Sector Rotation or Floor Cracking 11-29-17

Market diverged somewhat today. RUT was up near 0.5% while NASDAQ sold off near 2%. SPX ended flat. Money seems rotating out of tech and moving into large and small cap. Dow was up recording another new high. Indexes are not moving in sync. The tax bill looks more and more like will pass. Are we going to see a pop or sell on the news? My will be squeezed again if we get another pop. Senate vote is scheduled on this Friday. I may place more hedges on tomorrow.

Made 7 trades. Had to covert a deep ITM RUT 1425 call to 1650 put. Took a lose of $900. The bear calls are threatening to bring net liq below 100K. Both are problematic but had to choose one less damaging. Added more long calls in small cars with 1:2 roll up.

Net liq went below 100K. Had to wire another 10K in. Looks like it's not enough. I started to dip into IRA already. Need to look further where I can convert positions from call to put and deleveraging. I will have to roll my RUT in ET by tomorrow. It looks like another hit is waiting.

Nothing Could Stop The Bull 11-28-17

Market opened slightly up and appeared range bounded. Then the news of stopped negotiation of budget talk and another North Korea missile launch didn't shack the market much. When Senator budget committee passed the tax proposal all indexes broke out to the upside. All majors booked new ATHs. SPX and RUT closed up 1 and 1.5% respectively. The sentiment is very bullish for the tax bill and year end seasonality. There are more to come unless the tax bill is stalled.

 Made 13 trades. I made couple 1:2 split ITM small cars through rolling to add more long calls. Also made the same split in SPX and RUT OTM calls. They were filled before the breakout and turned out to be timely. I plan to add more long calls with any weakness.

Net liq took a blow of 10K today. It's firmly in the red zone. I will have to wire fund in tomorrow. Margin ratio is well above 50 thanks to these long calls. Leverage is at 3 for the first time. It's alarming. I will have to  look for funds in my IRA account the weather this rally.

Waiting For News 12-27-17

Market opened slightly up and closed slightly down. It's in a waiting pattern again. Waiting for the new FED Chairman confirmation and Senator's tax bill process. The late may cause a big wave.

Made 12 trades today. Sold Jan 2018 RUT bull puts CS on early pull back. The rest of them were hedges and closing positions.

Net liq kept 5K above water. Margin is health for now. I continued to get email replies about my deep ITM calls. Some people are nice and willing to help.

Pausing Before Thanksgiving 11-22-17

Market took a breather on this day before Thanksgiving. Indices maintained in a small range. SPX and RUT closed slightly lower perhaps short term traders took off some chips off table before the long weekend. NASDAQ is the only one made a new high again.

Made 9 trades. Bought couple of long calls for hedging and rolled the small cars out to collect some profit and extend my hedges. I bought SPX 2610 calls in ET to prepare for roll on Friday. Feel like that I should have waited until Friday to let it decay a little more. But market only open until noon so I was worried I may not have enough time to do it. Well I take responsibilities for my action. If market goes up on Friday I will win otherwise I may loss $100 or so.

Net liq survived today thanks for the final closing down. Margin ratio is healthy. Leverage is above 200 again since the run up started last week.

Well, Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for everything and I am still alive.

Another Punch 11-21-17

The year end rally continues. Stock indexes gaped up following Asia and Europe markets. Major markets around globe are synchronized in bullish dance. SPX touched 2600 for the first time and RUT firmly stand above 1500, up to 1519. It's into my target of 1520-1530 area. I felt been punched in my stomach again today. It's relentlessly pushing up. RUT could build another balance area around 1550 after today's new high. I need to hedge or play long more aggressively.

Made 6 trades across all accounts. Rolled my ITM SPY and IWM up to extend hedging time and collect some profit. Luckily I placed a RUT call hedge early in the session. GE is still dripping down. I tried to place a ratio hedge but didn't get filled. The SPX puts in ET is closed but I couldn't roll the bear calls It looks like I may have to take another loss to roll it.

Net liq suffered a 6K blow and is at 113K now. My line in the sand is 110K. I may have to wire fund again. Hope I don't have to do it before this Thanksgiving weekend. My funds a stretched thin now.

RUT Is Turning Up 11-20-17

RUT/IWM continued to move up for 3 consecutive days and added 3% today. MACD daily is turning up. SPX and QQQ had only mild price actions and their MACDs are still in negative territory. Small caps are leading up and down. I need to watch if RUT/IWM will make a new high or a lower high. The later is unlikely since market sentiment is so bullish unless any bad news in tax reform come out.

