My trading style is not a ‘set and forget’ method. You have to be aware of all your positions every day. If you can’t take the time to analyze each one each day, then find another methodology (more on that in the next few posts).
The week of expiration I had unanticipated duties that interfered with my daily routine and took a lot of time away from my computer. (No, I don’t have an iPhone and I won’t get one – too expensive to buy and own for my tastes.) That’s not really a good excuse, but it is a great lesson. Because of the distractions, I was unable to concentrate on the best action to take on many losing positions. I believe there was a bit of bad luck thrown in to boot in the form of a market bounce when I was very short.
The Weeklys had a big impact and have me reconsidering that strategy. Turns out if the trade goes against you, there is not any time left to make a good adjustment and the best course seems to take the lose and get out. That’s not the type of trading I like to do. I have back-tested a more conservative Weekly expiration methodology and I will detail that, along with a video, in my next post.
So net-net, I am down $2,181 so far for this month. Of my current open positions there is not much there to help the July 2010 number – unless the market gets very Bearish in the next few days.
I’m not going to go into all the gory details on each trade – nobody likes to hear bad news (although some might be cheering or saying “I told you so”). Suffice to say the distractions and lack of concentration (aka following rules) is to blame for almost all. Some of the big losses were at earnings, for cryin’ out loud. How many times have I said “Never, never, never hold through earnings!”
As I have said many times in the past when I have a bad month, it’s a painful but great way to learn a lesson. Education isn’t cheap. Good news is the Year-to-date numbers are still good. Whew!
◄ Jeff ►
