The Last Trading Day Of 2017 12-29-17

Futures jumped overnight. I thought that we would see the new highs of 25000 and 2700 for Dow and S&P respectively in the last trading day of 2017. But sellers kept these numbers off the limits today. I guess they wanted to save it for 2018. Indices actually sold off before closing and closed at the low of the day.

Made 12 trades. Rolled up Lao Dong's last RUT bear call to late Jan. I found it was easier to roll when both spreads are ITM. I was able to roll my SPX bear call spreads up again. It was my third roll up since moved them from ET. On the other hand I haven't able to roll the RUT short calls even without getting any premiums since the long leg is OTM. Also sold couple RUT bull puts for clients but I don't have room for my account. I need to hold off of selling put spreads in order to save margins for rolling. The rest of the trades were buying hedges on both side. Made it to safe level for the weekend.

Net liq climbed back above 110K. Margin ratio is above 60%. Leverage is below 50 for the first time since ET transfers.

No Sign Of Weakness 12-28-17

Market held up well today with a later session ramping up. Dip buyers won't miss any chance to scoop up asset. Are we going to see Dow and S&P reaching 25K and 2700 tomorrow? Both are within their daily range.

Made 9 trades today. I was able to roll out the last 2 of my deep ITM RUT calls during a small window of weakness in the morning. Could't get a client's position rolled after price moved away. Also closed a set of SPY 267 calls to preserve some capital. I plan to use the fund to buy IWM or QQQ long calls next week. I lost some nice gains to time decay during this choppy week despite they are ITM. Closed AAPL bull puts for clients.

Net liq slides below 110K again. Margin ratio is at 41%. I was able to rise margin up for next week. I need to do more tomorrow to make sure there is enough cushion. Margin is on put side now.

Black Friday - A Half Day Of Work 11-24-17

Even on this a half trading day bulls continued to push indices to new highs. SPX and NASDAQ made new highs again. This holiday rally started before the Black Friday.

Made 7 trades. Rolled SPX 2265 twice for 2 weeks out and reduced the loss to about $300 with selling a set of puts. This is a tough act to continue. Left one IWM long call for assignment. The rest of the trades were exiting positions.

Net liq stayed above the water at 112K. May not get through next week if market continue to rise which is very likely. Margin ratio is fine for the weekend. Get to learn and figure out new approaches to reduce my leverage. It crossed 250 again.

Awaiting For The New Year 12-27-17

Indices closed much unchanged after explored up and down within small ranges. It feels like big money is just waiting for the new year. I am not sure if we will see a meaningful pull back after the new year. Instead there may be another leg up first since every dip met with buyers.

Made 6 trades today. All of the small long calls were rolled to January.  Have not been able to move any of the big cars. I will need to do it tomorrow. No new premiums were collected.

Net liq moved back above 110K. Margin ratio stayed at 45%. The predicted balance over the weekend is still a concern. I will have to boost it up in next two days.

Day After Christmas 12-26-17

It's expected to be quiet and slow. Tech rotation appears continuing. AAPL and BABA both were down more than 2% while small caps inching up. S&P held steady. I don't expect much movement before the new year. Big money is holding on gains for better tax treatment next year.

Made 11 trades. About a half of them were exit orders. Sold BABA's Feb 3 put spreads as it dropped 2%. Got about 15% out of the money. Rolled a couple of small cars out of this week. I still have some SPY and IWM ITM or ATM left need to roll out tomorrow. There are couple of deep ITM RUT bear calls must go out as well.

Net liq eroded a little more. Margin ratio is at 45%. The problem is that the predicted balance would be below zero for next week. I have shore up before end of this week.

A Day Of Going Nowhere 12-22-17

It was expected for market to marking time the day before Christmas long weekend. Majors traded slightly underwater for most of the day in choppy mode.  I guess people are taking off for the holidays.

Made 8 trades. I was able to roll 5 pts for the SPX ET positions and made $120 without impacting margins. I then sold only 1 PS instead of 2 of the matching quantity. I was concerned putting too much pressure on put side in case a sudden pull back after the New Year. The rest of them were just small car adjustment. I also closed 2 SPY long calls at -50% to void further decays of next week.

Net liq stayed the same. Margin ratio is at 45%. It looks OK for the weekend. Will try to enjoy this Christmas break. This year is almost behind now.

Chopping Up 12-21-17

Indexes gaped up again this morning. There was energy pushing the market up in early afternoon but faded before cash closing. The three majors traded within yesterday's range leaning toward upside. They may hold it for another push after Christmas.

