vlo

+10 vlo (put options) @ .60 = $600

Last update update

Interesting results, not very happy overall. But its what is. I sold:

-10 GOOG 460 Put @ 20.10 = $20075.05


-10 QQQQ 45 Put (expiring worthless)

-10 FCX 95 Put (expiring worthless)
-10 FCX 90 Put (expiring worthless)

So after what I spent in the previous post, and what I made back from GOOG, I lost 15% on that group of trades. My feeling was telling me one thing, and reality went another way. Looking back on it, I do not feel that I could have made any other call. Today however, we are in a different market, and those 3 stocks are acting very differently. I have been playing quite a bit more poker and less stock. I keep up with it, but I havent traded in recent days.

Be Well.

Update

At 12 minutes before close:

+10 GOOG 460 Put @ 16.85 = $16,874.95
+10 QQQQ 45 Put @ .77 = $794.95

+10 FCX 95 Put @ 3.48 = $3504.95
+10 FCX 90 Put @ 1.81 = $1834.95

Total: $23,009.80

March: Poker

I am not certain that I ever outlined on this blog what the team would be doing in poker over the past month. The overall idea (outlined in emails) was to play the lowest limits of cash tables on the internet to build confidence as well as to teach ourselves a better way to approach each session. There were specific rules and concepts that I do not feel like going over here, but if anyone is curious you can email me and I will be glad to go over it. So I will now post the results for the past month:

		Ben	Sam	Andy	MaryBeth
Date		ROI %
03/01/08		Off	Off
03/02/08		Off	Off
03/03/08		13	46
03/04/08		26	112
03/05/08		158	54
03/06/08		7	Off
03/07/08		0	65
03/08/08		Off	-47
03/09/08		-33	-11
03/10/08		-14	Off
03/11/08		2	46
03/12/08		8	4
03/13/08		20	Off
03/14/08		Off	12
03/15/08		-19	Off
03/16/08		30	Off
03/17/08		20	20
03/18/08		-12	18
03/19/08		95	Off
03/20/08		13	Off
03/21/08		16 and 30	Off
03/22/08		Off	58
03/23/08		1	Off
03/24/08		51	63
03/25/08		19	Off
03/26/08		56	34
03/27/08		18	Off
03/28/08		67	93
03/29/08		-19	Off
03/30/08		Off	Off
03/31/08		27	22
Average		21	36

One interesting point is that I played over 10,000 hands this month, while Sam played around 1,000 hands. I was also playing 3-4 tables (NL Texas Holdem), while he was playing 2 tables (PL Omaha). All of my sessions were relatively stress free and within the new structure I find it is much easier to identify 'tilt' or 'poor play' than before. I will probably update this with numbers for Andy and MB, as well as some overall thoughts, but for now thats it.

Be Well.

Long time no trade

In the interest of honesty I must point out that my last +10 FCX contracts were a complete wash. The next morning the stock opened down about 7% and that was enough to wipe out my position since I had only 1 day left before the option expired. So instead of a 15% gain, I had about a 15% loss. I liked the position, and the learning was worth it.

Since that time, I have seen no entries that I felt strongly about. So I continue to wait.

Thank you Bear Stearns

I guess the important thing is to always see what is, rather than what we want to be. So with the nice market drop on the news of the BSC debacle (read crash, destruction, collapse) it seemed a good time to enter a few more FCX swings. The stock did not rebound as quickly as I expected, but I felt very confident I could add positions throughout the day.

+1o FCX 95 call @ 4.90 = $4924.95 (about 10 central time)
+1o FCX 95 call @ 4.00 = $4024.95 (about 12 central time)
+1o FCX 95 call @ 3.25 = $3274.95 (about 2 central time)
+1o FCX 95 call @ 2.75 = $2774.95 (about 3 central time or 15 min bfr close)

So yeah, I had a little invested. Point is, when you believe your position is correct I think you should back it up, and then learn the lesson either way.

Then today we have a nice gap up (I suppose thank you fed is in order, but thats just wrong):

-1o FCX 95 call @ 4.07 = $4045.05 (at open)
-1o FCX 95 call @ 4.10 = $4075.05 (at open)
-1o FCX 95 call @ 5.00 = $4975.05 (about 10 central time)

The final 10 contracts I decided to hold until open tomorrow. I feel that my line is correct and even though I am sitting at a 15% gain at the moment it seems wise to hold until tomorrow. That is all for now, good luck all.

Guess I was wrong...

I had to wait overnight to exit my position:

-1o FCX 100 call @ 2.75 = $2725.05 +41%

Yawn. Now I have to leave for my 'real' job.