I decided to get out of my puts with a nice gain on this down move from the highs today.
For recap I was in 100 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 44 puts at $0.32 and sold at $0.39. This gave me a better than 21% gain on this quick day trade.
The Q's and the market moved up strong this morning and tacked on some decent gains of over 1%. They are now telling me they are over bought and I'm buying some puts again. I think they will float back down today to digest some of these strong gains.
For this trade I purchased 100 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 44 puts (QQQTR) with a cost basis of $0.32.
I'm being extra aggressive here and I will be keeping a short leash on this trade and may be out before noon if we don't see some downside action
The move I expected yesterday finally showed up today. I was able to sell my puts on the Q's for a respectable 10% profit. If I had waited to get in this morning I could have had a much better entry. However, you just try to get what you can.
For recap I was in 40 contracts of QQQQ Aug 44 Puts (QQQTR) with a cost basis of $0.55 and I sold at $0.60. This represents a greater than 10% profit on this trade.
My next trade will probably be to the long side once this downside move finishes. We are near the bottom of my trend channel, so the upside move should be starting soon.
The Q's (and the markets) had a nice snap back rally this morning. They have come off the highs of the day and have broken the intraday trading channel for today. They look like they will continue lower on the day and I decided to play this move for a daytrade.
I purchased 40 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 44 Puts (QQQTR) with a cost basis of $0.55.
I will be keeping a tight stop loss on this trade since I think the overall market direction has changed and the general trend is now pointing higher.
My trading patterns has been working nicely today. I bought puts on the Q's at the close on Friday and we had a nice pullback today that I was able to take advantage of. The Q's are now starting to tell me they are oversold and I'm taking my profits here on this trade.
So for recap I was in 40 contracts (20% of the portfolio) of the QQQQ Aug 44 puts (QQQTR) with a cost basis of $0.60 and I sold for a profit at $0.80. This represents a gain of 33% in about 4 trading hours.
The Q's could still head lower from here over the next couple of trading days. The lower end of my trend channel on the Q's is $43.68 and they could see that level. However, I would rather take my profits early than get out late with losses.
The Q's have had a nice up move today and they have reached the upper end of my trading trend channel. So I'm going short again at the close of the market today in anticipation of some downside next week.
I purchased 40 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 44 puts (QQQTR) with a cost basis of $0.60.
I was stopped out very quickly on my quick day trade. It looked like we were going to have some short term negative momentum in the Q's this morning. I was thinking a down move till around noon then potentially an up move into the close.
Well we got some strength early and the Q's blew right through my stops.
So I was in 20 contracts at $0.80 and sold at $0.70 for a greater than 12% loss on this trade.
The Q's opened up this morning heading down and the charts are telling me we still have some more downside from here before we head back up.
So I took a small position for a day trade today to play this downside move.
I bought 20 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 44 puts (QQQTR) with a cost basis of $0.80 this morning and I expect to be out somewhere in the $0.90 area sometime today.
We had some great movement in the Q trading this morning on some decent volume. A little after 10AM the Q's skyrocketed up to the upper end of my trading channel and I took the opportunity to take my profits on my open call options.
For recap I was in 40 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 46 calls (QQQHT) with a cost basis of $0.70. I sold these contracts this morning at $0.91 which nets me a profit of 30% on this trade.
Now I will be looking at adding some puts to swing the Q's back down to the lower end of the trend channel.
Wallstreet opened sharply lower this morning. Bad reports from Apple, American Express, and SanDisk put some huge selling pressure this morning. I took the opportunity to lower my cost basis on my open calls and bought 20 additional contracts at the open.
I bought 20 contracts of QQQQ Aug 46 calls (QQQHT) at a cost basis of $0.55. I now have 40 contracts with an average cost basis of $0.70.
As this market opens I'm currently down 21% on this trade, but all of my indicators are showing we are now extreamly oversold and we should be heading higher from here.
The Q's have had a nice retracement from the recent highs and are now hitting the lower end of my trading channel. So I'm booking my profits here.
I was in 20 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 43 Puts (QQQTQ) at a cost basis of $0.70 and I sold at $0.80. This represents a more than 14% gain for this trade.
I'm starting to have a better feel for the markets after my recent vacation so I may start getting more aggressive with larger trades.
My short term market indicators are showing that with todays trading activity we have reached an over bought condition. So in the last 10 minutes of trading today I bought some puts on the Q's
I purchased 20 contracts of the QQQQ Aug 43 Puts (QQQTQ) at a price of $0.70.
Over the next couple of days I think we will be re-testing the mid $43 level.
I entered my put trade a couple of days ago and it looks like I entered just a day too early. If I waited a little more I could have had an entry at the $0.25 level. But you don't get rich with a bunch of coulda woulda's.
The Q's are showing some nice strong support at the $44.90 level and have bounced off there 5 times today. I got back to near break even on my trade and decided to take myself out of it since I don't have the time to monitor the position currently.
So for recap I was in 20 contracts of the QQQQ July 44 puts with a cost basis of $0.50 and I stopped out at $0.45. This represents a 10% loss on this trade.
With Uncle Ben and Paulson testifying with congress today, all kinds of crazy things can happen and the contracts I was holding expire next week. So I decided if you can't ride it out and you don't have time to watch, its time to get out.
Now if the Q's break this $44.90 level today or tomorrow, we could be looking at low $43's very quick. I set an alert to email me if we break that 44.90 level.
The Q's are hitting the top of my trading channel today and I have been monitoring the trading activity this morning. They have been trying to break out to the upside most of the day and have run into some short term resistance. So I'm getting short here with some puts on the Q's.
I purchased 20 contracts of the QQQQ July 44 puts (QQQSR) at a cost basis of $0.50.
I suspect we will be testing the $44.40 level on the Q's over the next couple of days and this move will give me some decent gains.
I was stopped out of my Q calls on this quick trade. We had some nice positive momentum up but it seems to have run out of steam and the Q's are now heading towards low of day.
So for recap on this trade I was in 10 contracts of Jul 46 Calls (QQQGT) with a cost of $0.80 and I was stopped out at $0.69. This represents a 13.75% loss on this trade.
We had a nice down move this morning and it looks like the Q's have formed a small base of support. So I just bought 10 contracts of the Jul 46 Calls (QQQGT) at a cost of $0.80.
I'm still getting back into the swing of the market trends with small positions. I have been bitten bad in the past thinking I can just jump in to normal levels when I return from vacation. It takes a little bit of time to get back in sync with the markets and these small positions take some of the risk off the table.
The Q's had a nice move today off the lows on the open. I decided to book my profits now rather than let them fall away.
So for recap I was in 10 contracts of QQQQ Jul 46 calls at a cost basis of $0.80 and I closed them out for $1.00 which represents a 25% gain on the trade today.
I'm back from a much needed vacation and it looks like I missed a wild ride in the markets.
Today I'm easing back into a small position to get back into the swing of things.
I went long the Q's on this nice gap down this morning. My indicators are saying we are heading back up to the $47 level over the next couple of days. So I purchased 10 contracts of the July 46 Calls (QQQGT) at a price of $0.80.
