Break To New High Again 10-11-24

 SPX broke out to the upside after the 12-day rangebound below 5800. PPI and the banks' earnings triggered the breakout to 5815 late last week. YM also closed another ATH above 43100. Will NQ and RUT follow the suit? The 40+ years of election seasonality have yet played out this year. It could be in a reversed order: buying the rumor and selling on the news. 

IBQ Netliq is down 7% from 99K to 92K for the week. It had 2 days above 100K before the breakout. The realized P/L is $14690 as I closed and rolled in several SPs. The collected cash is -$1431. I had to buy back a SP for $4K to avoid a red warning one night. I later realized I could have rolled an SP to a near DTE to void the red sign. The SPX long calls and MES made some profits this week. The options' value went up with the rally from -537K to -545K.  The delta went up 12% from -410 to -466. The leverage is up from 740 to 815. These measurements are elevated to the dangerous level again. VIX stayed above 20 as the rally continued. VIX usually would be below 15 when the new highs were made. Does it mean something? We will see how it plays out. The total positions are C7-11 and P5-2 with the In and Out offset. There were 49 trades for the week. The commission cost is $185. I didn't add 1-1-2 trade due to the CPI, and PPI events. 

IBP SC spreads positions are stretched to the limits. I didn't know that SMA played a critical role in limiting the spread expansion. I couldn't roll the SCS more than 1 day out which cost me dearly. There are 5 SCs and 4 SPs into next week. I left one SP available in case I need more adjustments on Monday.  The realized P/L is $-20309. The cash collected is -5197. I had to sell 24 HD and 16 QQQ for $17758 to shore off the SMA liquidation warnings in the last 3 days of the week. I may have to put some fresh money in early next week. This situation really stresses me out. 

1. I didn't add Stop-loss orders to every new position this week. I realized it would cause the SMA balance to go into negative in the IBP account. I have to figure out a different way to make stop-losses. 

2 I am still working on dealing with my fear of losing. I don't like the feeling of losing subconsciously. Losing is part of trading. It's like the phoenix flying out from the ashes. 

3. My stop-loss rules are A. Take 3X losses if the premiums are less than $1000; 

                                        B. Take 2.5X losses if the premiums are between $1000 to $1800;

                                        C. Take 2X losses if the premiums are above $1800. 

        The stop-loss is the rule but there are considerations for Delta, Netliq, and the total positions.    

4. The IBP account is limited to spread expansion. I need to figure out the numbers or percentage of the balance tolerance. I may put free money into the account instead of selling stocks. Because selling stocks doesn't give a full cushion for SMA.    

5. I continue to work on the sense of accountability and self-discipline. It's a long process of changing my old habits at the subconscious level.                

A Week Of Rangebound 10-5-24

 The majors were in rangebound holding the uptrend for the week. SPX traded between the 5678 and 5672 range. The pullbacks were bought and rallies were sold until Friday's NFP. The NFP was a big surprise to the upside, with 254K vs 150K expected. Down made a closing new high while SPX was only 16 points from an ATH. Tech and small caps are in ranges. The major news events are FOMC Minutes, CPI, and PPI. The major indices are bullish despite the seasonality. I shall pursue this with caution. 

IBQ Netliq is up 11% from 90.3K to 99K with the rangebound week. The realized P/L is -28829 as I had to roll out a couple of DITM SCs. The collected cash is $1967. The SPX long calls and MES barely broke even this week. The options' value is flat from -542K to -537K.  The delta went up 7% from -308 to -410. The leverage is down from 822 to 740. It's still elevated. VIX is up from 19.3 to 20.4. The total positions are C8+1 and P7+0 with the In and Out offset. There were 56 trades for the week. The commission cost is $206. I added one 1-1-2 with one that expired at the end of September.  

The IBP situation is worsening as I had to expand the spreads on the SC side. The rally relieved the SP side but pushed the SC DITM. I exited 2 more SPs but had to add 3 more due to SMA warning. I couldn't roll the SCS more than 1 day out which cost me dearly. There are 5 SCs and 6 SPs into next week.  The realized P/L is $11428. The cash collected is -4313. I had to pay to roll the 5 SCs daily without expanding the spreads too wide. This is like 1000 small cuts in bleeding. 

Lessons and Plans:

1. I didn't add Stop-loss orders to every new position this week. I realized it would cause the SMA balance to go into negative in the IBP account. I have to figure out a different way to make stop-losses. 

2 I am still working on dealing with my fear of losing. I don't like the feeling of losing subconsciously. Losing is part of trading. It's like the phoenix flying out from the ashes. 

3. My stop-loss rules are A. Take 3X losses if the premiums are less than $1000; 

                                        B. Take 2.5X losses if the premiums are between $1000 to $1800;

                                        C. Take 2X losses if the premiums are above $1800. 

        The stop-loss is the rule but there are considerations for Delta, Netliq, and the total positions.    

4. The IBP account is limited to spread expansion if the rally continues. I need to figure out the numbers or percentage of the balance tolerance.    

5. I continue to work on the sense of accountability and self-discipline. It's a long process of changing my old habits at the subconscious level. 

6. I shall stay calm and focus on recognizing, and controlling my emotions. I am under a great deal of stress with the current account situation.