Hey Guys,
The market is down some from where it was when I emailed yesterday. The S&P 500 is around 5,240 right now.
I closed a big load of option trades yesterday that had reached their time limits, and the outcome wasn't pretty. All but two positions ended up in the red. My main account and double down account weren't scathed too badly from it, but my options account essentially got punched right in the mouth. Tickers like DAL, CL, and JD did really poorly, and given the fact that I risk noticeably more per trade with options than I do with stocks, it equated to an extra tough drawdown this week.
There is a glimmer of good news. A couple option positions hit their profit targets this morning. EFA and AZN both rang the profit bell, which helped put some money back in the account.
We're going to need more than a couple wins to recoup the losses, though. But rather than focus on "making it back", I find that I trade with more composure and ease if I let go of expectations and just focus more on process and sticking to the plan. Letting go of expectations takes some of the emotional charge out of trading for me, which in turns makes it easier to trade rationally.
I took on some new positions today. In the main account, I bought shares of stock for TSM. In the options account, I bought the options for TSM. In the double down account, I bought a stock position for MSFT.
If you have any questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you.