9 trades got filled today. 3 of them were pending exit orders. I bought some RUT/IWM hedges using risk reversal in the morning before they surged. It turned out to be good timing.  Also rolled this week's ITM QQQ to extend my positions. Too bad no premiums were collected although I tried to sell couple of ETFs.

Net liq got hit again. It's down to 119K now. Margin ratio is above 70% after last week's expiry. I will have to roll the SPX positions in ET tomorrow.

The Day of Turn Around 11-16-17

Futures moved up overnight in lock steps with the Congress's tax bill vote schedule. All major stock indices were up 1% at highs of the day. RUT almost made 2% then closed up 1.5%. With the tax bill moving along and year end seasonality this rally may be just starting. My rough anticipation of the move was close. Now need to plan how to further play the movement. QQQ made another ATH. SPX is only 15 point away from that big 2600 mark.

Made 18 trades. The most difficult ones were rolling the SPX bear call in ET. My pre purchased CS didn't work so I had to close the short side first. The approach is better than roll both long and short together. I was able to roll the position b/e with selling put spreads. It's better than before. Other orders were mainly rolling existing positions and reduce margin on the put side. My efforts to preserve my long calls in small cars during the pull back paid off so far. Some of them are back ITM now.

Net liq lost 6K on this 1.5% rally. Margin ratio is down to 30%. It may not a bad idea to let margin stay on put side.

Welcome Another Down Day 11-15-17

Futures were dragged down overnight during Asian and European markets. The selling was more intense than last few days during the morning. As usual buyers stepped in after yesterday's lows were broken. QQQ and IWM's overnight gaps were closed. SPX was not. Congress is going to vote it's tax bill tomorrow which could trigger a turn around in market sentiment if it passes. RSI for majors are below 40 but some weekly MACDs are just about to cross down. Are we going to see more consolidation?

Made 12 trades. Rolled up 2 RUT and 1 SPX bear calls and gained a total 20 points. Also rolled some small cars out in attempts to save some of my long calls. Rolled out GE puts to next month as it bounced 2% today. It was a bad scalp due to my misjudgment. I have to roll out my SPX in ET tomorrow after the put side closes.

Net liq didn't change much. Margin ratio is down to 35% after I rolled these deep ITM bear calls with selling puts. Margin is still on put side.

When Will The 2nd Shore Drop? 11-14-17

Indices opened lower again today. As usual the buy dip crowd came in again within the first hour of open. But all the majors closed in negative territory. GE was down another 6%. I made a mistake selling $19.5 puts last Friday and now holding the bag in the money. RUT/IWM continue to make lower highs but not giving up the bottom. Feels that market is still waiting for the tax bill to come out. Congress is schedule to vote on it on Thursday while Senator is ironing out details. I still expect a push up when both houses release their versions of bills. Now it may be the base building before the year end pop unless the tax bill disappointing the market.

Made 7 trades today. Sold my 1st sets of January 2018 bull puts spreads in the morning. I rolled some SPY and QQQ further out to weather current pull back. I may close couple small ITM cars to book some profit before end of the week. Bought my first set of call spread to prepare rolling in ET. The intention is to hold off margin expansions. I will be aggressively roll the ITM RUT tomorrow to lock in some gains tomorrow.

Net liq fall a little after I transferred 3K to ET to boost margin over there. Margin is really tight so I have to work around it. Margin ratio is at 60% and it stays at put side.

Waiting 11-13-17

Market opened lower but recovered to B/E at closing. It appears market is waiting for tax reform development. There was no news came out today. So far it's moving alone and market has no sign of breaking down. I need to build hedges on call side in case any news break out. Congress is expected to vote on it before end of this week.

Made 8 trades but no premiums collected. Rolled some of my IWM calls further out which were losing value during this slow drifting down. IWM's bull flag pattern is still intact. Sold 3 GE bull put at 19.5 on a signal of break up of 3%  last Friday. It dropped 8% today after GE unveiled its plan of reform.

Net liq is flat around 135K. Margin ratio is back to 70% for now. The risk is still to the upside. My hedges for RUT calls wasted due to the down drift but need to continue to place it. I am planing to buy call spreads for my ET positions.

Possible Tax Rate Cuts Delay 11-9-17

Futures were dragged down by European market overnight. During the usual dip buying in mid morning that Senator's tax bill proposal came out suggesting a one year delay for the corporate tax rate cut. Market sunken for more than 1% reacting to the news. Then the majors recovered more than half of their losses at closing. Buyers are still active. It's possible that indices are pulling back to set up another run up before the year end.

