A Wild Ride of The Christmas Week 12-28-2018

This Monday was Christmas Eve. The majors sold off another 2% and closed at the lows of the day. A bloody bath before Christmas. Perhaps the algos don't have a sense of holiday session. The selling started the day after Christmas with a new low. Then, the trend reversed late in the morning. The majors staged an F.U. rally, up near 5%. The bulls slotted bears again in the same pattern. Today it was a pump and dump day. Overall, it was a wild, emotionally charged market.

It was a more difficult week for me and my clients. My account was put on hold for a day because N.L was below 100K. I wired in my last available 10K on the day of Christmas Eve. It only helped for a few hours on that volatile day. The rally after Christmas provided some relief to us. I was able to adjust my positions. Now I am a little too heavy on the downside if the relief rally continues. I feel emotionally drained somewhat.

Net liq is at 106K. Margin ratio is barely above 30%. Leverage stays above 5, back from 6 during the heavy selling. Now, the Net liq is still on shaky ground.

My positions have increased. I had to add it in order to roll my positions. The danger is that it could easily turn against me with any sizable move in current high VIX condition.

No Santa Rally T's Season 12-21-18

It's a brutal week of selling for the US market. All of the majors have had five consecutive days of losses. Price ranges are wild. The losses of the week: SPX -7%, RUT -8.4%, QQQ -8.39%. The biggest weekly loss in many years. The selling accelerated after FOMC raised the rate and projected 2 more rate hikes for next year. The market sentiment is bearish but the selling action is stronger. The 3.4% GDP growth of the 3rd quarter and Fed members dovish remarks couldn't lift the market. Something underneath is going on. The market seems to lost confidence.

My portfolio was hit hard this week. I wasn't aggressive enough in rolling and reversing. I kept thinking there may be a bounce after FOMC announcement. Instead, it was a big selloff. My portfolio is still delta positive despite the added bear calls.

My net liq is at 9.6K. It closed below 100K despite wired in another 10K this Thursday. The Friday's 2% selloff just wiped it out. The leverage is 596, very alarming. I managed squeezed another 10K loan from Fidelity and have to wire to IB this weekend. 

The Selloff Continues 12-14-18

It's another down week. 4 out 5 days were red. The pattern of the week is fading of every rally. After SPX reached 2585 on Monday which is below last October's low it bounced strongly. I thought the retest was successful. But every rally was met with strong selling. VIX stayed elevated above 20. Price ranges are wide. SPX had another 2% selloff today, just like last Friday. The sentiment is bearish. The trade talk progress couldn't lift the market. Technically speaking, the market may be clearing the deck for FOMC next Wednesday. Or could there be other reasons behind the selloff?

With the selloff, I was able to exit out one of my SPX ITM bear calls and several others for my clients. I had to reverse that 2 DOE bull put since it was pushed ITM for about 50 points. It was a disaster since I didn't roll it out properly last Friday. The set in my personal account is in deeper trouble since it activated the day trading limit. I may have to wire fund in next week to shore off the balance if the market continues to sell off.

Net liq is still under pressure at 117K. The margin is at 447. The portfolio is still in surviving mode. I will continue to reverse, hedge positions to reduce margins. There are 5 deep ITM bull puts need to be rolled out next week.

Last Week's Retest Didn't Work Out 12-7-18

It was a wild week for the market. SPX touched 2800 after the trade truce in G 20 on Monday. Then a 3-4% selloff followed the next day. The majors have booked two of 2-3% down days in a week. RUT is closed below Nov's low. SPX is parked right at the low of the last month. It's a pretty bearish picture. Fed's dovish talk and the trade war truce didn't save the market. Could this retest be successful? The next support level is the Feb lows.

Had a hairy moment on Wednesday night after the futures opened gap down. I had a margin call that evening. I came up with an idea to trade the SPX to roll a couple of my positions during the Europen open at 3 AM. It could save a client's account and mine. I made it with a little technical glitch. Although it was a wash on Thursday, our accounts stood for today's 2% selloff. Three of my ITM bear calls are off the book today. It recovered about $30K for the portfolio nicely. That should allow me to reverse more to the downside should the market continue to sell off. I need to watch out not adding more positions on each side.

My portfolio is still shaky. Net liq is at 114K after paid 5K back to ET. The margin ratio is at 38%. Leverage is 4.7. The 2 DTE system failed on Thursday during the selloff. It was designed to withstand 1.5% movement in 1 day. Then SPX dropped 3% in one day. Every time I get hit when I am overconfident and disobey my rules. I didn't want to trade it in my account due to the limited buying power. I didn't hold my disciplines.

My work for next week is continuing to deleverage. I haven't collected many premiums and spend part of the collection on hedging each week. I found that reversal can also help reduce margins. But need to watch out for adding positions on the opposite side.

A Week Of Turn Around 11-30-18

The majors have made a big turn around this week. SPX and Nasdaq booked five consecutive days of gaining. RUT had 4 out of 5 positive days. Fed Chairman softened his tone on the rate hiking which gave the market a big boost. The trade talk summit this weekend also gives the market hope of easing tensions between China and the US. However, there will be a big selloff if there is no positive outcome from the summit.

My big surprise was that the AMZN got assigned on Wednesday morning. I planned to split the one bull put to two in hope of scaling out a little quicker and rollout to avoid possible assignment. It was an intense experience. There are some good lessons learned. I will not trade large cap stock options that I can't afford to get assigned. I will take stops when and if the plan calls for it. I also made some adjustments in my portfolio to stay afloat under margin pressure. My patience paid off today. I was able to exit 4 near the money positions which helped to deleverage my portfolio and recovered $17,000 losses. Spent another $230 to hedge for next week. Hope I will get a couple more positions off my back next week.

My net liq is $130K after sending 5K back to ET and paid myself 1.5K first time this month. The margin is below 50% for the first time in the last two weeks. The leverage is below 4.0.

Retest Oct Lows 11-23-18

The market continued to the downside despite the Thanksgiving week. There was not any cheering felt in the market. Any meaningful bounce was sold at end of the day. The majors, except Nasdaq, are very close to retesting their Oct lows. Nasdaq was already below its Oct low. The next targets will be April and Feb lows. There may be a bounce at these low points but not sure if they will hold for the longer time frame.

My portfolio is under further pressure from last week as the selloff continued. I had to wire transfer another 10K in when the majors gapped down on Tuesday. That added my total wires into 55K during the Oct selloff. I had to spend more funds to hedge since VIX stayed elevated above 20. I plan to take off 1-2 ITM positions to reduce my margin requirement and add them back when the market condition changes. It may be more effective and less expensive than spending $200-300 week on hedging. I need to not increase my ITM positions as margin relief.

Net liq is at 115K. Margin ratio is dangerously below 30%. Leverage is at 456. My main job is to keep my account afloat so I will have a chance to recover. 

A Week Of Bottoming 11-16-18

The market tumbled during the first three days of the week.  It filled the two gaps left during the midterm election rally. But it hasn't retested the Oct low. It rallied the last two days of the week, mainly on trade war news. VIX popped and dropped. It was news and Twitter-driven market. There is a divergence between the price action and MACD. MACD is on a down slop while the price bounced for the last two days. We may see price rangebound for a few more days. Bullish seasonality may come in play after Thanksgiven.

Made a lot of trades for this monthly expiring week. The high VIX put pressure on my margin requirement. I spent perhaps 1/3 of my premiums on hedging cost. It's a matter of survival. I added 7 ITM bear calls during this selloff. The $45K borrowed capital is not enough to cover the margins. I may have to spend some real money to buy back a couple of positions.

Net liq is at 116K and available funds are at 24.5K. Leverage stays at 4.6. The portfolio is on a shaky ground. I will continue to look for ways to unwind some positions before the year-end. The Two DTE experiment has worked out so far with 3 tries. This is a mid-range VIX play. Will continue to use it when the condition is right.

The Week of Turn Around 11-2-18

The majors dropped further on Monday, Oct 29. But the fresh lows were met with buyers. It made buying tails. Then, it comes the turn around Tuesday. The majors had 3 consecutive revenge rallies. Apples slightly lower than expected ER stalled the market today. It was also a trade talk news-driven week. A better than expected NFP report may be interpreted as a supporting evidence for Fed to raise the rate in December. The mid-term election will be another market event next Wednesday night.

My portfolios got slapped around. I kept hedging on both sides. I had to spent about a half of the premiums I collected to shore off the changing margin requirements. A total of $45K was brought in to save my portfolio during the Oct selloff. Now I reversed 5 positions ( 3 RUT and 2 SPX) from bull puts to bear calls. Now they are underwater deep ITM. I reversed one SPX back to bull put today. There is not enough margin to do more. I may have to wait after the mid-term election to be sure the trend is clear.

Net liq is bouncing around 115K. The weekend expiring is often showing red lines.  Don't have many positions offline soon. Leverage is at 475.

I am learning a short-term (1-2 days) Iron Condor for SPX. I paper traded it twice and so far it appears OK. If that works it may add some premiums for me. 

It Got Worse 10-26-18

The October selloff got worse this week. The majors continued the volatile move. The pattern of the week was an up day followed by a further downfall day.  Friday was another knock on the bull's head. VIX pushed up to near 28 and closed at 24. The current downtrend is well intact. The majors are very close to retest the Feb lows and it may or may not hold there. The volatility may stay elevated until the midterm election on November 6. The dust may settle down one way or another. An oversold condition often stays oversold just like the overbought condition.

Most of my trades were working to stay afloat. The clients' portfolios were threatened by the big 3-4% selloff on Wednesday. One got forced close positions. I had to wire in another $15K borrowed from my IRA. I had to make more risk reversals for all accounts to reduce margin requirements. Overall, it was a brutal week.

My net liq was saved by the additional funding from IRA. There is not a whole lot left that I can borrow. My margin ratio is below 30% after Friday's expiration. I may have to add more reversals on Monday. I will have to reverse them back to bull puts if the market recovers next week.

The Volatility Continues 10-19-18

After the big selloff last week the market made a big rally 2+% on Tuesday. Then the sales force came back. VIX jumped up to 20s but lower than last week's high 20s. IWM and QQQ are the weakest ones. So far SPX has retested Tuesday's b/o area and held at the low edge of it. RUT gave back most of the gains this week. It may go lower next week if the vol continues. Good earnings didn't help much as many hot names were faded after reporting. There is still not enough fears in the market. Many heavyweights are calling it would be short-lived.

I got slapped left and right on the big rally and the fall. Many of my bull puts were pushed into ITM. With the monthly expiry of the last two days, I had to roll out or close these positions. Also paid several hundred dollars to hedge my portfolio. Yesterday, I was lucky to make some premiums from these uneven butterflies to cover the hedging cost. I had to spend over $500 to close my two SPX 2770 ATM bull put. Glad my AMZN bull put was closed slightly above the money and only cost a minimal to close it. In this game, you win some and lose some.

