Here's a chart of today's Dow. Who needs to go to a theme park and ride a roller coaster when you can view one from the comfort of your own home? I bought some DIA 136 puts yesterday before the FOMC at market. I never buy at market. The price was $2.35. I unloaded them today at $3.20. The highest price for the day was $3.40. It closed at a $2.35B/2.7A. Pretty wide bid/ask range.
I had also purchased (pre fed) some DXD at $49.99. That tanked early and I unloaded, then I reloaded. I closed that position almost at the bottom of the Dow (meaning profit!!!).
This week has been a terrific week for me in the market. I don't say that to brag, for I'm not an arrogant or boastful person. I've had plenty of blah and blech weeks--too many of late. To be frank, psychologically, I needed this week's success. Everything that I did this week was golden (which is unusual). I'm really embracing my thinking v. doing mantra. More importantly, I'm realigning my activity with my time horizon. What am I saying? I'm simply saying that I'm not looking short term at some of my longer term holdings. Oh, of course I'm LOOKING, but I'm going to quell my urge to ACT so long as I think that the underlying reasons for entering the transaction remain intact. I'm not saying that I will not continue to trade some short term positions. Using some of the 2x +/- ETFs on trending indices is a good way (for me) to do that. But I don't plan to hold these overnight. Those gap ups/downs (depending on your leaning) can really dampen your results.
The other thing that I did this week was rely more on my instincts. This week was one of the few times that I let my intuition have a greater rein. I also watched the technicals very carefully. I know some of you who read pooh-pooh technicals. That's fine. But if you are trading something like SPY, DIA, QQQQ, you really cannot do it on fundamental merit.
My goal for next week is to ensure that I keep the same discipline and not allow this week's success to allow for sloppy decision making next week. I'm also acknowledging that this week's success has more grounding in luck than skill. Accordingly, I will enter next week with the pride of graduating as a Conscious Incompetent!
Most important of all, a good friend of this blog, Nona, had to undergo surgery today for a broken leg sustained in a car accident. Please send healing thoughts her way.
2 comments:
Glad to hear you "played" successfully this week using your instincts. I've been "checking" my left brain at the door recently and doing much better...maybe it's the key to playing volatility. I notice you've taken a position in UNG, and I opted in today as well. Part of my rationale is a lack of trust in the broad market, and also in the gold sector. Guess I'm drawn to what appears to be an oversold commodity with the potential for moving higher regardless of market direction...
2nd_ave
These markets have not been easy. Stocks seem to be ready to come off. Seems everyday we make a run higher only to close on the lower end of the day. This is a bit concerning to me.
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