generating a monthly income

le trader

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Hi,
this is my trading Journal, (I share this journal on other forums).:

Starting capital $50K.
Each month I withdraw $2500 to pay the bills and start the new month with the remaining balance but never exceeding $50K.

I already have 2 opened positions.
I use options as a substitute to stocks.​
An option is a contract with limited risk, if you don’t short it. It’s a valuable substitute to its underlying whether it is a stock or a currency pair. You can trade it as you’d trade the underlying or you can use more sophisticated ways like being short Gamma or long Vega, not to mention its hedging power. There are a myriad of books and sites on the subject, just google it. I use options for several reasons, the main of which are:
  • A low cost, mainly if you buy at a low implied volatility .
  • A time value that can attenuate drawdowns if the trade goes against you.
  • An implied volatility value that often does the same as above, usually it rises,adding value to the option, when the underlying is falling.
  • You can be long while being bearish (buy Puts).
  • A calculated risk even in a case of some black swan event, or just a usual flash crash or the global mess.

Of course there are many other reasons, but those above are just enough for now. Keep in mind we are not trading volatility, but a substitute for the spot. I assume here that readers have some knowledge on options pricing.

Current positions:

Delta Airlines- Symbol: DAL
Long DAL Oct16′ 47 Call
Qty: 4
Average Price: 1.96
Max Price: 2.20
Date:2015 Sept 10th 18:31 GMT +1
IV: 33%
Delta: 0.51


Lululemon. Symbol LULU
Oct 55/47.5 Bull Put spread
Qty: 5
Average Price: 2.40 Credit
Max Price: NA
Date:2015 Sept 11th 19:40 GMT +1
IV: 42%
Delta: 0.35

To make things transparent, by the end of each month I will post the account balance (fees included) with the P&L of each trades and the $2500 withdrawal. You can see that I give the exact time at which the trade is opened and I'll do the same when it is closed. I will start each month with that new balance without never exceeding $50K
 
Bonjour M. le trader.
Vous jugez que DAL est au point de partir de l'aeroport? Analyse technique ou....?

Vous habitez ou en France? Ju viens de retourne de Nice, vacances superbes.
 
Bonjour M. le trader.
Vous jugez que DAL est au point de partir de l'aeroport? Analyse technique ou....?

Vous habitez ou en France? Ju viens de retourne de Nice, vacances superbes.

Tom ..you smooth operator you ......:LOL:
 
Bonjour M. le trader.
Vous jugez que DAL est au point de partir de l'aeroport? Analyse technique ou....?

Vous habitez ou en France? Ju viens de retourne de Nice, vacances superbes.

Bonjour M. tomorton, je suis heureux que vous aimiez Nice, c'st une tres belle région.
Je vis en région parisienne (Paris Area).

Concerning the trades here are the incentives I forgot to post.

DAL:
The option is gathering participants (open interest), tech charts and analysts both see a higher price in the short term. Also we have earnings on October 14th BMO and our expiry is 2 days after, therefore the rising IV prior to earning will impact our contract the most. Being long IV this will boost our option price.

Because of the rising IV boosting the option price, we can hold the position until the day before the announcement. If the stock price doesn’t move, the rising IV will compensate for the time value loss (we pay time value with implied vol).

We are looking for $50.50 and we have the 200 DMA as a short term support and liquidity cluster (big players need liquidity to enter the market).

This trade which would’ve been a no brainer 2 months ago is risky now. Anything is risky in the current market. That’s why our position is rather small ;we may lose $839 but we do believe that if the SPX settles down, DAL will move north fast.

Risk/Reward: There’s no such a thing in the real trading world, the risk we take is the price we paid.
Entering ahead of next week FOMC decision on rates is risky.


LULU:

The stocks collapsed 17% yesterday because of earnings announcement. It’s way overdone. The EPS were slightly above expectations but the outlook not as expected.
Lulu is among the best players in its field and the big sell off was induced by the current nervousness. Already influential analysts like UBS and Deutsche Bank reiterated their coverage with a bullish tone. The price is now very low and it’s a good opportunity.

The strategy is quite simple, we want the price to stay above $55 that is $0.70 from where we are and where we are is low compared to its valuation ($68.59) after earnings.
We sold ATM puts but not much and covered with OTM, a simple Bull Credit Spread.
We have IV with us that is still high and we see it falling faster after next week FOMC meeting.


Risk/Reward: we are selling premium hence the profile is risky (2:1). We always consider the maximum loss as our real exposure, in this case $2500.

FOMC meeting due on Thursday can really threaten the position if they decide to raise rates. This hike in rates was priced in before the Chinese devaluation, but now it could be seen as a surprise by some participants .
 
Google- Symbol:GOOG
Long GOOGL Oct16′ 640 Call
Qty: 1
Average Price:$ 21.90
Max Price: 22.20
Date:2015 Sept 17th 20:25 GMT +1
IV: 27%
Delta: 0.53
Next earnings are due on Ocotober 15th, this will be impacted by rising IV since it expires the day after.
 
FIS: FIS
Long FIS Nov20′ 2015-70Call
Qty: 3
Average Price: 2.75
Max Price: 2.85
Date:2015 Sept 21st 17:31 GMT +1
IV: 33%
Delta: 0.49
 
Facebook: FB
Short FB Oct30' 2015 - 95.5 Put.
Qty:-2
credit: $4.34
Date:2015 Sept 21st 20:11 GMT +1
Iv:35%
Delta: -0.48
 
Underlying: Starbucks
Symbol: SBUX
Long Oct30′ 2015 – 57.5 Call
Qty: 4
Average Price: 2.23
Max Price: 2.40
Date:2015 Sept 22nd 19:51 GMT +1
IV: 28.5%
Delta: 0.54
 
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