Made 7 trades. Mainly traded small cars. I rolled everything to next week and beyond. Collected some ITM profits but the strikes are closer to the money now. Any meaningful pull back will cause my long calls lose a big chunk of value. If that happens then my short calls should recover some. 

Net liq dipped below 110K. I maybe able to hold it though this weekend if there is no big surge tomorrow. Margin ratio is down to 43%.

Muted Reaction On Passing Tax Bill 12-20-17

Market chopped around on the passing of Tax Bill today. SPX was only 10 point away from 2700. I assume that they want to reach it before the year end. RUT is still legging with the other majors. Market is waiting on something? It may take another shot after Christmas.

Made 7 trades today. Four of them were exit orders. I rolled out RUT bear call spreads from ET for a week without gaining any point. Then sold a put spread to cover the cost of the rolling with $180 extra premiums.

Net liq is barely above my warning mark. Margin ratio is near 50% and projected OK for this weekend. Still try to figure out how to reverse bear call to bull put. The hard part is to roll strikes for the long puts.

Will We See Selling The News 12-19-17

Major indices opened high then reversed to close lower as the House voted to pass the tax bill. It could be the big money is unwinding some of their positions before the holiday weekend. The tax bill is almost in the bag so the excitement of uncertainty is not there any more.

Made 11 trades. Sold some late Jan RUT bull puts across board on the small pull back. I am still trying to figure out a better way to pearl off these deep ITM bear calls from ET. The old way of raising 5-10 points each month is too slow and inefficient for this bull market. I am falling way behind.

Net liq improved some as the market pulled back a little. But my long calls suffered too. Margin ratio is back to 50%. The leverage level of 50+ is a concern. It doubled as the transfers from ET though there were equal  or higher amount equities came with the bear calls.

Tax Bill Near Done 12-18-17

Index futures gaped up Sunday night on news of more GOP senators supporting the bill. It looks like the vote is a sure thing today. SPX and NASDAQ booked new ATHs. RUT is up another percent and near making another ATH. My deep ITM calls finally came to IB from ET today which let me have more room to maneuver. The risk is still very real since there are more deep ITM bear calls dragging by relentless raging bulls.

Made 14 trades. I was able to lock in some profit with my small cars in the call side and roll them further out. I don't want lose my long calls as hedge but I don't have enough cash to let them going to stocks either. So eventually they will be out of the money with a pull back. My guess is that smart money will start to sell to book some profit after new year.

Net liq lost some ground with new positions from ET and today's new highs. It's right at 110K right now. Margin ratio is down to 40%. I may have to wire my last 10K in to weather this year end push. My portfolio delta is positive so it my help to offset some margin damages. I will continue to figure out different ways to pill off some of my bear calls.

All About The Tax Bill 12-14-17

Bulls retreated mid day after a Senator withdrawing his support for current version of the bill. RUT and SPX closed -1.1% and 0.4% respectively. I don't think the bill is in serious trouble yet. They will do anything they can to pass it.

Made 11 trades with a half of them exiting orders. Sold RUT bull put spreads of end Jan. Rolled a deep ITM RUT for 5 points gain with one month extension. The math is not working for me. My position transfer is still up in the air. Tomorrow is a critical day.

Net liq is up 2.5K.  The Delta neutral strategy has stabilizing effect. Margin ratio is above 150% but it may reduce 15K after weekly expiration.  

An No Impact Rate Hike 12-13-17

Fed raised interest rate by 0.25 point as expected. Market didn't react to the news much at all. The tax bill tentative agreement did drive indexes higher before the FOMC announcement. The three majors made new ATHs again. The bulls won't stop until the tax bill is passed.

Made 11 trades. Moved all expiring longs for this week and booked some profit. I made another poo poo. I forgot to cancel a QQQ roll out order after placing one to replace it. It didn't even occurred to me to cancel the other one. I repeated a mistake of picking a wrong strike again to day. I guess I have been distracted and stressed with the position transfer glitches. I was calm earlier and noticed my emotions. Then I slipped off the zone. I need to remind myself to step away when I can't concentrate.

Net liq is in chopping state. It's still weak to the upside. I need hedge calls for Dec 29 before the positions coming. Margin ratio is fine. Will lose about 12K after the weekend.

Marking Time Before FOMC and Tax Bill 12-12-17

Dow and SPX made new entra day highs on news of tax bill progress while NASDAQ and RUT traded flat for most of the day. I think market is marking time for FOMC and the tax bill. The democratic win in Alabama senate race may change sentiment somewhat for tomorrow's market. But market has very short memory though.

Made 11 trades. Most of them were just extending positions. Sold ISRG bull put spreads for the first time. I need to extend my winning hedges to longer time period. It may save their values for less decay and commission cost.

