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.

Raining in Texas

Well as the rain once again comes down for the day, I have entered another position with FCX. At 12.30 central time:

+1o FCX 100 call @ 1.90 = $1924.95

I am thinking that I could exit this position today, so we shall see.

Rough around the edges

So I realize that trading this way may not be advisable. Some people might even think that the fundamentals are better, or that at some point I might stop 'picking' correctly. The thing of it is though, what I am doing here is just an extension of education I have recieved playing poker. In poker I watch 'flow', 'patterns', 'swings', or whatever you want to call it. Simply observe what is, then use it to your advantage. Since I have no particular strategy in mind, I have nothing to defend, nothing to desire, nothing I want to see when I look at the market. Enter:

-10 FCX 100 call @ 5.07 = $5045.05 +25%

Simplicity is the way of it.

Tuesday Swing

Cant ingore the nice swing that FCX has taken today. As of 2:00 central time I have picked up:

+10 FCX 100 call @ 4.00 = $4024.95

Overall it seems obvious that tech is still in a freefall. GOOG for 400 anyone?