Net liq closed at 116K. It's about the same level as last week. The margin ratio is above 50% for the weekend. So I will have fewer worries for a couple of days. I made a list of naked positions that I need to hedge. Most of my risk now is on the put side if the selloff continues next week.

The Big Selloff Of October 10-12-18

The market started a big selloff on Wednesday and Thursday on the rate climbing above 3.2% and concerns of earnings affected by the trade war. The majors declined around 3 and 2% in the two days. There was no any obvious trigger. The selling rolled like a snowball. The selling halted this Friday after the attempts of selling in the early afternoon. The majors except QQQ closed inside yesterday's ranges. RUT is the weakest, barely break even. The selling may not be over yet depending on some major earnings reports.

Most of the trades this week are defending the bull puts. My uneven butterfly long puts helped to make some profit. Rolled two of my bull puts to bear calls. One is out. Another of 1470 call from 1660 put may not be that lucky. I had to do the RR to reduce 10K margin on the put side. The last AMZN bull put went bad as it dropped 6% in the week. I had to roll 1850, 1840, 1820 bull puts to next week in order to stay out of the money. I was concerned if these puts got assigned. My other scalps of QQQ, SPX also went bad. Remember to stick to my rules of engagement.

My account got hit pretty hard on during the selloff. Net liq closed below 100K so I had to wire 20K from ET which is low on balance too. After Thursday's weaker close I wired in another 10K to hold me over. Most of my bull puts are underwater only recovered some today. I don't have many resources I can borrow funds if another wave of selling coming next week. I am in the surviving mode.

Higher Rates Hit The Market 10-5-18

The rate hike of last week started affecting the market this week. The small caps of RUT had 1% downside moves in 4 out of 5 days for this week. It's down 3.8% for the week. NASDAQ is red for all of this week after making a double top of ATH on Monday. SPX also made a double top then fall back. The interest rate above 3% appears scarier than the trade war and the North Korea nuke. The three majors are back into their August balance area. I am not sure if they will stay in the ranges or just a retest of the b/o areas before another leg up as the earnings session kicks off.

I had to increase my hedges in the put side as the downturn intensified. My changes of aggressively rolling bear calls during the new highs suffered as the market turned down. Three more of my bull puts are pushed ITM.  The limited available margin really held me back. I need to look for new approaches to reduce the margin pressure. These broken wing butterflies for put protection helped out on RUT selloff. I made a couple of hundred dollars to pay off the hedges.

Net liq gave back about 12K for this week. It closed at 114K on a shaky level. The leverage level increased from 420 to 480 range. The margin ratio is above 50% for a change. Every Thursday and Friday I have to spend money and time to hedge for the weekend expiration. I am caught in a rock and hard place. Put side present a bigger risk for the portfolio should there is a crash or big selloff. The bear calls tied up so much of my funds as well.

FOMC, Weekly Review 9-28-18

The main event of this week was FOMC meeting. The Fed raised the rate 0.25 for the 3rd time this year. As expected market brushed off the news with a little pullback after pushing up first. All of the majors held their uptrend well this week. The historically worst performed September passed without a 1% daily pullback. SPX actually made another ATH during this month. It gained 8% for the quarter.

The realized profit for this week is $1950 due to the small pullback of RUT, but the collected premiums are just barely $1000 after spending more than $100 per week on hedges.  VIX has stayed low. FOMC couldn't boost it up before or after. The margin is heavy on the put side. My two RUT ITM bull puts of 1750 and 1730 didn't get OTM as I hoped. September happened to be a short month with only 20 trading days and the month end is the same as the week ending.

My search and learn new strategies are slow. The fear of losing is still holding me back. I saw several call-spreads for directional play. I hesitated to execute them without put-wheels.

The net liq is 123K. The available fund is 36K. It's predicted to be $44K after the weekend expiration. This is almost the same routine week after week for the last year and a half. I started to be aggressive in rolling the ITM bear calls then the margin requirement becomes too heavy. I need to look for new tricks.

Weekly Review 9-21-18

The bulls shrugged off the trade war news and pressed on higher. The US imposed $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports. Dow and SPX made new ATHs in the next 2 days. SPX is firmly standing above 2900. The next target may be 3100 before Christmas. There seems nothing to stop this raging bull. This September isn't looking like a poor performance month, same as the August. Not sure if the FOMC rate hiking next week will put a dent on the market.

My positions continue under margin pressure on both sides. I have 4 ITM bull puts and 5 ITM bear calls. I spent over $100 a week to hedge these positions. The risk is on vol spik. I am continuing to look for solutions. The situation is dragging close to two years now. I may have to make some drastic changes to reduce my ITM bear calls. 

This is a quadruple week for options. My net liq is at 125K after paid 3K back to ET. The margin ratio is at 45%. The predicted liquidity was -6K this morning for the weekend due to the lack of hedging positions. I had to spend about $150 to hedge both calls and put side. I late sold about $200 worth of QQQ and AMZN put spreads to cover the cost.

The Small Cap Divergence Continues 7-19-18

The futures were down overnight. The majors were under pressure throughout the day except for RUT which closed up 0.5% while the others in red. RUT is likely to challenge new high again on a triple top formation. 

Made 3 trades today. Moved out my August 3rd ITM SPX bear call with another ITM bull put. Sold some late August QQQ bull puts for clients. I just need to add hedges on both sides tomorrow so I will feel better on the trip.

Net liq slipped about 1K on the RUT surge. The margin ratio is above 50% and the weekend looks OK.

Grinding Up 7-18-18

The pattern of buy on any dip is in play again. Today's morning weakness was met with buyers. The majors were grinding up. SPY is getting into the gap zone of the selloff in February. There may be attempts of selling in this area on a technical base. I want to use the opportunity to add bull put and bring up my bear call. Got to think what if the majors go up 5, 8, or 10% from here.

Made 8 trades today. I finally exited the SPX 2800 bull put entered in March. It freed some margin for me to add another ITM bull put and moved up 60 points of my RUT 1240. I have only one deep ITM SPX bear call before August monthly. I have 2 days to roll it out before the China trip. No premiums collected for clients.

Net liq is still in the range of 118K. The margin ratio is above 60%. This weekend expiration looks OK so far.

Can't Hold The Market Down 7-17-18

When NFLX dropped 15% after earnings report people thought it would be a bad day today. It turned out that the bulls didn't care of any bad news. They pushed the majors up. QQQ even made another ATH. I guess the Fed Chair's testimony in Congress gave a positive tone to the market. The earnings session keeps bulls strong and fearless.

Made 8 trades. Sold a couple SPX naked bear calls of August 3 for clients. I am very cautious about selling bear calls. That is the place I often get into trouble with. I didn't collect any premiums for the 2nd day. I only closed positions and added hedges. I am waiting for the SPX 2800 to close tomorrow and the RUT 1700 expiring on this Friday. I can roll additional bear calls to bull puts if this two are out.

Net liq held well on today's pop. The margin ratio is above 50%. I continue to prepare for the China trip.

Waiting For Something?

I was expecting a small breakout at least following the HOD closing last Friday. The majors opened flat and traded in a small range without breaking either side. They closed slightly down. NFLX disappointed the market in their earnings report. It dropped 14% in after hour session. Not sure how it will affect the market tomorrow. The breakout is still likely with more positive earnings reports.

Made 15 trades today. Added a set of the end of August RUT bull puts for clients. I rolled up my RUT 1235 to 1240 during the RUT weakness. I am waiting for one of my ITM bull put to expire before adding another one to it. I had to roll the SPX 2805 to this Wednesday as it won't get off today.

Net liq upped to 117K. The margin ratio is above 50% for now. I may borrow a little more cash from ET if I want to go on the China trip.

Market Pause 7-13-18

Bulls and bears took a day off today. The big banks' earnings reports were mixed. The majors booked 0.2% gains and losses. It was a flat day. SPX almost erased the losses from Feb- March period. It may start to move higher with this earning session.

Made 13 trades today. None of the ATM and ITM positions expired worthless. I had to roll them into different expirations. Luckily I collected some premiums from these rollovers. I used the premiums to reverse my SPY and IWM from next week's puts to long calls of August. Hopefully, it will recover some of my losses from the puts.

Net liq closed up nearing 115K. The margin ratio is predicted fine for the weekend expiries. I plan to buy more hedges early next week in preparation for the possible China trip. 

Earnings Taking Place 7-12-18

The majors bounced back from yesterday. There is not much fear of anything. The saying is that sentiment over fundamentals. QQQ broke out and made another all-time high again. SPX closed only 2 points short of 2800. The momentum is back.

Made 10 trades today. I am still trying to roll my positions to mid-August for the possible China trip. Moved my July 20 SPX 2905 to July 16, 2805, in hope of an early expiration.  I will roll it out to August if it doesn't work. Rolled a couple of ETFs for clients. The rest of the trades were hedgings.
I have two RUT ATM bull puts needs close attention. Then comes Monday's SPX 2805.

Net liq improved a bit to 113K. The margin ratio looks OK for this week's expirations. I need to see the effect of margin impact once the rollovers are in place. I may have to spend more money to buy hedges if I am going on the trip.
 

A Pullback On The Trade War Phase II 7-11-18

The overnight selloff on the 2nd phase of the trade war didn't go too far. Nobody knows what would be the economic impacts of the newly proposed $200 billion tariffs would have on the US, China, and global economy. The market appears paying more attention to the current earning session. The majors closed down less than 1%. It couldn't even count as a selloff at the end.

Made 14 trades. Sold some late August bull put spreads in the indexes for my clients. I couldn't get too far on the strikes since the VIX is not high. I rolled out two more of my ITM bear calls. The margin is getting heavier on the put side.

Net liq is still in the 111K range. The margin ratio is down to 35% but expected to rise over the weekend. I have two more days to work on the trip preparation.

A Sign Of Divergence 7-10-18

The majors continued pushing higher overnight. The sentiment is pretty strong. During the RTHs the small-cap started weakening. After ticks of a new high, it went into negative territory and shred off 0.8% before buyers stepped in. After the hour the administration announced a list of $200 billion new tariffs for Chinese products. The futures dropped more than a half of percent.

Made 15 trades today. I rolled 3 of my ITM RUT in both puts and calls when I saw the weakness in RUT. My plan was to move all of the ITM positions to mid of August so I can make the trip to China. I may not be able to make it since my net liq is very thin. I may be on margin call if a major move happens during my absence. I sold a couple of RUT mid-August bull puts for clients. I may sell more if the market continues to slide tomorrow. I will try to roll my SPX ITM bear calls. I may face some difficulty on the put side margin requirement.