Made 13 trades. Rolled the RUT bear calls in ET and sold put side to cover the cost. Get to deal with the SPX bear calls tomorrow. It's going to be a tough one. Sold bull puts in SPX and RUT for the late Dec across accounts. Rolled up some ITM QQQs. Have some SPY to roll tomorrow. Bought couple put to hedge margin.

Net liq stayed about the same. Margin ratio is at 36% and Margin stayed on the put side. I am too heavy on put side now. Risk is 5% on both side.

Rut Turn Around 11-8-17

It has been the case that the majors don't drop more than two days in this bull market. RUT opened to the down side and broke the low of yesterday. Then the dip buyers stepped in and closed the down gap. It ended the day up 0.15%. It appears that a test of daily low is completed if it moves back to its balance area above. On the other hand the weekly MACD started crossing down. It's all about the pending tax bill now. The success or failure of it would boost or shock the market.

Made 6 trades, mainly rolling long calls and hedging. Tried to sell TSLA and couple ETFs but no fill. As markets are grinding up and margin on the put side I hands are tight to sell bull puts. It was another no premiums day.

Net liq is slightly down. Margin ratio is at 28% due to heavy puts. I can fix it in the next two days

Russell Pull Back 11-7-17

Surprise! RUT pulled back 1.3% today while S&P and QQQ were barely down. RUT closed below recent balance low of 1482 after 4 previous tries. Though the break out is not decisive yet but it's a welcome sign.

Made 16 trades across board. Sold some mid Dec RUT bull puts. I rolled 2 deep ITM RUT calls gaining 5 points each. Margin is heavy on put side now. Tried to sell TSLA bull puts but didn't get filled.

Net liq gained a meaningful of 8.9K. Margin ratio is well above 60% for now. Delta is positive but better than negative before. I will try to get it to neutral.

Grinding Up 11-6-17

Major indices continued to grind up and marking new highs. It seams the only way the market is going now a days. Only RUT didn't make new high but it's coiling up around 1500. The narrowing B band indicating a likely expansion to the upside. MACD is also working out its lows. I guess it's waiting for the tax bill development.

Made 9 trades today. I locked and rolled some of my ITM SPY and QQQ long calls. I don't want to loss my hedging long positions, especially when they are in the money. The RUT PS in ET got closed today. I will try to roll the ITM calls tomorrow. Started selling TSLA PS again after its disappointing ER. I also added 2 IWM long calls with 2:1 ratio calendar long using some money made from QQQ and SPY.

Net liq is still in range bound. I had to transfer 1.2K out to pay cc bill. Margin ratio is above 60% and on put side.  I will try to roll up my deep ITM calls with any pull back.

New Tax Bill Released But No Blow Up Yet 11-2-17

I was so nervous about a blow up when the tax reform bill released. Market was under pressure before and after it. It couldn't sell off but couldn't get up much either until the closing that all the indexes went into positive territory. I suspend that market need time to digest the complicated tax proposal. Wait to see which way the wind will blow tomorrow. The seasonality is on bull's side though.

Made 11 trades. Continued to roll hedges and closing puts to release margin. Feels like spinning wheels but not getting anywhere. Not much premiums were collected. The SPX bear calls in ET still not rolled. I tested several ways but no winning solutions so far. I have to bite the bullets again tomorrow.

Net liq is still in 120K rang bound. Margin ratio stays above 60%. The weekend looks fine now after I placed some hedges today.

Something Odd Today 11-1-17

Index futures went up overnight along with European markets.  ES, NASDAQ and Dow made new highs after open then started falling. RUT was nearing its ATH but got rejected quickly. I was expecting the market would hold at the top considering that FOMC wouldn't raise rate and the tax bill was scheduled to release tomorrow morning. RUT made a round trip of 1.5% to reach its balance low for the third time. It closed down 0.7%. QQQ was lowered by 0.28%. I am not sure if this is another deck clear action or a possible sell on news. The ERs from FB and TSLA didn't do well after hour.

Made 9 trades. Only rolled one RUT 1365 ITM, up 5 points. the others were hedging and exiting positions. The positions in ET are still my major concern that won't get filled without widening margin which I am short of. I was mostly focusing on hedging call side. I am learning more aggressive ways to hedge, such as buy near the money vertical or ratio spreads instead of selling.

Net liq recovery most losses from yesterday. Margin ratio is back at 60%. Marin is still on put side. It will be quickly switched to call side if the market breaks up.