FOMC Again 1-31-18

The indices futures raised up overnight in attempting to recover the loses of yesterday. They kept up in the morning session. Market expected no rate hike from FOMC in today's announcement. It was the case but the Fed added a possibility of a 4th rate hike for 2018. The market got spooked for a little while. Most of them were recovered before closing except RUT stayed in red.

Made 6 trades today. I made an RR in SPX when I saw a chance to trade one from bear call to bull put without requiring too much margin. Alos rolled up another RUT bear call expiring this week. Had to bit the bullet. The pullback damaged my small car positions. I have couple SPY and IWM left to roll for this week.

Net liq upped a little. Margin ratio is above 60% after the month end expiry today. The margin is on put side now. Need to watch out the downside risk.

Unusual 2nd Down Day LOL 1-30-18

The major indexes gapped down while Asia and Europea were in retreat. Buyers tried to lift the market but couldn't close the morning gaps. All the majors closed in the lower part of the day. There hasn't been a two-day in a raw of losing streak for a while.  I don't expect this selloff will last long since the earnings high light is still ahead, the infostructure plan just been announced. The fed announcement tomorrow may put a weight on market for a short time.

Made 16 trades. Most of them were for my clients. Sold more March bull puts in RUT and SPX. Tried DIA for the first time with risk reversal to the long calls. Rolled out some near expiring small cars. They are more vulnerable to the pullback. I still couldn't make my risk reversal trade in RUT and SPX. They require too much of margin for now. Also, I am glad I practiced patience last week in the reverse order. Otherwise, I could have sited on some sizeable losses. Now I may have to wait for a confirmation of turns. I need to find a better way to hedge my puts more effectively.

Net liq didn't improve with the selloff. I assume it's due to the stocks and my ITM puts. Margin ratio is above 50% and looks OK for this week's expiry.

1st Pullback Across Board In 2018

The major indexes closed near low of the day for the first time this year. It felt like a big deal but it was only about 0.5% down and no balance areas were broken. So it should be considered as a normal price action.

Made 16 trades. Sold some March SPX bull put spreads across the board on a 0.6% pullback. I started to experiment a debit call spreads in V of June expiry. The risk of a debit spread is defined. I made another mistake in date selection when I entered the  March SPX bull put for March. I wanted to enter Mar 9 expiry but ended with two March 15. I have been making such mistakes more often than before. I rolled couple small cars up and out. 

Net liq fall below 120K again due to a couple of my stocks such as  HD and QQQ gave back more than 1% today. Margin ratio is near 80% for now. I still couldn't place a risk reversal order in SPX or RUT without incurring a less than $10K margin. The margin is on both side now.

Another Pausing Day 1-25-18

The market refuses to go down. There are just too many dip buyers. Index futures went higher overnight but got knocked down after cash open. RUT and QQQ breached their lows of yesterday briefly. Buyers pushed them back into positive territory before closing. So it is likely to the upside in near term.

Made 10 trades today. Sold couple of AAPL March bull put spreads on its 2% down day. Also sold IWM March 2 put spreads on early weakness. Both trades were for the clients. I am stranded by margins. I want to save my bullets for my risk reversal trades. I continued to roll my small cars to lock in profit and extend my hedges. I made another mistake in quantity again when rolled my ITM SPY call spreads.  Had to revise it from 3 to 2. My mind is not sharp now. May need to do more physical activities during the day.

Net liq stayed around 115K. Margin ratio went below 30% but expected to double after the weekend as more puts expire. I may be able to do another risk reversal next week when I get more margin.

A Day Without New Highs 1-24-18

It was unusual to see a down day in indexes. All major indexes except Dow are closed in negative territory. Tech was weak and USD continued to fall. The VIX divergence of the last couple of days played out.

Made 9 trades. Had an opportunity to convert a RUT 1385 bear call to bull put. I moved it to Dec 1810 ITM put. It's about 12% away v.s 14% of the bear call. Due to the margin limitation, I could only convert one naked. It reduced some risk for the upside. Rolled my last RUT ITM bear call up and away. Somehow I thought today was Thursday. So I pushed hard for the rollover. It was my mistake. Sold RUT March put spreads for clients but I didn't want to use my margin to do it.

Net liq recovered 2k. Margin ratio is at 46%. The margin is on the put side now. I need to watch the downside risk now. May have to wait for a while before converting another RUT call to put. I will work on SPX conversion and wait for a meaningful pullback.

New Highs Continuing 1-22-18

The US government was shut down over the weekend. The market had no fear of it on Friday and this morning. Stock indexes made ATHs again after the deal is reached to fund the gov until early next month.

Made 6 trades. 4 of them were exit orders. Rolled my ITM SPY & QQQ to lock in about $900 of profit. Tried to buy some hedges in the big guys but no fill.