Net liq is back at 112K. The margin ratio is at 44%. The margin is on the put side now.

The Rally Continues 7-9-18

The bulls carried last Friday's rally into today with gap up on the open. Dow was taking the lead gaining 1.3%. The trade war seems no effect on the market sentiment. Shanghai index popped more than 2%. The MACDs on daily indicate more upside potentials. The starting of earning session held the majors well.

Made 6 trades today. I tried to roll down my near-term ITM bull put to expire sooner in the majors. I was only able to split my RUT 1715 into this Friday's expiration. I will roll it out to August monthly if it won't exit out. I want to accompany my daughters to China next week. I must roll all of my ITM positions to August monthly at least. The market hasn't given me much of the opportunities so far. I may not be able to go if the margin pressure is too strong.

Net liq went below 110K when everything is up. The margin ratio is at 43%. Now it's the expiry weekend worries me. I will try to add some ETF hedges on tomorrow.

Better NFP Report 7-6-18

The June NFP added 213K new hires v.s. 195K expected. The initial reaction from the market was muted. After no selling pressure from the trade war, the majors started pushing up. They broke out from their current balance areas pointing to more upside potentials.

Made 13 trades. Covered the cost of QQQ call spreads for clients. I made a mistake with a QQQ short call of this week. I forgot to deactivate the order after I rolled the long call for a client's acct. It got filled on today's 1.5% surge. I had to close it out in the last hour with a $35 loss. All of the trades in my account were hedges of about $130. 

Net liq lost another 1.6K. The margin ratio is up for this weekend expiration. But the available funds will be below 30K. I will aggressively roll my calls and puts to prepare for this possible new high breakout.

Up For The Job Report 7-5-18

The majors pushed up across the board in 1% range getting ready for the NFP report tomorrow. So far SPY and QQQ are closed at the top of their balance areas ready for break out or drop down. RUT has breached its top of the balance area. Its MACD is crossed up on the daily chart. The job report and the starting of earning session are positive factors while the trade war is negative on the market. The effective tariffs on the economy may not be seen for months at least.

Made 5 trades. I tried to get some long call spreads in ETFs but only got a couple of them. My directional positions are very lite. Also, bought two hedges in the big cars. Need to add more hedges tomorrow as usual.

Net liq is at 112K. The margin ratio is OK for tomorrow.

Choppy Before The Major Events 7-3-18

It was a half of trading day before the July 4th holiday. The majors opened in positive territory. The small-cap led the push-up. It looked like the retest of the breakdown point of last week. QQQ started selling off before lunch. It dragged SPY down and made IWM gave back more than a half of its gains by closing. This Friday has two conflicting events: The NFP of June and starting date for tariffs to Chinese products. Don't know which event will gain an upper hand. But the earnings session is right around the corner.

Made 21 trades today. Most of them were for the clients. I closed some ETF put spreads to cover part of their cost. Rolled some weekly ETFs to extend their positions. Most of the ETF calls lost their value. I have collected some profits before this downturn.

Net liq is down 1.6k with RUT up. The margin ratio is fine until the end of this week. I get a day off tomorrow.

A Reversal Up?

The US market opened lower this morning following the Europen and Asian markets. The majors reversed up when sellers couldn't couldn't break last week's lows. They closed into positive territories, as QQQ and IWM gained more than 0.6%. It looks like a reversal day to the upside or at least the selling is halted with the July 4th holiday on Wednesday and NFP report on Friday. The market may also accept that the trade war will be a reality soon.

Made 18 trades today. I tried to close some of my ETF puts to recover part of the cost with a little luck. Also, added ETF calls when I realized the reversal may be underway. Some exit orders were filled. I added hedges in both SPX and RUT.

Net liq stayed at 114K. The margin ratio is above 50%. I expected it will be a slow afternoon tomorrow as people are getting ready for the holiday.

The Quarter End & A Half Year Mark 6-29-18

The month and quarter end window dressing held the market up until the last hr of trading. RUT/IWM even closed in negative territory. I think the market sentiment is still showing a level of nervousness.

Made 11 trades today. The best part was that my client's RUT holdings of the week exited on both sides with minimum cost. I only had 4 trades which brought the margin to a sufficient level. No premiums were collected.

Net liq is close to 115K. But the initial margin is high on the put side. The margin ratio is below 30%. It should change with the weekend expiration. I have survived the 1st half of 2018. I have reversed 3 RUT and 1 SPX deep ITM bear calls. So far have exited 1.5 of RUT and 0.5 of SPX bear calls after reversing them to bull puts. My risk is a large scale market move in either direction. I may have to use the reversals and hedges to deal with them.

Awaiting For The Next Shoe Drop 6-28-18

The majors tried to drop but ended higher on the news of less tough trade policy from the administration. The push up may be related to the month and quarter end window dressing. Both SPX and RUT held 2700 and 1630 key levels respectively. There may be more volatility when the tariffs start next week if no resolutions coming out before then.

Made 17 trades. Other than the filled exit orders I mainly established long put positions in ETFs in July monthly. It's based on my expectation of more vols coming if the trade war starts. I could be wrong. All of my rollings are done for this week. I need to add few more hedges tomorrow.

Net liq improved 1.6K to 113K. My margin ratio is down to 30%. I will work to bring it up tomorrow. I need to continue learning new ways to generate more profit. 

The Selloff Continues 6-27-18

The majors reversed down around the noontime after pushing higher in the morning. Both SPY and QQQ formed a bearish engulfing daily bar but held at Monday's low. RUT/IWM broke below Monday's low. I guess the trade war fear effects continue showing the force. Shanghai index is barely holding 2800.

Made 13 trades. I rolled my RUT 1230 bear call and SPX 3100 bull put early in the day. I didn't expect such a reversal day. My last 100 shares of ACRX hit its target of $4.55. Sold a couple of bull put spreads for clients as the add-on. I don't want to be too aggressive. I couldn't tell how big the impact of the trade war will have. I bought hedges on SPX but not enough yet.

Net liq is unchanged. The margin ratio is at 45%. The pressure is at the puts side now. It caused more margin stress when I couldn't exit out the ITM bull puts for the last two weeks.

An Inside Day 6-26-18

The market took a break today. The majors traded inside the ranges of yesterday. There was no big news in the trade war front. It's a news driven market now. It could go either way depending on the news.

Made 19 trades today. Closed some bear calls in ETF and rolled most of this week's bull calls out as they recovered some from yesterday's selloff. I rolled out my SPX 2800 bull put out. I still have 1 RUT bear call and another SPX 3100 bull put ITM and must rollout before this Friday. Hedging puts have not added enough cushion for next week. I also bought some debit put spreads in the ETFs expecting a further pullback base on the technicals.

Net liq barely changed. The margin ratio is at 50% for now. The expiry liquidity warning sign is showing again. 

A 1% Down Day In 2 Months 6-25-18

The US index futures gapped down overnight following the selloff in Europe on the trade war concerns. All the majors closed down between 1.3 - 2.3% (QQQ) recovered partially from their lowest points. The selloff was in orderly fashion relatively speaking. MACDs are crossed down on daily charts. The selling may continue barring any news that may ease the trade tension.

Made 24 trades. I sold some late July and early Aug puts spreads for clients. Also, rolled out four of my ITM bear calls out and bull puts gaining a few points on each of them. I had to buy ratio hedges on the put side as vol increased. Made a mistake forgetting to separate an order to two different clients. It was a busy day. I didn't have time to deal with these directional ETFs. It could have been a good opportunity to buy some short-term puts for a quick profit. I will fix or repair the ETFs tomorrow. I do expect the market will stabilize a bit for now. 

Net liq stayed above 111K. The gains were offset by losses with near Delta neutral positions. The margin ratio is at 52%. The leverage level is still elevated at 477.   

A Day Of Rolling And Hedging 6-22-18

The Divergence continued in reversed tendency. DIA and SPX pushed higher while QQQ and RUT closed lower. The tech and small-cap came back to retest their breaking points. It appears in the process of establishing the ranges if they don't fall back to their lower balance areas.

Made 24 trades. It's a high number that I can remember. I couldn't pile off the two ITM bull puts in RUT 1695 and SPX 2800 so I had to roll them out. That delayed my timetable and put pressures on my put side. I had to roll long calls for this week based on my plan of letting the short calls decay to the last day. I spent a lot of time and energy to hedge my margins. The debit spreads didn't work well. I guess I have too many IMT positions that require higher margin. I bought both sides of them and they didn't reduce the margin much. I ended up to buy direct puts at the last half hour that solved my problem this weekend.

Net liq recovered 1K and backed above 112K. The margin ratio is low for this weekend. My available funds for Monday is only at 18K. But I can manage that after spending about $200 on hedging and rolling. 

A Decent Pullback 6-21-18

The futures reversed down on Europe's selloff. RUT and QQQ closed down 1%. It's not a trend change but a decent relief for my portfolio. It looks like a retest of the breakout points for RUT and QQQ so far. We may be able to tell if the retest is successful in next couple trading sessions.

Made 16 trades today. Sold some late July and early Aug bull puts spreads for clients. I added more three more hedges but still not enough. I split a RUT 1370 to both ITM put and call of late July. The margin is on the put side now. I may reverse it back if the market drop from here.

Net liq is back up to 111K. The leverage is still at 480 high points. The margin ratio is at 45% but I need to shore off for the weekend as usual.

The Fear Of Trade War Faded 6-20-18

The majors gapped up this morning forgetting the trade war worries. QQQ and IWM let the way up and both booked new ATHs. RUT relentlessly crossed 1700 mark. Its fib target is around 1725. S&P is playing catchup.

Made 14 trades. I continued to roll ITM ETFs and collect profits. I also split my RUT bull puts attempting to pile off my ITM puts.

Net liq suffered over 3k and below 108K now. I may have to rescue again before this weekend. The margin ratio is at 45%. The insufficient fund warning of expiry is off. I will have to buy more since I have one more bear call to roll before this Friday. 

The Divergence Continues 6-19-18

Another overnight selloff in the US futures after Shanghai exchange lost 3%. All the majors gapped down 1% and VIX was up 15%. By the end of the day, the majors recovered more than a half of the losses except RUT even turned into green. The bulls are no fear. RUT is heading to 1700. My positions are under pressure again.

Made 15 trades. Sold some late July and early August SPX bull puts for clients. Made a mistake of not pause pending orders before opening. One of clients' SPY combo for RR was executed right at open. Rolled 3/4 ITM positions with premiums. I also reversed a QQQ call to next week's put spread expecting further volatility with the trade war tension. I may be wrong but the QQQ call is OTM and not much value left.

Net liq is barely above 111K. The margin ratio is at 44%. The warning sign is that the predicted liquidity will be in negative territory by the weekend expiry. I will have to buy more hedges than last week. 

