their overnight lows. All majors closed in positive territories. Market is supported by the news of tax reform announcement soon.

Made 6 trades but nothing major. Sold one set of bull put spread for client early in the morning. Market turned up before I could get all the put spread orders in. I was able to roll up couple small contracts for hedges. There is still a danger of geopolitical risk. The US is fairly quiet on NK's missile launch. I have several ITM bear calls must be rolled out for this week. None of them get filled today.

Net liq is in the same range of 150K. Margin ratio is above 50% for now. Market looks ready for another leg up, MACDs are turning up, tax reform may provide a boost, funds need to window dress on month end.

A Choppy Monday 8-28-17

It was a small range, choppy day. RUT and NASDAQ showed some bullish movements but SPX and DOW were legging. After hour the news of another missile lunch from North Korea sunk futures for about 0.5%. Market is getting nervous. Let's wait to see what will develop overnight. I would welcome a 3-5% pull back in August.

Made one trade. A risk reversal in next week's SPY call side based on MACD. No other order was filled.
I used the boring time to learn Ratio hedge. There may be some selling opportunities tomorrow as the NK tension is back again.

Net liq stayed in range down slightly. Margin ratio is around 50%. I transferred another 5K to ET as I got some breathing room in IB.
 

Building A Base 8-24-17

US indices chopped within Tuesday's ranges for another day. Market may be waiting for hints from Fed's conference in Jackson Hole. Market may be building a base for next move. Overall it's still bullish with a possibility of retest recent lows.

Made 5 trades in small contracts. bought in directional puts. RUT traded higher all day in opposite of SPX and QQQ. Tried to sell AMZN and APPL bull puts but their weakness quickly met with buyers. Feels like spinning wheels without much results.

Net liq is fine but available funds are my concern. Margin ratio is at 40%. I want to get a better picture of my risk profile before transfer extra funds back to ET. I have one RUT 1370 call ATM to deal with tomorrow.

A Day Of Resting 8-23-17

US indices opened lower. It was a range day as expected after the big push yesterday. I tried to make entries for long in the small contracts this morning. I got in a weekly SPY risk reversal early. But it couldn't lift itself up today. I tried to take off a half at b/o but didn't get it. I will decide to cut my loss or stay tomorrow. Also need to consider to buy a directional put set in small contracts for retest lows if not break lows.

Made 4 trades. Sold TLSA call spreads when I saw it popped 2%. It later closed above 3%. This is a wild animal. I have about 20% distance and 37 days left. Let's see how it goes. Will sell a set of puts on pull back to make it into IC. Bought a set of SPY for directional play as I planned last night. Not much else going on in the market. Crude closed up on inventory draw down and weather concerns. I may trade it tomorrow.

Net liq upped 2.3K, a wash from yesterday. Margin ratio is back to 47% from 27% yesterday without any hedging trade. That's a puzzle to me. Is it because of VIX? But that reduced yesterday and raised today.

A Day Of Driving Up 8-22-17

It's a day of one way drive for all majors. SPX, RUT closed up around 1%. The over sold condition with the talks of tax reform fueled the rally. It may continue for a few days with a possible pause tomorrow. I may try to buy directional calls at the money tomorrow with small contracts for a day to couple days holding time. I need to develop a short term trading systems. Maybe base it on Fib and couple other technical indicators.

Made 8 trades, 6 for clients and 2 for me. Sold bear call spreads to make IC 2 for late Sept and early Oct. Get to watch for upside risk while the uptrend is intact. It's still possible for market to make new highs.

Net liq is down 2.1K. The 2 exited bear call really helped to reduce the negative impact of up swings. Margin is on put side and below 30%. I only got one RUT put hedge in today. Will have to add more before the weekend.

Sellers Disappeared 8-21-17

The initial push down from cash open didn't get a follow through. All indices closed flat. There are rooms left on both side. Tech leaders recovered partially from early selling but still closed down. I have exposures to the down side need to be covered.

Made 4 trades. Rolled RUT 1350 ATM put furthe and IWM 136 ITM put further out. I tried to hedge puts but didn't get anything down except closed one RUT put for this week.

Net liq upped 2k. Delta neutral is showing its benefit. Margin ratio is at 30% despite recent increased net liq. It indicates that I am still over weighted in put side. I need to learn more ways to hedge risk.

