Another Volatile Week 9-25-20

 It was another volatile week but ended in an up note. SPX and NQ closed this week in green while the large-cap and small-cap are still in red but with buying tails. The notable pattern of the week was up in AM and down by PM. Only this Friday was rallying up day from the overnight gap down. It looks like a temporary bottom formed. The Covid-19, social unrest, and upcoming election are still risk factors. 

My net liq went through a role coaster ride this week. It ended slightly up at 113K. The leverage is at 3.7. I rolled up my short calls this week with a little recovery and closed 3 long puts. It looks like my cash collection will be negative for this month since I spent about $10K in rolling positions. The 0 DTE didn't work well this volatile week. I ended with 3 winners and 5 losers. My plan was not to trade 0 DTE in a volatile market. I still not use the stop-loss consistently. 

I will have to reduce my positions aggressively before the election. IB announced it would increase its margin requirement by 35% before the election. I need to keep in mind that I can recover the position losses gradually after the volatile time.   

The Third Week Down 9-18-20

 The majors continued to drift down into the third week. The sentiment appears muted and no major fears are detected according to CNN Fear & Greed index. Basically, we may not have seen the end of the pullback yet. This is the first time the market has had 3 consecutive down weeks since the March low. SPX retested the 20 DMA above and failed. It closed below the 50 DMA today for the first time following NSDAQ's path. The large-cap, Dow, and the small-cap, RUTH are still holding their 50 DMA but below the 20 DMA. Not sure which direction will lead to the next move. 

My netliq didn't change much from the 110K level. The leverage is below 4 for now. I had to roll the three of expiring deep ITM short calls which cost about $6K. There were six of the long puts expired worthless. I need to add less long puts but put them closer to TM. Then I can split and roll them. This may reduce my exposure to risk. 

I am still not disciplined enough to take my stops in my 0 DTE.  I had an IF deep ITM today but I didn't roll since it would cost me 1-1.5K loss. I roll the put side to next Friday and expended the spread from 5k to 10k. That's a risky old habit. I didn't take any stop for CS today. I was overconfident that the Quad Witching Friday would be choppy and range bound. I wasn't objectively taking the market generated info. I need to study the proper stop loss function in both ET and IB. I still need to search for a different style of service provider to complement my trading strategies. 

Another Down Week 9-11-20

 The majors continue to slide after the Labor Day long weekend. There were 3 out of 4 red days. The techs, especially FAANG are leading the selloff. The overall sentiment is slightly negative therefore we may not hit the bottoms yet. The noon reversal has been the pattern for this week. SPX and NQ appear forming a head and shoulder pattern after falling from ATHs. SPX touched its 50 SMA today and holding it so far. RUT is below its 50 SMA heading toward 200 SMA in the 1460 area. 

My net liq closed at 102K. It was hit twice this week below 100K. I don't have much cushion for a volatile move to either side. Luckily I was able to reduce one each long put in SPX and RUT today. I also combined and rolled 2 RUT into 1 that reduced my delta in RUT a bite. 

I have improved my practice in taking stop losses. I took 2 stops of 0 DTE in ET this week. It felt good because it will be easier to recover the losses. Despite the stops, I still made over $500 trading 0 DTE in ET. I must use a 3x stop in my recovery trade as well. I have made no progress in searching for a new trading services. 

The Pre Holiday Selloff 9-4-20

 The majors continued their upward at the beginning of the week. NASDAQ and SPX made ATHs until this Wednesday. SPX touched 3588 and the century figure of 3600 was just a touch away. RUT was close to break the 1600 mark again. Then, out of nowhere the sellers came out on Thursday after better than expected jobless claim numbers. The tech FAANG stocks were hit hard. At the heights of the selloff, SPX and NASDAQ were down 4 and 5% respectively. I was totally unprepared for it. It was another hard-hit day today with the Labor Day long weekend ahead. The majors recovered partially in the late afternoon but all closed below the lows of yesterday which could be a bearish signal. It appears this reversal is for real. The new top may be in for now. 

My netliq was hit hard today and closed at 102K. My shorts absorbed some of the downsides yesterday. It got reversed today. I had too many longs expiring today. My net liq went below 100K in the mid of the selloff. I had to use the times when the netliq claim up to 100K to roll my long puts. It was a tough day. I booked 23K losses to roll these positions. I only had one RUT long put closed out. I will implement stop losses for all my recovery positions. It could have saved me a lot of problems. A lesson learned the hard way. 

The O DTE strategy worked mostly this week. I took 2 stops for the IF I made on Wednesday which I followed my rules. That was an improvement. I didn't follow my plan today though. I was going to wait until 10:30 to place my 0 DTE orders. But I jumped in too early after I missed the bear call entry. I assumed it would be a small ranged choppy session since the long weekend is coming. I didn't take my stops during the selloff. I assumed there would be a bounce-back in the afternoon. I broke my rules despite the winning results. I should have taken the stops and enter at lower prices to recover my losses. 

The high volatility period is here. I have to work hard on my stop-loss rules in both recovery and 0 DTE trades.