Divergence Between Large And Small Caps 6-18-18

The trade war between the US and China officially started last Friday. S&P futures dropped 0.5% before today's opening. The selloff was contained during the cash session. While DIA and SPX were in the red territory RUT marched to another ATH of 1692. It closed up 0.5%. The escalation of tariffs between the two countries triggered another selloff tonight. Shanghai index is down 1.8% and the US index futures are down less than 1% so far.

Made 3 trades today. I missed the early selloff. The rest of the day was in recovery mode. VIX was still below 13. I split RUT 1740 ITM bull put to 1700 and 1720 hoping to pile if off further. No trade for clients. There may be better opportunities to sell bull puts tomorrow. I have some rolling to do as well.

Net liq suffered more than 3K and closed around 111K. The margin ratio is at 41%. The margin may switch to put side if the selloff materializes tomorrow. 

Holding Up On Triple Witch Day 6-14-18

Bulls shrug off the rate hike and nearing tariff announcement by the US tomorrow. Several selloff attempts were met with buyers. It's possible that the big money wanted to hold the market on this triple witch expiration day. However, the trend and sentiment are very strong.

Made 11 trades without getting much of premiums. I scratched 2 of RUT 1680 bear call ATM for my clients. Rolled a couple more of ETFs. Left clients' ETF call spreads for the decay of the short calls. I have an SPX 2800 bull put holding for tomorrow. I spent today's small profit hedging which is still not enough. I got a yellow line in post expiry excess. I have to bring it up by buying more hedges on both sides. I have only 3 hrs to do it before leaving for Yellow Stone.

Net liq went below 115K on today's 0.5% pop. The margin ratio is at 45%. My main task is to bring my margin back to the safe line tomorrow.

The Waiting Game 6-11-18

It's going to be an eventful week. The headlines include the US - North Korea summit, FOMC and ECB policy announcements, possible development of US-China trade war. So the market is on hold waiting for the news. The majors closed in positive territory within the levels of last Friday. The price actions and sentiment are leaning towards bullish side. But Mr. Market can change with any news or event.

Made 4 trades today. Closed a RUT bear call with a small profit for a client to deleverage. I also split my RUT June 29, 1745 bull call to 1740 and 1650 expecting to pile off another quarter of the position. Added another SPY long call spread for next week.

Net liq is at 115K which is reduced by added bull put. The margin ratio is at 42% with the leverage elevating to 4.58.

Rate Hike Priced In? 6-13-18

FOMC announced a rate hike of 0.25 as expected. It also indicated a possibility of two more hikes for this year. The market moved up and down as the other FOMC meetings. The majors closed down less than 0.5%. The complacency is clear there. Let's see how the market digest the news.

Made 9 trades. Rolled a couple of ITM bear calls of this week. Sold a set of RUT late July bull put spreads for clients. Locked and rolled the long call ETFs. I have a couple more left waiting for the short calls to decay further.

Net liq is up to 116K. The margin ratio is at 49%. It's the same hedging situation every week. I am looking for other configurations to reduce my ITM bear calls.

No Concerns Of Rate Hike? 6-12-18

The market continued pushing up. RUT/IWM made another ATH. I was expecting some kind of pulling back before the FOMC like many times before. To my surprise, it appears the market has no concern about the rate hike. We will see some rapid price movements right after the FOMC announcement. The uptrend may continue with a pause.

Made 13 trades today. Rolled more ITM ETSs with profits. Closed a couple of bear calls for my clients. Rolled up my SPX 2400 bear call with $180 premiums but no point gains. I wanted to split more bull puts but held them for tomorrow. I have more rolling to do before this Friday which I will work only a half day before my yellow stone trip.

Net liq stayed above 115K for now. The outlook doesn't look very good if the market continues to the upside in 2017 style for the rest of 2018. The margin ratio is at 47%. I will have to boost my hedges for the weekend as usual.

A Short Lived Pullback 6-8-18

It appeared the pullback might continue this morning from overnight and cash opening. Bulls stepped in by the mid-morning and grind the market up till closing. I guess the pros would like to take the market to a higher location before the FOMC next Wednesday. 

Made 11 trades. I had to close or roll the 3 of ATM bear calls due to the continued grinding up. Spent about $150 to hedge my margins in the last two days since it had a yellow warning. Luckily one of my RUT 1640 bull put is expired worthless. I will try to pile off another one next week.

Net liq stayed in range. The margin ratio is fine for the weekend. I will prepare the more vol next week.

Made A Big Order Mistake 6-7-18

A first pullback led by NASDAQ today since the small cap and tech sector breakout. A half percent of pullback felt big those days. Small caps and techs are pulling back a little on overbought condition. The strong trend is still in place so far.

Made 13 trades today. Bought a set of QQQ long call spread for clients. It was too early. I didn't buy it in my account for conserving margins. I bought a month-end SPY call spread without selling puts. I rolled all three of my deep ITM bear calls today. I made a big mistake in placing one of the orders. I was supposed to sell a put spread to fund the rollover. I sold the lower strike instead of buying it. It was 15x widespread so I could not buy it back. So I bought a small debit put around the lower strike to reduce the margin impact.

Net liq gained 3K on the pullback. The margin ratio is at 44%. The available funds are down to the yellow lines. I have to add more call hedges tomorrow.

None Stop Rally? 6-6-18

The raging bulls are none stoppable at this stage. It feels like early 2017 rally again. RUT/IWM made another leg up despite its RSI at 80. QQQ made its ATH while SPX is catching up with a near 1% gain. Is it the rush before the June FOMC meeting and trade war with China and Europe or just nobody cares? 

Made 9 trades. I tried to buy call spreads in SPY and QQQ long calls. Only got QQQ and missed SPY. It turned up quickly after early weakness. Rolled the last set of SPY long calls of this week for clients. I need to be more decisive in adding positions. I recognized the market turning up but waited for pullbacks never happened. QQQ and SPY may have more room to go. 

Net liq lost another 2.4K and down to 113.5K now. The margin ratio is also down to 38% while the leverage is up to 4.66. The situation is tricky again. 

RUT & NASDAQ Making New Highs 6-5-18

The bull can't be stopped for now. The early attempts of selling met with buyers. A turnaround Tuesday turned out to be a continued rally. Both RUT and NASDAQ recorded new ATHs. SPX closed at the high of the day indicating likely up movement tomorrow.

Made 13 trades today. I continued to lock and roll the ETF long calls. I tried to buy more of the call spreads but hesitated to spend too much money on it. Also, split my SPX 3150 to 2800 and 3100 attempting to pile off another bull put and lower my strikes.

Net liq got hit by 2K and down to 116K now. The margin ratio is at 41%. I plan to add more ETF call spreads on any weakness. QQQ and SPY may have more rooms to the upside.

A Better Job Report 6-1-18

The NFP reported a better than expected (190K v.s 223K) job growth. The unemployment rate is down to 3.8%.  The market responded to the news well. It recovered the losses of yesterday plus more. QQQ gained the most today. It may be heading to all-time high following the small caps. The trade tension is on the back burner for now.

Made 13 trades today. My two ITM bull puts are out now. I bought them back and sold a set of put spreads to offset the cost. I was lucky to exit my QQQ short call of 172 before it got in the money and exit my clients' SPY 274 short calls 4 cents away from touching it. Overall, it played out well today.

Net liq went below 120K with 1K decrease as the market popping up. Margin ratio is at 58% but it will reduce over the weekend. I will fix it next Monday.

The Rally Continues 6-4-18

The market followed through the rally on Friday's job report. NASDAQ/QQQ is closer to make another new all-time high while RUT/IWM continues recording new highs daily. SPX has a little more overhead rooms. It's more and more like a summer rally now.

Made 12 trades today. I rolled up most of this week's ITM ETFs with profits. Also reversed IWM bull puts to bull calls for my clients. I will try to do mine tomorrow. The rest of the trades were exit and hedge orders.

Net liq is unchanged. The margin ratio is at 43% after the weekend expirations. I am thinking to do more bull calls in ETF or even stocks to generate income.

Trade Tension Escalated 5-31-18

The US imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum cost the majors to pull back. Technically it looked like a halfway retest of yesterday's gains. It's positioning for NFP tomorrow. NFP has been a positive factor for the last few months.

Made 18 trades on this pullback day. I rolled out my last two ITM RUT bear calls for this week. The two ITM bull puts are still there. I may be able to close one and roll out one tomorrow. Sold some late June and early July RUT put spreads for clients. The rest of the trades were closing positions and hedges.

Net liq is back to 120K. The margin ratio is at 44%. Will watch the margin requirement after rolling out ITM puts tomorrow.

Bulls' Revenge 5-30-18

The selloff was short lived. The index futures recovered part of the losses overnight. It turned out to be a trending up day for all majors. RUT popped 1.5% and recorded another new high of 1651. I think the big money is positioning for this Friday's NFP. Big tech is legging though.

Made 7 trades. I mainly locked and rolled the ITM ETF calls. Tried to add hedges for my portfolio but only one filled. I don't have much to do in a trending up day. I am trying to pile off 1-2 ITM bull puts this week. If it's done then I can reverse 1-2 bear calls over next week. 

Net liq lost 2K same as the downward movement of yesterday. Margin ratio is down to 33%. I have more hedges to do in the next 2 days.

Sell Off On Italy Chaos 5-29-18

The difficulty of Italy government formation caused European markets falling. It spread into US market. Dow and SPX lost more than 1% today. RUT held well with only 0.2% loss. The negative sentiment continues into Asian market tonight. This may not be a big event to impact the US market immediately as the NFP report is coming this Friday. What happens after the report will be anybody's guess.

Made 15 trades today. Sold some SPX June and July put spreads for clients during the selloff. I bought some June 3 IWM put spreads for directional play. I also rolled my this week RUT ITM in both call and put. I have more to work on in the next 2 days.

Net liq came down to 119K. RUT has -150 deltas. The margin ratio is 39%. I will use part of premiums collected to buy more hedges

An Inside Day Before The Long Weekend 5-25-18

The market was just marking its time within yesterday's range. The daily MACDs are near a crossing down but the bull flag pattern is also in place. It will play out one way or another. We may see the battle after this Memorial weekend.

Made 13 trades. Five of them were exit orders. Sold SPX June 4 put spreads in the empty spot for clients. I had to roll out the two ITM bull calls as the indices couldn't move higher today. I will try to pill them off next week.

Net liq is in range. The margin ratio is above 50%. The predicted balance is about the same as today after adding a couple of hedges.

Attempted Selloff 5-24-18

The announcement of the US canceling the summit with North Korea caused the market gaping down at the open. It wasn't a panic selling. None of the major was down more than 1% at their lowest point. The market eventually recovered from the unexpected news. It indicates that buyers are still in charge.