A Great Risk Is Just One Step Away 8-18-17

Market took a pause after yesterday's big sell off. Indices hoped around zero lines all day long but closed slightly down with a bearish tone. I didn't realize that my available funds were in negative territory this morning as it was fine last night. My first rollover order  was rejected. I guess it was caused by more than 10 ITM small contracts expiring today. Luckily the deficit was less than 2K so I closed a SPY position. VIX was around 15. Imagining if there was a big event overnight and VIX jumped to 20-30 next morning. Then my account will be crushed. I need to reduce my size further and make sure to eliminate naked puts. Also get to spreed up my learning of new strategies. Butterfly seems require less margin.

Made 7 trades. They were rollover ITM IWM, QQQ and close SPY, IWM. Just spanning wheels to get by. There may be a better way to handle such situation and collect some premiums.

Net liq upped near 3K. I just learned that net liq may not prevent negative available funds. Need to watch out for VAR and What If figures. I may have to switch from big contracts to small ones to gain size flexibility and narrow spreads but pay more commissions.

Another August Sell Off? 8-17-19

The rally of early this week turned out to be a bulls' trap. US indices opened slightly down and closed the gap above within 1st hour. I thought it was going to be an range or up day since SPX only tested a half gap below then made a buying tail, plus today is the indices monthly option expiration day. It turned out that sellers had upper hands. The selling pressure was pressed until closing. SPX, RUT and QQQ closed down 1.5, 1.8 and 2.1% respectively. People listed several reasons for the sell off. Whatever it was. It's August. Watch out for risk to the down side.

Made 18 trades today. Out of another RUT bear call of 1385 in mid morning. Now my call side threat is reduced after 9 month of torment. Sold couple late Sept and early Oct bull puts earlier based on my assumption of range day. It turned out to be wrong. Also rolled out my SPX 2310 bear call. I spent a lot of time in hedging put side since I have some naked puts built from the run up. Tried ratio calendar to buy 1:2 put protections. It may be too close on the sell strike. RUT closed at 1358 while I sold a put at 1350 for  settlement by tomorrow morning. I have SPY, IWM and QQQ puts are IMT or ATM that need to be dealt tomorrow.

Net liq upped 5.6K with the put side being pressured. Margin ratio is low but the weekend expiry projected to be OK. It may change after I roll out these small contracts. Will add hedges with rolling.

Political Drama Held Indices 8-16-17

US indices grind up until a roll of CEOs quitting the White House's Manufacturing Council and the President dissolved the council all together. Fed minutes release at 2pm also waited on the market. Major indices bave back most of their gains of the day at close. Market may not let the price go down much before the monthly options expire this week.

Made only three trades today as the ranges were small. Sold AAPL Sept bull puts for a client and bought a RUT call to hedge my portfolio. It was boring and frustrating day as I tried so many ways to roll the SPX 2310 call. It couldn't get filled. I have to do it tomorrow.

Net liq merely changed. No premiums were collected. Margin ratio is below 40% and stayed on put side. I will have to bring it up before end of tomorrow.

A Day Of Rest for Bulls, Mostly 8-15-17

Indexes gave back most gains overnight on cash open. SPX and QQQ closed flat while RUT down 0.8% to the edge of yesterday's gap. Bulls held well over all. There are many gaps below for SPX and NQ not being able to fill. Nothing could deter the bulls so far with political drama continues.

Made 4 trades today. Tried to hedge the put side but couldn't get anything fill because there is no fear. I made RUT IC 2 in ET and rolled out a set of QQQ calls to next week expecting a continued push up. It was a lite day since I had to take June to airport for Ecuador early afternoon.

Net liq gained 6.7K while margin is still on put side. Margin ratio is above 50%. I realized that I need to be aware of the impact of a black swan event. Base on IB's Portfolio Risk analyses that my available margin may not stand for a 10% sudden drop. I also need to look at my clients' risk profile as well. Need to learn and use new hedge strategies.

Bulls Are Back 8-14-17

As the North Korean tensions eased over the weekend market jumped from European to the US. All major indexes gaped up on cash open and continued to grind up without any attempts to close the gaps below. SPX and RUT closed on highs of the day, up 1-1.5% respectively. The momentum is strong. I will plan to get back to directional play again and get on the train early.

Made 8 trades today. Three are exit orders filled. Sold some IC 2s of late Sept for clients. I saved some bullets for tomorrow. Need to beware that this rally could be an retest of the break out area before sellers come out again. Geopolitical risk is still present.

