7th trade : APKT

Wanted to do straddle 30 but my account not enough capital. So I tried a 27.5 Put and 30 Call for $2.53. Exited next day at $3.51.

Profit : $98

Acct : -$576

6th trade : DV – Earnings

Traded straddle 40 @ $5.10. Exited at $2.45. I believe I overlooked the IV on the options when I bought which must have imploded after the earnings announcement. Lesson here is to check IV against HV when buying the options ! 

Loss of $265.

Acct: -$674

Afterthought : WYNN

The setup was perfect. The only point I neglected in my strategy rules was that the options has to be below the threshold as I was taught. For this trade, the loss potential was 40% with a reward of about 70%.

I definitely should have passed up the trade for this reason, or at the least buy a counter option to minimize my downside risk. Most expensive lesson in options trading to date.

I will take extra caution in my next live trade. For now I will go into virtual trading.

5th trade stopped out : WYNN

Stopped out at $2.11 from $4.33. Loss of $222. Terribly wrong.

Acct : -$409

5th trade : WYNN

Bought JAN CALL on WYNN. The risk/reward is better than 1:1 but it is quite a considerable amount of risk. I chose JAN instead of FEB month because the dollar risk is the same. Only that the FEB options cost more in value due to longer period to expiration.

Do not worry. Just let the market wash in the profits !

4th trade : MON – earnings

Monsanto was announcing earnings. Played straddle 72.50. Closed the Call leg for profit of $354. The other leg has a maximum loss of $267, which is its cost as well. I will record for now the guaranteed profit of $354-$267= $87

Acct : -$187

2nd trade closed : DD

Entered at $4 each for 2 contracts and exited at $2.92. Trade loss of $108×2=$216.

Acct: -$274

Afterthought : AMZN

I have no idea why AMZN dived and never resurface ! Quietly thankful that I entered with a STOP LOSS or else the option value would have been zero.

So the biggest lesson here is to USE STOP LOSS !

3rd Trade : AMZN

Amazon had a big gap down in the first hour. Bought a call on it but it never came back. A lost boomerang.

-$98 on this one.

Acct : -$58

2nd trade : DD

Looking to hold a put position on this one for weeks. Entered on 13 Dec, which happens to be my birthday as well. The FOMC decision was out before my entry. This stock stood firm on its direction so I thought I’d just give this longer-term strategy a try.