Made 10 trades. ACRX hit another target of my exit. I rolled out my two ITM bear calls in RUT and SPX with some premiums. Sold some July put spreads for clients. I added 2 sets of SPY RR long calls for June. I have two ITM bull put in RUT 1635, SPX 2730 to close or roll by tomorrow.

Net liq crossed 121K. It's balanced with delta. The margin ratio is above 50%. I will see how would it change after the rolling or closing the bull calls tomorrow.

Recovered From Fed Min 5-23-18

The Fed min release is usually a tea leaf reading event. The majors were slightly down before the Fed Min. The bulls finally overcame the bears before the closing and turned the majors into positive territory. QQQ led the charge and gained 0.7%. However, the upside may be limited as the MACDs are turning down from overbought conditions.

Made 11 trades today. I rolled this week's ETFs out in time with small profits. No major premiums were collected. I have four ITM majors for this week on both sides. I am trying to exit out the two bull calls in the next two days. They are within the expected moving ranges.

Net liq is in range. The margin ratio is above 60%. It's predicted higher for this weekend before my rollovers of ITM positions. So it's hard to tell for now.

Pullback Before The Fed Min Tomorrow 5-22-18

The majors pulled back a little before the Fed minute release tomorrow. The market tends to be more sensitive to the news before a major event. Today's news was about the unsatisfactory part of the trade talks with China. Not sure how the market will react to the Fed min release tomorrow. I can use both sides to roll my ITM positions. It's the matter of patience again.

Made 8 trades today. Sold some RUT bull put spreads of July and naked puts for June. I split my RUT 1670 bull put into 1635 and 1660 to lower the strikes. I was too early on the trade way before the pullback. I will manage the position of this week actively.

Net liq climbed back 120K with the pullback. The margin ratio is above 50% for now. My leverage ratio is elevated around 420. I need to continue to peel off my ITM calls to reduce it.

A Trade Talk Induced Rally 5-21-18

The US-China trade talk issued a statement effectively putting the trade war on hold without any specific results on Saturday morning. The market took it as a relief and rallied in futures on Sunday night. The majors gapped up this morning. RUT made another new high of 1639 while SPX toughed 2739. QQQ was knocked down a half of its gains. The summer rally is boosted by the trade talk result.

Made 8 trades today. I locked and rolled some ITM ETFs with profit. Tried to buy hedges on the call side but no fills. My near-term bull puts are likely getting off but the bear calls are under pressures. I will continue to split the bull puts to bring them closer to the strikes and making rooms for more flips of the bear calls.

Net liq is down to 119K. The margin ratio is at 46%. The leverage level inched up to 433. I will hedge more toward late part of the week.

Waiting For US-China Trade Talk 5-18-18

The majors stayed relatively flat on this monthly expiry Friday. QQQ closed down 0.5% while RUT/IWM inched up again. It's conflicting signals.

Made 18 trades today. Rolled and closed my long calls of this week for profits. Reduced one more SPX bull put of 2705 after splitting 2750 to 2705 and 2730.  I may be able to add or split another ITM bull put to reduce my size a little further.

Net liq is back at 120K again. Margin ratio and excess liq are adequate for this weekend. I will reduce my OTM bear calls next week to bring up my available funds early next week.

Small Cap Leading Again 5-17-18

The majors are charging on despite a brief interruption caused by the news of the possible failure of US-China trade talks. RUT/IWM gained another 0.5% setting ATH again. The breakout is firm so far. The summer rally continues with 10 yr rate above 3%. The 3% was a do or die number for many. Now nobody seems to care about it.

Made 7 trades. I mainly locked and rolled this week's ETF calls. Collected over $300 and rolled my positions further out in time and strikes. Tried to buy more hedges but no fills.

Net liq got pulled down another 1.5K. Margin ratio is at 38%. It will get worse if I don't add hedges for this weekend.

Another ATH in RUT 5-16-18

RUT continues leading the rally. It popped another 1% and booked a new ATH of 1620. SPX and QQQ advanced as well. The next to watch is if RUT could break out firmly into a new range. The daily MACD for RUT is showing overbought with RSI over 80. However, the weekly MACD just made a positive crossing. It's likely the rally may continue.

Made 10 trades today. I rolled out all the three ITM positions without gaining any points. Sold a couple of RUT bear calls of late June for clients. Also, bought a couple of hedges for my portfolio. One of my RUT 1600 bull put is off today with a $110 price tag on it. It was a mistake of a test order left unnoticed and got filled.

Net liq is hanging on 120K. The margin ratio is at 37% after adding spreads for my rollovers. I will have to buy more hedges in the next 2 days for this weekend's expires.

Pull Back Before Pop? 5-15-18

I was on my way back from Chapel Hill yesterday. The market was down a little. The pullback continued today. But buyers stepped at the end of the day. QQQ was the only one lost more than 1%. Small cap is still leading the pack and closed slightly higher. My theses of an early pullback during the monthly expiring week might be in play now. Bulls are resting for now.

Made 10 trades. Sold late June SPX bull put spreads for my clients during the early weakness. I also rolled and split two of my ITM short positions with some premiums. ACRX finally crossed the b/e point. I scaled out partial holdings for me and clients. 

Net liq gave back 1.5K on this small pullback. The margin ratio is at 50%. The delta is slightly negative on RUT.

Buyers Won't Let It Go 5-11-18

It was another up day although it was at a smaller pace. The majors closed up a little despite several pushing down attempts. RUT is less than 15 points from making ATH. The monthly options expiration is next week. There may be shaking out early then bulls tend to run the ball up again.

Made 12 trades. I bought some long call spreads in ETFs base on expected moves of the next couple weeks. Let's see how they will play out. Bought a couple of hedges for this weekend and Monday.

Net liq stayed barely above 120K after the regular payroll transfer. The margin ratio is projected OK for next week. I am going to Chaple Hill for June's graduation this weekend. It's a milestone for all of us.   

Buyers Are In Control 5-10-18

The majors continue to rally. They haven't had a down day this week. One could feel the force of revenge for the last two and a half month. The small caps are leading the charge and close to ATH. The big guys still have some distance to go. Not sure how it will play out.

Made 4 trades. I rolled out the two RUT deep ITM bear calls without gaining any points. I had to sell bear call spreads to make the roll two weeks out. Also locked and rolled this week's ITM QQQ call spread. Tried to sell some call spreads for clients.

Net liq is still above 120K. The margin ratio is above 80% but the predicted weekend is weak. I will add more hedges tomorrow since I will be on the road next Monday.

The Rally Continues 5-9-18

Crude oil and energy stocks boosted the market after the US withdraws from the Iran nuclear deal. Crude closed up 3%.  Are we going to see a summer rally since we had a three month long of selloff and consolidation?

Had 5 trades. I had to flip my this week RUT 1570 ITM bear call to 1600 bull put. I was too eager in trying to exit the position when I did the first roll down from 1590 to 1570. I may have to flip it again if the market pulls back from here. I have two more ITM bear calls to roll before this weekend.

Net liq improved a bit. The margin ratio is above 85% after the RUT flip. It may not look well after rolling of the two RUT bear calls.

RUT Leading Again 5-8-18

The market was waiting for the announcement of US pulling out the Iran Nuclear deal. All the majors were flat except RUT continued charging up another 0.5%. Bulls won't let the prices fall.

Made 4 trades today. It's a slow day. Closed 2 Visa long calls of June with about 30% returns on margin. Locked and rolled my QQQ long calls of next week.

Net liq is below 120K after I transferred 900 to pay CC and today's move up. The margin ratio is below 50% now. I have 3 RUT ITM bear calls to roll this week.

Wedge Breakout 5-7-18

The majors continued moving up from the wedge breakout. RUT and QQQ changed their lower high patterns. SPX may be next. MACDs appear ending the shallow pullback. It's hard to tell if this is the beginning of making new highs. The trade tension is still the overhanging cloud.

Made 11 trades. Sold some RUT June bear call spreads for clients. Rolled out one of my RUT 1670 ITM bull put. The rest of the orders were exit fills.

Net liq is down 2K. Margin ratio is right at 15 50%. It appears my portfolio delta is titled to the negative side now.

Changing Sentiment 5-4-19

The job report came out less than expected (164K v.s 190K). The market didn't react positively at first. By the midday, the major indexes broke out to the upside. It could be caused by the trade talk which didn't completely break down. All of the majors gained more than 1%. They closed to their upper balance areas. The market sentiment seems improved.

Made 11 trades today. Sold couple of bear calls for clients. I also locked and rolled some ETF directional calls. I didn't want to engage too much on this Friday. It's a news-driven market.

Net liq is in range. The margin ratio is above 60% and fine for the expiry weekend. Let's see what will happen next week. 

Eyes On NFP Tomorrow 5-4-18

The market continued to fall following yesterday's retreat. There was a rumor of the trade talk between the US and China failed. It turned out to be false. The market turned around taking back most of the losses. I didn't think the big money will let the market fall too far before tomorrow's NFP.
The job report and trade talk are two factors over the market. One will be lifted tomorrow.

Made 6 trades today. I rolled my RUT 1180 deep ITM bear call to next week without gaining any points. The vol is still low despite the falling prices. Sold a couple of RUT early June bull put spreads for clients during the morning selloff. The wedge continues narrowing. It could result in either direction.

Net liq is down slightly. The margin ratio is above 60%. It is predicted with 41K after the weekend expiry. I will watch it tomorrow.

FOMC Got A Knock On The Head 5-2-18

Another FOMC passed without a rate hike as expected. The indices turned up into positive territory after the FOMC announcement. In the end, SPX and QQQ made new lows of the day while RUT gave back most of its gains for the day. The market is clearly under pressure.

Made 13 trades. I scalped SPY expecting a pop after FOMC announcement. My plan was scalping so that I quickly grabbed some profits to cover my costs. I continued to buy hedges. No major trades as planned. The wedges of the majors are narrowing on daily charts. It may break soon.

Net liq stayed the same. The margin ratio is above 60%. Now the market is waiting for NFP this Friday.

A Turn Around Tuesday 5-1-18

The market reversed up this afternoon after the continued pushing down in the morning. It looked like the big money clear deck below again before FOMC tomorrow. Apple released a better earnings report after the hour and it popped 6%. Will it be sold off like AMZN last week? I guess it depends on how the FOMC statement is received.

Made 7 trades today. No major engagement as I planned. I will wait to see what kind of reactions after FOMC tomorrow afternoon.

Net liq didn't change much as the market is range bound. The margin ratio is above 60% for now.

Lower Highs & Higher Lowers 4-30-18

The bulls couldn't keep the market up for the last day of the month. It gave back all of the overnight gains. Although the losses are less than 1% for all of the majors they closed near their lows of the day. The majors are forming a wedge with lower highs and higher lows on daily charts. MACDs are turning lower too. I don't think there will be a major break out until This Wednesday's FOMC and Friday's NFP.