Net liq gave back 2K on this 1% pop thanks to the bull puts last week. The delta neutral trading make more sense to me now. I start to learn Butterfly and its variations.

A Day Of Rest 8-11-17

The inflation data came out less than expected before opening. Futures jumped briefly. It was a day of rest for bulls and bears. Majors closed slightly up after tugging on board lines most of the day. Market is still dominated by the tension of North Korea. Both RUT and SPX are back into their prior balance areas before the break out of July. RUT is showing over sold in MACD.  SPX still has a gap in 2430 act like a magnet. It's very much on the development of the N Korea tension.

Made 16 trades today. I had to make so many rollovers in both side after this recent sell off. The good news is that RUT 1390 bear call is exited, so was a client's RUT 1385 call which lifted some pressure off from the up side. I was able to roll out the two deep ITM positions in ET and collected some premiums. I wasn't comfortable to roll them in the last day but the put positions dragged me into it. I don't plan to sell put spreads in ET due to the concerns of the N.K risk unless it stabilized. Rolled out more IWM ITM puts to void getting assigned. I had to pay more to buy puts to hedge the down side risk before closing. The post expiry excess was below 30K. Paid over $100 to boost the put side hedges. It may not be enough if a major event happens over the weekend. I tried to buy couple VIX calls but didn't want to pay $80-90 for OTM calls. I missed the chance to get them cheap the day before yesterday when I heard that a big hedge fund was buying it. Yesterday was the highest VIX trading volume on record.

Net liq didn't go up much due to the ITM puts. Margin ratio is around 30% for this weekend. I may have to sell futures or futures options if any news that spook the market over the weekend.

Sell Off Continues 8-10-17

August volatility starts showing force today. Market sell off accelerated today. Indexes gaped down again today and couldn't get closed. NASD, RUT and SPX closed down 2%, 1.75 and 1.46% respectively. The daily lows were made by closing which is a bearish sign. VIX jumped over 30% and above 15. Daily candles are all outside of BBs. We may see a bounce or breather tomorrow if no news trip the market again. Market behaviors and sentiment changed so quickly from bullish to bearish.

Made 12 trades today. Sold some SPX Sept bull puts across managed accounts. Some IWM puts were pushed ITM. I had to roll them out and couple of them need to be dealt with tomorrow. I still couldn't get out the positions in ET due to the big sell off today. I have to close the put side before 1PM even to give back the premiums. I can't risk to let the ITM calls slip away.

Net liq got 6K boost with the wash of put side. Margin ratio is above 60% at least for tomorrow. Margin pressure is on put side now. I will have to buy hedges on put side. It will be a busy day to roll out so many positions tomorrow. Stay calm and be organized.

Partial Follow Through 8-9-17

Futures continued to drift lower overnight and market opened lower as well. SPX, NQ and RUT didn't close below their balance lows. RUT gave back almost 1% but the other two recovered most of their losses. RUT is in over sold territory unless some bad news push it further. SPX and NQ are still very bullish.

Made 16 trades today. Sold sold some late Sept RUT and SPX bull puts for clients taking advantages of early push down. Sold some scalps for clients as well. I haven't been able to roll my ET positions due to the put side holding up. Will try it tomorrow again. I am still holding this week's RUT 1390 ITM call in hope of an unexpected push down from current 1397 level. It require patience.

Net liq recovered another 5.6K. If the current level holds in RUT I plan to pay ET another 5K back. Margin ratio is at 94%. Good till this Friday. I may wait until Friday to decide what to hedge.

A Day Of Reversal 8-8-17

SPX and RUT opened to explore lower ranges following over night weakness, then popped up into positive territory.  SPX even made ATH of 2490 in early afternoon. Then the President made a comment about N Korea that spooked the market around 3:30. All majors started to turning down. Both SPX and RUT closed in negative of -0.2-0.3%. The daily candles appeared to be a big reversal but no balance lows are broken yet. The slide continues into this evening in futures. No under estimate bulls unless the current range lows are broken. Waiting to see what will happen before end of this week.

Made 7 trades. Made RR in QQQ, SPY and IWM in debits which I didn't think were going to fill earlier. Got to remember to pull off some order when market in fast moving mode. Step aside and don't stand in front of a running train. Closed couple QQQ calls early at b/e to save some cash. It turned out to be a good move. No major premiums were collected.