Net liq is up 1.5K to my surprise.  Margin ratio is back to 50% after the weekend expiries. It's the same thing one week after another.  The margin is on the call side again. I am waiting for a small pullback to do my risk reversal on RUT and SPX.

Another Possible Gov Shutdown Holding The Market 1-18-18

The market held in range after getting back to top yesterday. The possibility of another federal gov shutdown puts pressure on market sentiment for now. 2013 was the last time a gov shutdown happened during Obama administration. It was quickly resolved. People don't expect it will have a major impact on the economy one way or another.

Made 8 trades today. There was a major mess up in ACRX, a small biotech stock I had it under water for over 3 months. I left the rollover orders open for this Friday's expiration. Then it got assigned overnight unexpectedly. My orders got filled again this morning. I had to quickly close the double positions for this Friday. It was my mistake not having a plan ahead. I closed my March position with a $10x6 loss after I closed clients' positions for this Friday. Should have done all the same.

Net liq inched up a little. Margin ratio is above 40% now. The margin is still on the put side which limited my ability to roll. I tried to buy hedges but had a hard time to get filled in this higher VIX and choppy market.

Another Short Lived Pull Back 1-17-18

As I suspected yesterday that the dip buyers may step in on the mini sell-off. Market held low of yesterday in the morning and ramped up after lunch. SPX and RUT both reached 1% upward only pull back a little before cash closing. We may see new highs again before the weekend if sellers can't defend the previous highs.

Made 5 trades. RVX stayed up 3% despite RUT is up nearly 1%. I couldn't even get RUT put hedges fill. Rolled up more SPY and booked another $1,300 profit in addition to the similar amount yesterday. There were not whole lot selling opportunities while the market is up overall. I couldn't put in another reversal order since it requires too much margin. I need to deleverage more on the put side.

Net liq stayed in the same range. The reversed RUT long puts helped to offset the surge. Margin ratio dropped below 20% also due to the reversed puts. I have to bring it up before the weekend.

A Reversal On Fear Of Gov Shutdown 1-16-18

The indexes gapped up after the MLK long weekend. Both SPX and RUT hit their milestones of 2800 and 1600. Then the news of federal budget talks broken down hit the market. Indices reversed to the downside. VIX stayed high in the morning which hinted that something was going on. I wasn't patient enough to wait. Of course, I have gotten so used to the bulls buying into every dip.

Made 12 trades. Rolled this week's 3 major bear calls early on. I reversed RUT 1420 bear call to March and April's ITM puts. It turned out to be too early while RUT just came down from its ATH. I was desperately trying to avoid further loss in bear call and damage to the Net Liq. Booked some nice gains from SPY calls. Sold couple Feb-Mar RUT bull puts spreads for clients. I don't have much room to do it for my account. I want to save my buying power for rollovers.

Net Liq gained a little ground. It's back to 115K. Margin ratio is slightly below 50%. Margin shifted to put side after the bear call reversal. I will start to hedge the put side in preparation for more reversals.

Bulls Follow Through

It's more and more like last Jan. Bulls just keep pushing and won't let the gas paddle go. All majors logged another ATH. It's like a daily normal thing to make new highs. Only RUT pulled back about a half of its gains before closing after hitting upper channel line and Fib 50% target. Needless to say that my account was squeezed further.

Made 12 trades today. Rolled up and out last two sets of small long call spreads and booked some profits. Also rolled up next week's SPX and RUT bear call spreads on this up day. It's been tough with this one way market. Bought hedges on both side.

Net liq dropped below 100K during the morning push. I had to wire another 10K in to fend it off. I didn't realize the market would be closed on Monday for MLK. I am paying 8% interest in the borrowing accounts. I will have to roll my positions from bear call to bull put next week, hopefully with a little pull back that would last for few hours. Margin is OK for this weekend after hedging.

Blow Off Top 1-11-18

The same theme of blow out continued to play out. When it couldn't go down then the energy will push up. Indexes made another "routine" of new high. But the leadership is in small cap today. RUT/IWM broke out explosively and closed up 1.8%, firmly in a new territory. The push may not be over yet. It will explore and establish a new balance area.

Six trades for today. Both IWM and QQQ stock hit my scale targets.  Rolled my SPX 2300 with ITM long call gaining 10 points. Such rolls can't catch the raging bull. It's like the race of turtle and rabbit. I didn't have time to look for other trading opportunities.

Net liq was blow off with RUT's b/o. I had to quickly wire 10K in to keep my net liq above 100K. It suffered 10K alone on this 1.8% pop. I may have to do it again as RUT is in new high now. 

A Pause 1-10-18

After the parabolic move during the first week of 2018 market attempted a pull back following yesterday's weak closing. Buyers stepped in again holding SPX and RUT's balance low area. The major indices closed slightly lower or flat recovered from early losses. The theme of 2017 continues.