Made 20 trades. A half of them were exit orders. I mainly rolled out these ETF calls since they were losing values and near expirations. I don't plan to make major trades before FOMC even though the market doesn't expect the Fed will raise the rate at this meeting.

Net liq is still at 123K range. Margin ratio is above 60%. The month-end expiration could bring it down somewhat. The margin is switched to the call side now. I will add hedges tomorrow.

A Weak Rally 4-27-18

The excitements of yesterday's rally and AMZN report faded in a couple of hours after today's opening. The indices closed flat. It's hard to tell what's in the bag for next week. I am positioned on both sides so far.

Made 6 trades today. Finally rolled out the two ITM bear calls of this week. Had to give up some prices to MM. Booked some profits for clients. Not much to write home about.

Net liq gained another 2K. The margin ratio is above 50% but the prediction wad changed after closing. It may have something to do with the monthly expiration on Monday's expirations.

Break Out Above 4-26-18

The majors broke out to the upside after the morning gap up. FB popped 10% on better than expected earnings. QQQ closed up 2% while the other majors gained 1% except for RUT adding 0.5%. AMZN reported a bigger beat after the hour today. It may be another trending up day tomorrow. I remember that I reminded myself to not flip my small car calls yesterday but I decided to follow the MACD. This time may be an exception of MACD as an indicator.

Made 19 trades today. 8 of them were exit orders. I was only able to roll over one of my three ITM positions for this week. Also rolled up a couple of my ETF long pairs with some profits.

Net liq increased 4K with today's pop. I sent 5K back to ET to reduce margin interests. The margin ratio is at 59%. The predicted Excess is fine without rolling the two ITM calls. The futures are pulling back 0.3-0.5% as of this writing. It's going to be a battle tomorrow.

Tug of War 4-25-18

It was another choppy day. The bulls and bears were pulling between the zero lines. We may see the market bounce very soon since the bulls defended their lines. It hard to tell the direction of the market near term since the good earnings session hasn't lifted the market.

Made 12 trades. I placed bets in both directions with small cars for the next 2-3 weeks. I covered the costs of my earlier calls. Also exited some bull puts and extended my hedges. Nothing exciting. Waiting for the market to tell its next move. The rate is still a major concern.

Net liq added 1.3K. The margin ratio is above 50%. So far the margin is predicted sufficiently for the weekend. But I have 3 ITM bear calls to rollout in the next two days.   

Broken Down 4-24-18

Nasdaq led the market down despite better than expected earnings reports so far. QQQ had a big selloff closing down 2%. RUT is the lest damaged. Most of the majors' MACD start to cross down. I will consider playing put side now.

Made 15 trades today. I recovered some of my long call costs. Also took a stop loss for my yesterday's QQQ long call. Sold some SPX end May and early June bull puts spreads. I also rolled down a couple of RUT ITM long puts. They carry a lot of margin now.  The market is in a large range bound with downside pressure. I plan to sell bear calls on a bounce for my clients.

Net liq gave back a little. The margin ratio is below 50%. Will wait to see what weekend predictions are.

A Hesitated Market 4-23-18

All of the majors traded inside the ranges of last Friday. Both bulls and bears failed to gain an up hand. The indexes closed flat. It's a heavy earnings report week. Google didn't inspire the market in its report after the close. 

Made 13 trades. Most of them were hedges and exit orders. I bought a set of RR/CS ITM in QQQ to play the earning for this week. I have a couple of rollouts to do this week. I am waiting for a decent pullback. We may see a breakdown if the earnings session doesn't produce an upside breakout. The 10 yr rate is near 3% which may be the pressure of the market.

Net liq stayed in the range. The margin ratio is at 61% after the weekend expiries.

2nd Down Day 4-20-18

It's unusual to see a down day on a monthly expiration Friday. The market was under pressure. Several recovery attempts were knocked down by the very end of the day. The market is rangebound so far except RUT got into a new balance area. The small cap is often a leading force. Will watch if it would lead or drag down by the rest of the market next week.

Made 17 trades today. Many of my exit short call orders for this expiring day were hit during the selloff. I was expecting a bounce for the Friday. Sold some QQQ late May bull puts since it's the weakest one. I tried to lock and roll some of QQQ and SPY long calls but didn't get filled.

Net liq is no change. My portfolio is basically delta neutral but no immediate relief in sight. The margin ratio is down to 41%. It's predicted to recover after the expiration tonight. It probably rinses and repeats for next week.   

A Bump In The Head 4-19-18

The market pulled back a little more than a half percent as the majors running into the overhead resistance levels. These are the top of their current balance areas. The fundamental reason for today's pullback was the rising bond rate nearing the magic 3%. It's often the case that fundamental related news often coincides with technical levels. Don't know if the resistance levels would hold.

Made 9 trades today. I had to roll my ITM SPX 2750 bull put since it was unlikely it will expire OTM by tomorrow. Sold some SPX bull put spreads for my clients. I am making more money for them than for myself now since I am stuck in the mud now. Have a couple of bear calls in small cars to roll or close tomorrow.

Net liq gave back 1.3K on this small pullback. The margin ratio is at 58% after I bought an SPX put hedge. My delta is slightly long but both sides are deep in the money. I expect one RUT 1510 to be off the list by end of next week.

Three Green Days In A Raw 4-18-18

The market continued to push up. Although giving back most of their gains the majors still closed in green. They are near the top of their current balance areas now. It's hard to tell if they would break into new balances areas or even new highs. RUT is the most likely one to do so.

Made 10 trades. I entered a new bull call spread in QQQ based on my thesis of upward potentials. Also, locked and rolled some small cars for clients. I bought a couple of hedges for this weekend.

Net liq gained a little back. The margin ratio is at 45% but needs a boost for this weekend. Tomorrow is the index monthly expiration. I rolled my deep ITM RUT out already. Have some positions to deal with for Friday's expiration.

Bulls Charging Up 4-17-18

Bulls continued their push energized by good earnings reports. NASDAQ closed up 2% and the other majors gained at least 1%. RUT/IWM is closest to its ATH. SPX has more hurdles above.

Made 3 trades only. There were mainly adjustments to my positions. No trades were filled for my clients. My thesis for the market was right but I didn't come up with a good plan to follow the market. I will work on shorter-term directional trades for quick scalp or stop loss.

Net liq fall 0.8K. My room to the upside is tipping over. Margin ratio is at 47%. I will deal with hedges towards the end of this week.

The Bulls Are Back 4-16-18

The futures jumped higher on Sunday night after the strikes to Syria didn't cause much of panics around the world. The US indexes gained near 1% by closing. The three majors are on the upper part of their current balance areas now. There are still rooms to go up further before strong resistance areas.

Made 10 trades today. I was mainly working to cover the cost of lock in some profits in the small cars. I closed my first VXX put spreads with a nice profit. It falls pretty hard today.

Neg liq stayed at 125K level. It may soon tip over to the call side if the advance continues. The margin ratio opened lower this week but should be fine until late part of this week.

A Weak Rally Ended In Red 4-13-18

It's Friday again. The index futures erased overnight losses before the RTH began. The market didn't get much boost with the big banks' good earnings reports. XLF fall 1.5%. The expected rally turned out to be a red day. The concern of Syria situation proven to be true after the US launched air strikes tonight. It's not clear how Russia will act upon it which will greatly affect the market on Sunday night. Are we going to see another leg down due to the geopolitical risk and poor reaction to earnings? 

Made 8 trades today. Sold couple of RUT end May bull put spreads for clients on the weakness of this afternoon. Bought more hedges for my portfolio. My margin should be OK for this weekend.

Net liq inched up 1.5K. My margin ratio is above 50%.  I still don't have any ITM position near an exit until end of this month.

A Firm Up Day 4-12-18

The market had another up day, booking three positive days in a row. There are still some rooms to the upside of the current balance areas for SPX, QQQ, and RUT. Geopolitical risk is still present. Will watch my risk on both sides.

Made 8 trades today. All of them are for my account. I locked in an IWM call profit of $90 to pay for my hedges. Didn't make money for today.

Net liq inched up 1.5K. Not much upside left to the upside according to the risk graph. Margin ratio is up and looks OK for this weekend. The big banks' earnings reports start tomorrow.

Market Under Pressure 4-11-18

The bulls really under pressure from the issues, like Syria chemical weapons, Miller's investigation, the tensions with Rusia and China. The majors gave back most of their gains today. The majors have been in rangebound for almost two weeks. MACD is pointing to the upside but the sentiment is not there yet.

Made 8 trades without getting premiums. I positioned long calls in the index ETFs as I planed yesterday. I also tried to buy hedges for the weekend without much luck. Will do it again tomorrow.

Net liq stayed unchanged after the regular withdraw of 1.5K. The margin ratio is back to 50%. The prediction for the weekend looks shaky though. 

Breakout To The Upside 4-10-18

With the news of easing trade war tension, the global markets rallied overnight. It was a trending up day during the cash session. All of the majors closed up near 2% gains. There are signs of broken downtrends. MACD of the majors appear bottoming and turning up. The main question is what should I do now. Buy long calls on any dips?

Made 6 trades. Sold couple more bear calls for my clients. I rolled out my ITM expiring SPX 2750 to next week and collected some premiums. I did it too early so didn't gain any points. Beware of geopolitical risk and trade war news. Bears may not give up so easily although the earning session will start by the end of this week.

Net liq gained 2K and stayed above 120K. The margin ratio is at 35% while pressure is still on the put side.

Another Rally Faded 4-9-18

The index futures popped up on Sunday night. It was a gap up opening for the RTH. NASDAQ was the leader with 2.3% gain at its highs. SPX had +1.7%. Then things fall apart during the last hour of trading. One clue of today's reversal was that VIX didn't drop much during the drive up. Are we going to see another attempt for Feb low? Either way, the VIX is helping option selling.

Made 4 trades today. Sold couple May SPX bull calls for clients. I reversed an IWM from put to call and closed a RUT short put to release some margins. It's a light day overall.

Net liq gained 1K within the range. My margin ratio is below 40% and stayed on the put side. Will continue to hedge both sides.

Job Report Couldn't Save The Day 4-6-18

The market recovered more than a half from the last night additional tariff proposal after opening. The NFP report had 103K new hires v.s. 188K expected. Trades didn't react to the numbers badly in the morning. But sellers stepped in after lunch and dragged the majors down more than 2%. So far it appeared to be a retest of the reversal up points. But another lower highs are in place. Let's see if the recent lows would hold.

Made 15 trades today. Added more late May bull put spreads for my clients. I didn't expect a 2% drop until this afternoon. So I saved some bullets for next week. I rolled up two ITM big cars and gained a total of 30 points. The rest of the orders were hedgings. We may see a bottom soon when the earning session starts next week.