Net liq recovered from 8K losses earlier and up 1.5K with the sell off before closing. Margin ratio is at 60% and still on call side. I need to watch out the put side in case a break down to push some puts ITM.

Boring Summer Market 8-7-17

Indices held up but within a very narrow range. Both SPX and RUT closed within 0.15%. What are they waiting for? SPX is staying on its range top, watching for that 2500 number. RUT is at the bottom of its range, start turning up. Both DOW and NASDAQ are stronger. Bulls are firmly in charge.

Made 8 trades today. Rolled 2 calls up, one SPY call for b/e, the rest of them are exit orders. I debated if I should split my RUT ITM 1390 into two 1410 for this week and next week. The purpose is to exit one call within this two weeks. But it will increase my margin burden and reduce available funds. I decided to wait since RUT is turning up from the bottom of BB and above 1410. There is not a lot to do with this type of market.

Net liq moves in a small ranges as well. Margin ratio is above 50%. Margin switched back to call side. I will wait toward to the late part of the week to add call hedges.

A Big NFP Report Didn't Excite Market 8-4-17

None Farm Payroll for July reported 209K v.s 186K expected. It was another big beat and futures popped then fall back before cash open. I placed some orders in small contracts trying to catch a big drive after the report last night. None of them happened. RUT and SPX closed up 0.5% and 0.15% respectively. The effect of the NFP appears less than a big co's earning report. Maybe the bulls are in summer break too.

Made 9 trades today. Sold couple Sept 4 RUT bear calls to make IC 2 for clients but not mine. I only made some hedges and exiting puts. Don't have much to write about.

Net liq is down 2.2K on the 0.5% RUT pop. Margin ratio is at 78% before the expiration. It should be fine for this weekend.

RUT, Another Leg Down 8-3-17

Major indices pulled back slightly except Dow which posted 7th straight record highs and firmly above 22K. RUT, SPX and NASDAQ are down ranging from 0.5-0.2%. This may be market positioning for tomorrow's NFPR. Step back for jump or retreat depending on the news.

Made 10 trades across the accounts. Made my last rollover for this week. Entered couple SPY directional bet to long NFPR. Also bought hedges in both side for large contracts. Sold couple Sept 4 RUT bull puts for clients. The 0.5% RUT p/b is a further relief for me. RUT may be bouncing soon if it could not break 1400 support line.

Net liq is up 5K then I paid 3K back to ET. Margin ratio is above 60%. Will have to watch for the weekend projection. Margin is still on the put side. There are couple IWM and QQQ near the money puts I need to watch out for tomorrow's expiration.

Dow Over 22K But RUT On Retreat 8-2-17

Dow went over 22K today with Apple's surge. RUT gave back 1% since almost a month ago. SPX is still hanging up but MACD is about to turn down. VIX is still barely above 10. SPX may want to attempt to challenge 2500 before retreat.

Made 15 trades. Finally rolled SPX deep ITM calls to a week out with a cost of $135 each. I then sold inverted put spreads of 1390 for $125 to recover most of the cost. It's a risky move if the price drop down to the put level. It would be very hard to roll with limited available margin. Couple of my IWM puts were pushed ITM with today's 1% pull back. I had to roll them out. Rolled out couple RUT ITM calls with this p/b and collected some premiums. Also sold tow ratio puts to hedge the down side. Made another price error without - sign in a client's account again. This type of mistake must be stopped. Also sold RUT put spreads of Sept Betty and my accounts.

Net liq recovered 10K for a good change. Margin ratio is above 70%. I have one more RUT 1380 call to roll for this week. I will try to use this pull back to raise my bear call strikes and hopefully exit 1-2 positions during this down turn.

Waiting for Apple Earnings 8-1-17

Market was in holding pattern awaiting for economic data and Apple earnings after hour.  SPX and RUT closed up about 0.25%. RUT erased early losses. MACDs are both turning down. Apple earnings beat strongly after hour and popped 7% with ATH. DOW is expected to cross 22,000 tomorrow. I need to prepare for another squeeze. Hopefully it will be short lived.

Made 2 trades only. Both were hedges. Couldn't roll out any positions with this slow market. I will have to take a hit again with my SPX deep ITM calls in ET tomorrow.

Net liq gave back 1.2K. Margin ratio is down due to the month end expiry. Margin is on the put side now. This summer is really slow and tiring. Be careful about sudden moves.