Net liq still range bounded. Margin ratio is above 100%. Leverage is still above 250. These RUT ITM positions on both side may be the reason. I need to stay calm for FOMC  tomorrow.

FOMC No Longer A Force? 12-11-17

Major indices continue holding up on Monday. It's expected that FOMC will hike rate this Wednesday. It seams no impact to the market. The tax bill is a more important matter for now. I will try to add more longs to ride the wave.

Made 11 trades today. Most of the were rolling small cars up and out to extend my hedges. Added 3 more SPY longs during the process. Also made two mistakes in configuring orders. One was picked a wrong expiring date and the other was a wrong strike price. It hasn't happened in a long while. I guess I was stressed and distracted by the position transfer issues between IB and ET. My trail of the first partial transfer was rejected as there was not enough margin in ET to cover the rest of the positions. I made 2nd try today to move all the bear call spreads along with evaluate value of long stocks. My plan is not to impact my net liq negatively in IB after the transfer.

Net liq didn't change much and still hang around 115K area.  Margin ratio is safe for now but the weight is shifted to call side again. I need to get it back to put side before the transfers arrives.

Await For NFPR Tomorrow 12-8-17

Market reversed from selling of the last few days positioning for FNP tomorrow. The expected number is 198K. It will be an event to cause some movement regardless how the number comes out. The sentiment is still bullish.

It's a light day. Made 7 trades. No premiums collected. I rolled the SPX bear call spreads in ET to end of this month. I talked to both side brokers trying to figure out what's the best way to transfer my positions without impacting margins in both accounts. But got no clear answer from either side. I decided to try SPX first while waiting for RUT puts to close and roll it tomorrow. Be prepared to run into glitches with the transfer. I have to try it since there is no room left in ET. Keep my figure crossed.

Net liq dropped a little. Net liq is still the concern. Margin ratio is above 50% for now. Another 1-2% surge would require more funds to cover.

Divergence Between Small Cap and The Rest Caps 12-6-17

RUT continued to under pressure while SPX held up and NASDAQ advanced nicely. It was similar to late Oct then RUT popped very strongly after a decent pull back. Market may be in waiting mode for the tax bill to go through. The up trend is intact.

Made 10 trades. Sold RUT late Jan 18 bull puts during today's pull back. Rolled the rest of small cars expiring in this week. I am trying to hold my longs during this consolidation period. RUT pushed into 1510 threatening my bull puts in ET. I will see if RUT will pop so that I can make b/e for this trade. It's going to be tough for the next two days as I am trying to roll these bear calls in ET further out in order to transfer them to IB.

Net liq stayed in range as the two deep ITM puts offsetting gains during the pull back. Margin ratio is above 60%. Leverage is still above 250 which is high. The danger is still in the upside with limited net liq.

Selling On The News 12-5-17

I was taking annual physicals in Northlake Yesterday. Market reversed after a big jump on Sunday night and Monday morning. Luckily I was able to catch some pull back. Rolled that RUT deep ITM put from 1650 to 1590 in a 1 to 2 split. Buyers couldn't hold their gains yesterday and today. RUT gave back 1% today. It looks like a sell on the news after the Senate passed its version of tax bill on Friday night.

Made 12 trades. Rolled most of this week's small calls out to preserve my hedges. Sold some IWM bull put CS for clients. Also rolled up couple of deep ITM RUT bear calls adding 5 pts each. The negative side of this pull back is that my RUT 1510 put spreads in ET is in danger now. I may have to take a hit to exit out.

Net liq improved a little since my delta is slightly positive after reversed that bear call to bull put. Margin ratio is above 80%. Leverage is still above 250. I am planning to transfer most of my holdings in ET to IB to resolve the margin issue. Will call IB tomorrow to clarify couple issues. Don't want to have any unexpected glitch to cost me major headaches.

The Senate Tax Vote Is Near 11-30-17

Dow and SPX popped but RUT legged today while senators were debating their tax bill. Indexes all closed higher more or less. The vote was delayed after hour. They will schedule it for tomorrow. It looks like they will do whatever it takes to pass it. So expect another surge if it passes.

Made 8 trades. 4 of them were in ET. Tried to raise strikes within the same expiring week It took less to gain 5 points but appeared costing more to roll the positions to next week. I will have to experiment more to see if it works. Market makers are difficult to deal with on expiration day. I ended up losing $450 to roll up 1 week with 1.5K margin expansion. What a bad deal.

Net liq stayed above neck line. Thanks to these long calls that offset the effect of price pop. Margin ratio is above 100 and on put side. Now need to watch out the put side. Have 2 RUT bear calls must roll by tomorrow.