Net liq lost near 3K due to the selloff. I am top heavy now. I need to pay more attention to the levels for my RR trades. The margin ratio is at 42% for this weekend. The margin is on the long put side now since I split one each of SPX and RUT into two in the during this downturn. I haven't been able to exit any of the bull puts.

Holding Up For NFP 4-5-18

The majors advanced a bit less than 1% today. The big money is waiting for the NFP report tomorrow morning. After the hour the proposed additional 100 billion tariffs sank the majors by more than 1%.  That added uncertainty to tomorrow's market.

Made 8 trades today. I mainly tried to establish long calls in index ETFs for April. These may get hit by the new tariff situation. No premiums were collected.

Net liq is reduced due to my transfers of $2500 for credit card and $3000 to ET. The margin ratio is above 50%. It appears OK for this weekend.

Is The Bottom In? 4-4-18

The index futures dropped about 1% on China's tariff retaliation overnight. I thought that we were going see another leg down. However, the futures held at the lows of yesterday. The private job report was much better than expected this morning. It might have provided confidence for market sentiment as the government unemployment report may be better as well this Friday. The indices turned positive by midday and closed on tops of Monday's range, gaining more than 1.5%. It looks like the recent lows are set.

Made 15 trades today. I sold some SPX bull put spreads for late May early in the morning for the clients. I also closed all of the next week's long puts and locked in some profits when I saw the market was turning up. I bought some hedges for my account as usual.

Net liq gained less than 2K. The margin is above 60% and it's predicted fine for the weekend so far. I will play some directional index ETFs assuming the lows are in.

An Inside Day 4-3-18

The market took a breath and recovered about 1% after the 2-3% selloff yesterday. Overall it was an inside day. It's hard to tell the next direction of the market. It's in the process of discovery and establishing new balance areas.

Made 8 trades. It wasn't an active day. I placed some index ETF directional bets in short-term puts and long-term calls. Be patient until the market showing its hand first.

Net liq gained 3K on the recovery of the bull puts. Margin ratio is above 50% and the weight is on the put side.

The Bears Came Out After The Long Weekend 4-2-18

The market opened mildly lower after the long weekend. Technology sectors led the downward move. It turned out to be a waterfall style of a selloff. NASDAQ was down 3.5% in the early afternoon. All the majors closed down more than 2% on the 1st trading day of April. They are near the lows of Feb now. We should be able to see how the Feb low holding with one more push in the next few days. So far it's still a higher low formation.

Made 19 trades today. It was a busy day. Sold some May monthly put spreads in SPX and RUT for clients. I rolled my RUT ITM call of 4-13. Also rolled my SPX April 27, 2370, ITM call up 20 points with a put spread. Some of my scalp targets of small car bear put spreads got hit. I started to buy May long calls expecting a strong bounce during the earning session.

Net liq is basically unchanged due to the losses in the long puts. The margin ratio is above 50%. My concern is still no IMT positions near exiting point.

Bottoms Held 3-29-18

Today happened to be the last trading day of the month and quarter. The major indexes held their lows for the week and reversed from there, gaining roughly 1% and setting on top of yesterday's highs. It's possible for the typical window dressing. We can issue the bottom is in if the lows are held by next week.

Made 9 trades today. Closed some QQQ long puts for my clients before the late reversal happened. I was mainly working on hedging my margins to prevent the shortfall for the weekend. No premiums were collected for me.

Net liq is above 120K as the rangebound continues. The margin ratio is above 50% after today's hedges. My problem is that I don't have any ITM positions near exiting for possibly 1-2 month.

Holding At The Bottom 3-28-18

The market couldn't go anywhere today. Bulls and bears kept it in a narrow range except for NASDAQ which moved lower by about 1%. It's hard to tell where the market is going in near term. Another push down to retest the Feb lows or the higher lows at current levels may be what we can get.

Made 18 trades today. I placed directional orders in the small cars on both sides. My plan is to catch the next move in different time frames. I need to be flexible with my exit plans, either take profit in different levels or quickly stop losses.

Net liq is almost unchanged. The margin ratio is above 60% but predicted much lower for the weekend. I have to bring it tomorrow as this Friday is a none trading day.

A Quick Retest Lows 3-27-18

The market tried to follow through the big bounces of yesterday. Bulls held the lines during the morning session. NASDAQ gave up first without any major news. It made an engulfing reversal from yesterday's 3.3% gain. The other majors reversed to yesterday's lows as well. If the bottoms don't hold overnight we may see a gap down tomorrow morning. The pullback may continue.

Made 16 trades today. My early assumption for today was range consolidation. I was making position adjustments and hedges in the morning. In the afternoon pullback, I thought it would be a halfway retest of yesterday's big surge. The market finally showed its true intention during the last hour of the session. I took off some of my QQQ puts to cover the costs and made double and triple returns in a day. Of course, one contract wouldn't make a big difference. I am learning to place directional bets. I didn't place my planned reversal orders due to the margin requirement. I may do it tomorrow if it's within my buying power and I could hedge part of the margin.

Net liq stayed in current 120K range. Margin ratio is above 70% with 50% buying power. That may leave me some room to do an RR trade. 

A Dead Cat Bounce? 3-26-18

The futures popped up overnight and continued holding gains after opening as the trade war tension easied. QQQ led the reversal today. It closed up 3.9% while the other majors gained more than 2%. The next resistance levels would be the Fib 50, 61.8 and the breakout point for the majors. The Feb low test would be completed if these levels are breached. Keep in mind it's still a bull market.

Made 15 trades today. Rolled some ITM  small car bull puts based on my rules. Sold couple of naked bear calls for the clients as I didn't expect it would be such strong reversal. I will manage the positions accordingly. I tried to reverse my SPX and RUT bull puts to bear calls in attempts to exit and reduce my position sizes if we get another leg down. But the margin requirement is too high for me to place the orders. I will see if it changes when the indices go up further tomorrow.

Net liq increased 2K mainly from the bull puts. Margin ratio is above 70% for now and it switched to the call side now. I have a RUT 1360 ITM bear call to roll for this week.

The 2% Selloff Continued 3-23-18

My main anticipation was range-bound price actions for today. The market acted like it until the last hour of the day. It sold off again toward the end of the session shelving off another 2% or more on the major indexes. The price action shows that the retest of Feb lows is likely to happen.

Made 5 trades today. It took me the most of the day to roll the expiring SPX 2750 ITM put. I missed my plan of reversing it to the bear call side in the morning. Then the price kept falling. Also the margin requirement kept me to switch side aggressively. I ended up to give up 5 points to roll it to next week. My hesitation caused me two days in a raw. Luckily I rolled two ITM bear calls without adding put spreads and collected decent premiums.

Net liq didn't gain any ground since my bull puts are underwater now. The margin ratio is above 50% for the weekend. I will have to deal with some of the ITM small cars on the put side next week. It was a frustrating week for me.

The Selloff On Trade War With China 3-22-18

The news of that the US hit China with a $60 billion tariffs made the market nervous. It was an orderly pullback until the last hour. The bottom just fell out.  Most of the major indexes closed down 2.5%. It may be the starting of retest Feb lows.

Made 13 trades. I sold some late April and early May bull put spreads for my clients. Also tried to buy puts in IWM when it was legging the other majors. I wasn't patient enough waiting for it to double. I didn't follow my pre-market plan to reverse my SPX 2750 from bull put to bear call. My fear of being wrong or wanting a better price caused a loss of opportunity. I will do it on a pop tomorrow.

Net liq increased 2K limited by these ITM bull puts. Margin ratio is above 60% at least for tomorrow. Will continue to hedge the put side.

Fed Hiked 0.25% Rate 3-21-18

The much-anticipated rate hike happened the market ended up flat after pop and drop. The market may need a little more time to digest the impact of this rate hike. The trade war with China may cause volatility in the market. 

Made 10 trades today. SPX just couldn't get close to 2750 so I rolled my 2755 to 2750 for this Friday. The rest of the orders were hedging for today's event. I tried to play directional options but didn't play out.

Net liq stayed about the same. The margin ratio is above 60% but I need to raise it if I can't close the 2750 P before this Friday.

Awaiting For FOMC 3-20-18

The market is in waiting mode for tomorrow's FOMC. The only QQQ made about 0.4% gain. SPY and IWM both closed flat. It's expected that FOMC would raise the 0.25% rate tomorrow. What message the Fed would release is more important for the market. It will be volatile after the release for sure.

Made 1 trade for a client's IWM roll out. I placed many hedge trades in both directions but none of them was filled. I have an SPX 2755 long put expiring tomorrow.

Net liq stayed in the range. The margin ratio is above 60%. Obviously, no trade, no premiums. 

Gaped Down On Monday

The US market gaped down led by the news of FB misused user data. NASDAQ was down near 3% at one point but closed -2.3%. I think the underlining reason is more of the FOMC meeting this Wednesday.

Made 15 trades today. Sold late April bull put spreads for the clients. I rolled my last RUT 1350 ITM bear call with a put spread. My last SPX 2755 put was dropped deep ITM by today's selloff. It was the first time that I used the Monday expiry. So I had to roll it to the same strike for this Wednesday for a $120 premium. I am not sure how the market will react to FOMC. I will have to roll it to this Friday if it's still underwater after FOMC. The rest of my orders were hedges.

Net liq stayed above 115K. Delta is neutral so that Net liq didn't gain much on today's selloff. Margin ratio is at 68% and weights on the put side.  I want to hold my RR after Wednesday's FOMC to get a better sense of the market direction.

Range bound Market 3-16-18

The indexes chopped around on this quad witch Friday. The big money is likely positioning for the FOMC rate decision next Wednesday. RUT recovered from yesterday's loss holding on the lower trendline. SPX gave back most of its gains while QQQ closed slightly lower.

Made 4 trades today. I couldn't close that SPX 2760 ITM bull put and had to roll it to next Monday's 2755. I plan to close it before next Wednesday' FOMC meeting but it takes a lot of margins. No trade for the clients. I bought 3 more SPX put hedges.

Net liq stayed the same. The margin ratio is fine for this weekend. IB's prediction for the available funds is not accurate. 

Index Divergence 2-15-18

The stock indexes have shown divergencies between small and large caps. DIA and SPY advanced while RUT continues to slide in small measures in terms of their percentage changes of less than 1%. It's still a range bound market. Bulls are holding the trend.

Made 10 trades today. Rolled one ITM RUT 1210 call to advance a mere 5 pts. Also moved my SPX 3200 ITM bull put the to end of April and collected some premiums. Sold a couple of RUT April bull puts for clients. I have to same my margin for rollings. The rest of the trades were hedgings and closing positions.