Made 10 trades today. Sold late Feb QQQ and RUT bull puts spreads for clients during the morning weakness. ISRG had a 6% surge on its pre earning update and our bull puts target were hit. Rolled my last ITM RUT bear call for this week and only gained 5 points. Bought couple of put hedges.

Net liq gave back morning gains and ended flat. I am dancing on the edge. Margin is bouncing around 50%. It's time of the week to buy hedges for next week again.

A Weak Closing 1-9-18

Indices pushed higher in the morning session with dip buyers actively after new highs. Buy the sellers came before closing and pushing RUT and QQQ to negative territory. My day was saved as far as adding new funds concerned.

Made 8 trades for this choppy day. Locked n' rolled SPY and QQQ long calls in 1:2 ratio to add few more longs at the money. Bought few more RUT call hedges. I tried to roll this week's deep ITM bear calls but no luck. I may get better chances in next day or two.

Net liq stayed at 105K. Margin ratio claimed back to 50%. Not much is going on right now. Sentiment is very bullish.

It's Still A Bull Market 1-8-18

Market showed some weakness at open. Dip buyers stepped in and held the range. All majors hit ATHs again the retreated a little before closing. RUT had a bullish engulfing daily candle. It may break out to a new balance area soon or fall back. The bull is still strong. I am glad that I held these small cars' long calls. They helped to hedge and generated premiums as well.

Made 7 trades today. Rolled up 2 RUT 1330 bear calls to 1340 during the early weakness but couldn't get others in quick enough. It was another V shape day for RUT. I still haven't figure out a good way to switch my deep ITM bear calls to bull puts with equal premiums. Tried to sell some Feb bull puts for my clients but no fills. I also moved up some small cars and locked in about $300 profits.

Net liq didn't change much from 105K. I have delayed transferring additional funds. Margin ratio is down to 40% after the expiry. Leverage rise again. I am just living one day at time.

The 4th Up Day Of 2018 1-5-18

It's been all up days so far for 2018. All of the 4 major indices made ATH today. NASDAQ led the pack up another 1%. RUT barely breached the ATH made last Nov. It set up for a firmly break out next week or retreat from it. SPX and QQQ are building their new balance areas which may help RUT to catch up. I got no break so far.

Made 10 trades across all accounts. Rolled up the two SPX bear calls from ET and collected some premiums. The protective longs are ITM so they helped to rise my short strikes. Bought hedges on both sides enough to get through this weekend. The bulls are relentless.

Net liq held above water for today. I will have to deal with it on Monday. Margin ratio is fine but leverage is up to 5.6 new high. I prepare to inject funds on Monday.

Three Days In A Row 1-4-18

The New Year fire work continued. Dow crossed 25,000 marker to another all time high. SPX and NESDAQ both made new highs too. RUT is not too far from the pack. Tomorrow's NFP report may provide another energy shot to the bull.

Made 9 trades today. Three of them were SPY and QQQ stocks' target hit before cash open. My ISRG target got hit too. I had to roll my SPX 2330 up 5 ps with a $150 cost. I will try to recover the cost when there is a down day.

Net liq stayed at 106K. I was going to make a wire transfer when it was down to 103ish. I may have to do it tomorrow. Margin ratio is above 60% but the weekend prediction is week. I have to buy some calls to hedge tomorrow.

A Day Of Follow Through 1-3-18

Market followed through on top of yesterday's gain. S&P closed above 2700, another land mark. NASDAQ is firmly above 7000. It was expected for a while and nobody even bothered to cheer it. Market shrugged off the explosive book of the new presidency. FOMC minutes didn't shake much either.

Made 15 trades. 4 of them were exit orders. Sold GE $20 covered calls of Feb to recover from the early assignment. Rolled up more small cars to lock in some profit and keep my long positions on.
Had to roll my RUT 1330 out without gaining any points. I haven't had any chance to pearl it off yet.

Net liq is lowered again. I may have to wire funds in if it's another strong up day tomorrow. Margin ratio is above 60%. Leverage reached a new high of 545. I really need to dig hard to figure out a way to move some deep bear calls to puts.

A Strong Start of 2018 1-2-18

Futures popped up overnight despite a weak European market. All majors gaped up at cash open. NASDAQ was leading the pack and closed up 1.7% while both SPX and RUT closed above 0.8%. Big money appears wanting to make new highs before letting the gap paddle go.

Made 12 trades today. Closed my AAPL put spreads. Some exit put orders were filled. I mostly worked on rolling up my small long calls. Not much premiums were collected.

Net liq got knocked down below 110K again. Margin ratio is at 48%. Leverage is above 5 again. Will continue to buy hedges on call side.