Net liq gained 2K ground. The margin ratio is boosted by the hedges. I have an SPX 2760 bull put to roll or close by tomorrow. 

2nd Down Day 3-14-18

The market continued moving to the downside despite several attempts by buyers. All the majors except DIA (-1%) pulled back about 0.5% within their balance areas. It still looks like a base building unless the balance lows are broken. QQQ is holding up in its new high territory. That is a clue.

Made 9 trades today. Rolled all of my small cars long calls out in hope of catching another bounce. I put in a couple of RUT and SPX hedging calls for the next two weeks. No premiums collected since the margin is on the put side now.

Net liq gained 2k and climbed above shaky ground of 110K. The margin ratio is at 60%. The projection is weak for this weekend expiry.

Turn Around Tuesday 3-13-18

The market opened higher but turned down in the afternoon. It appeared to be an outside reversal day for SPX, RUT, and Nasdaq. However, they are still in their current balance ranges. Which way will the market break it's hard to say? FOMC meeting next week will be soon in focus.

Made 14 trades today. I sold my last ITM IWM long call of this week with about $280 profit. I used 1/3 of the profit to buy RUT OTM hedges. I found it's better than keep rolling the options risking pullback and decays. I also made a RUT ITM reversal from bear call to bull put. It relieved some pressure on the bear call side. I wasn't patient enough in the morning. I was afraid of the market would have continued to push up. I missed a better opportunity late on.

Net liq stayed about the same after my RUT reversal trade. I may have to another reversal trade depending on the direction of the market. Margin ratio is above 60% for now. I am adjusting it day by day now.

Holding Up For Another Break Out?

The indexes held up well today after the 1.5-2% break out powered by the better than expected job report. QQQ already made an ATH last Friday. SPX and RUT are close to erasing all of their losses from Feb correction. New high may follow if sellers can't defend the breakdown point of Feb.

Made 6 trades today. I rolled this week's ITM small cars to lock and roll the positions. Sold DIA bull puts for clients for scalping.

Net liq went down to 101K this morning. I had to wire another 10K to keep my net liq above water. It's getting dangers as my borrowing sources are draining down. I need to make another risk reversal trade in RUT.

Awaiting For NFP 3-8-18

The market chopped around waiting for tomorrow morning's NFP report. It's a major economic indicator that affects the market. How the market interprets the NFP is unpredictable. Often a good news can be bad or a bad news can be good for the market.

Made 16 trades today. I spend $100 to bring the margin up to the safe level for the weekend. It will be better if I can add more hedges tomorrow. Sold couple RUT bull put credit spreads for the clients. I didn't get any premiums again.

Net liq is barely above 110K. The margin ratio is up to 60%. But the available funds are relatively low. I don't have any ITM positions to roll this week.

Small Cap Leading The Bulls 3-7-18

The fear of Gary Cohn resignation as Economic Advisor of the White House didn't last long. As the downdrift faded in the morning session RUT/IWM led the bounce. The major stock indexes recovered their losses from overnight except the small-cap gained nearly another percent, logged its 4th consecutive days of large gains.

Made 14 trades today. Sold DIA naked bull puts and SPX put spreads in the early weakness for the clients. I only traded hedges for myself. I may have to do switch bear call to bull put in RUT again.

Net liq was nacked down again as RUT stayed strong. The margin ratio is lowered as well. The weekend projected margin and available funds slide into negative territory. I will have to buy more hedges to fend it off during the next two days.

Three Days In A Row 3-6-17

The indexes grind up for the third day in a row. The fear of a trade war in steel and aluminum has quickly faded. Dip buyers are active but no major resistance lines are broken yet. The news of Gary Cohn resigning from the administration sunken the futures for about 1%. Will see how it plays out overnight. The effect may be short-lived.

 Made 6 trades again. I only rolled some near-term positions. Tried to sell some naked calls in indices for my clients but no fills. I may sell some bull puts tomorrow if the selloff is not too bad overnight.

Net liq suffered again. The margin ratio is at 40% but should be ok for the next day or two. It may be switched to the put side with the overnight price drop.

Another Reversal Up Day 3-5-18

The index futures were lower overnight. They opened in negative territory this morning as well. Similar to the pattern of last Friday, they finally broke out to the upside with 1% gains in most of the indices. The high and low of their current balances have been tested so far. Most of them are parked in the mid of their balance areas except NQ/QQQ which is on top of its range. FOMC will be in play in next 2-3 weeks.

Made 6 trades and no premiums collected. I flipped our QQQ and SPY from puts to call again. I realized that I made panic trades when I flipped them from calls to puts last Friday. The price pattern changed from pop and drop to drop and pop last Friday.

Net liq gave back 3K with today's pop. The margin ratio is at 40% after the weekend expirations. I need to buy more calls to hedge it.

Fears For Trade Wars 3-1-18

The market got spooked with the imposing tariffs of imported steel and aluminum by the US. The major indexes lost another percentage point after the news. The only exception is the small cap. It took back most of its lost ground. It seems that technical levels often coincide with some major economic news. This pullback reached 50% levels from recent lows to highs. We may see further test below.

Made 10 trades today. I was able to roll up all of my next week's ITM bear calls. Timing and configurations weren't good for some of them. I brought down my SPX ITM bull put. Bought March IWM put to hedge this pullback for clients. I finally collected $750 premiums and transferred 5K back to ET. I am still deep in a hole over that side.

Net liq got another relief but it's near the edge of the end. The margin ratio is still above 50% and on the put side now. I have to deal with one RUT 1520 bull put ATM expiring tomorrow. Most of my small car long calls are hopelessly OTM.

On The Way Down? 2-28-18

The market attempted go higher then failed. The daily price patterns changed from late after rally to selloff since yesterday. Another turn around Tuesday. SPX and RUT added another pertage of losses today. We may look at a trip to the balance lows. QQQ is holding better than the other indices, lossing only 0.5%.

Made 7 trades today. Sold couple RUT early April bull put sreads for my clients. I only rolled couple small cars of long calls before the sell off. I held back for selling more bull puts just in case I need to roll some existing positions.

Net liq recovered another 5K today. Margin ratio is up to 56%. The margin is switched to the put side now. I may have to flip around my ITM calls and puts to avoid margin drains.

Fed In Play Again 2-27-18

The new Fed Chairman, Powell talked about rate hiking regardless the market volatility. The market responded with a 1% pullback. VIX popped almost 18% to 18.6. The major indexes retreated from the balance area highs.

Made 16 trades with increased VIX. Sold some bull puts in small cars for clients. Also sold some put spreads for large cars. I rolled some ITM bear calls. Rolled some expiring long calls before the selloff. Collected $800 for a change.

Net liq recovered about 7K. The margin ratio is back to 50%. The margin is affecting both sides now. Will continue to hedge. 

Bulls Took Key Lines Of Defense 2-26-18

Bulls carried the torches further from last Friday. SPY, QQQ, and DIA advanced 1.3 - 1.8% and closed at their highs of the day. Technically speaking, QQQ crushed all of the Fib RT lines. It likely to make new highs. SPX, DIA, and RUT firmly broke their Fib 61.8% RT line and ready to challenge the last defense of Fib 76% RT. They are also close to the highs of their current balance areas.

Made 7 trades today. Our QQQ and some SPY long calls were put ITM. So I locked and rolled some QQQ and SPY this week to extend them out. My hedges were only filled on the long put side. Not many premiums were collected.

Net liq got hit again with the popup today. It's down to 117K now. Margin ratio is down to 35% and it's on the call side. I will try to put in more long call hedges in tomorrow.

The Third Day Of Pump & Drop 2-22-18

The market shrugged off the selloff from yesterday. It continued to push up to about 1% and retested the breakdown points. Just like yesterday, sellers came in the later afternoon. But most of the indices closed in positive territory. It was an inside day. The market seams building a base in the mid of recent ranges. It's hard to tell its directions in short term. However, MACD is turning up on daily.

Made 3 trades today. Rolled down an SPX pair for a client. I tried many different combinations to roll my SPX 2330 bear call. No fills. Have to do it regardless tomorrow. I have a RUT bull put of 1530 near the money. I will leave it until the afternoon and hope it will be exited.

Net liq is almost unchanged. Margin ratio is above 60% and it looks OK for this weekend. The margin is on the call side now. I don't see either side with a possibility of unwinding soon.

A Reversal Day On Fed Minutes

The market was pushing higher right off the gate. All the majors gained more than 1% before the release of Fed Minutes. There was another shot in the arm with the Fed minutes. Then 1 hour before the closing the stock indexes started falling. By the end of the session, they all closed in negative territories and the lows of the day. It's a reversal day that caused by 10 yr treasury rate rising to 2.95%. VIX also erased most of it loses and stayed at 20.

Made 16 trades today. The ACRX bull puts were closed on the morning pop. It was a double fill last month. We still hold some stocks under water. I rolled out most of the long calls in the small cars. Most of them are ATM or near TM. If we get another meaningful pullback they will lose out. I still couldn't roll out my SPX 2330 bear call. I may get a better chance tomorrow if the pullback continues. No much premiums were collected today.

Net liq recovered after the pullback. Margin ratio is at 65% and it switched to the call side now. I will add more hedges to both sides before the weekend. Puts have excess fees now.

Back In Ranges 2-20-18

Indices failed to hold their gains before closing. The loses are less than 1%. All the majors are in their balance areas. VIX is still at 20. Bond rate is holding 2.9%. MACD daily is turning up. We may stay in current ranges for a while.

Made 6 trades. I only made hedges without getting any premiums. Rolled couple SPY calls for clients. Nothing else is happening. Be patient for the days without collecting premiums.

Net liq is in range of 125K. I sent another 5K to ET. They charge 8% interest. I want to reduce the cost whenever I can. Margin ratio is at 68%. It may be OK for this week.

Back To Raging Bulls Again? 2-15-18

Bulls continued to run following the reversal of yesterday. Inflation and higher rates are no concerns for now. RUT, SPX gained 1% while QQQ added more than 2% at closing. But VIX didn't give up much of its ground. It's still at near 20. Both SPX and RUT crossed their 50% RT lines without much resistances. They both closed below their Fib 62% lines today. Tomorrow is stocks monthly expiration day. Bulls may push hard to maximize their profits.

Made 6 trades only today. No more selling of calls. I realized that I sold these bear calls too early yesterday. I will let the bulls run a little further before taking another stab. Rolled couple ITM QQQ long calls. These are my survived long calls. Took off couple RUT bull puts to reduce margins for my clients.

Net liq suffered 5K from this bull run today. Margin ratio is still above 60 and expect going through the weekend fine. Margin is switched to bear call side. But not much room to reverse positions to bull put either. I need to figure out something better hedge the ITM bull puts. They take up too much margin.