hi, I hope everyone is doing well. Now that I have something to share that can help others make money....
I've been busy with a million and one projects so I've taken steps to eliminate as many distractions as possible. I've frequented the forum quite a bit and would like to see more discussions regarding equities markets. It's probably the easiest way to turn that 3k into 1mm. Not that obtaining 1mm in profits is ever easy, but reality is that it can be done with the least amount of effort compared to opening businesses and operating
real estate properties.
Part of my 2010
goal (which I listed here last year but cannot find the posting) was to achieve a weekly income from the stock market. I did not quite get there as I underperformed the markets terribly. My 2010 portfolio only creeped up 5% for the whole year, with all of the gains coming in December. So yeah, 2010 was a very long dreadful year of investing in equities.
I spent a few hours at my desk shortly after thanksgiving to evaluate my mistakes. There were a few, but would you know that about 75% of the stocks I sold or got stopped out are currently higher today? As a matter of fact, couple of them are over 100% higher. My main mistake was simply selling them too soon. I have even written about their potential on this forum yet I sold them! I had the conviction to buy the company but lacked stomach to handle the gyrations. The volatility was simply too much for me to handle and after suffering severe losses in
real estate and in my businesses, I spent a lot of effort preserving my capital instead of growing it. This defensive stance cost me a lot of opportunity.
But now, my mindset changed and I realized that I should have been much more aggressive to accumulate money, especially with the stock market and I am using strategies that I used years ago. I am buying more calls, selling naked puts and buying puts.
Most of my gains are coming from buying call options. I can elaborate later on my strategy but here are some basic rules I follow:
1. I keep the options combined value under 20% of my total portfolio
2. buy in-the-money at least 2 months out.
3. I will usually sell half the position before an earnings announcement
4. If I hold the calls through an earnings announcement, I buy short term puts equal to half the open call position
5. I follow IBD's stocks on the move and look for "cup and handle formations"
6. For those times I violate the above rules, I hold the position for no longer than 2 weeks.
Regarding stock holdings, about 40% of my port is energy related - mostly oil and drilling.
YTD return through end of day 2/11/2011: +14.82%
Good Luck.
current positions (and size in percentage in relation to rest of portfolio):
MDNNF 0.53%
NG 3.13%
CYS 7.41%
ARR 2.87%
CNQ 4.78%
FRO 5.77%
MVO 4.04%
MS 1.64%
CVI 2.11%
WTSLA 1.30%
MKTX 2.34%
MAIN 4.24%
VRX 4.42%
VNR 6.84%
SDRL 7.81%
UFPT 6.71%
WNR Mar 19 2011 11.0 Call 1.00%
BAC Jan 21 2012 10.0 Call 2.86%
JPM Apr 16 2011 41.0 Call 1.95%
AAPL Mar 19 2011 330.0 Call 3.21%
MOS Jun 18 2011 70.0 Call 2.15%
HES May 21 2011 72.5 Call 2.22%
C Mar 19 2011 3.0 Call 1.02%
C Jan 21 2012 2.5 Call 0.80%
YHOO Mar 19 2011 17.0 Call 0.96%
NG Feb 19 2011 14.0 Call 0.48%
CCME Jun 18 2011 20.0 Call 0.14%
JAG Mar 19 2011 7.5 Call 0.00%
here are the closed positions since Jan 1, 2011 and their respective gains: (refineries being the biggest winners)
Description Gain(%)
AAPL Feb 19 2011 320.0 Call 35.59
AAPL Jan 22 2011 330.0 Call 10.91
ACH Feb 19 2011 24.0 Call (67.35)
AMERICAN CAPITAL AGENCY COR (AGNC) 11.48
AVP Jan 22 2011 32.0 Call (99.57)
CAT Feb 19 2011 100.0 Call 36.24
CAT Feb 19 2011 100.0 Call 40.72
FIRST NIAGARA FINANCIAL GRO (FNFG) 1.88
HOC Mar 19 2011 41.0 Call 163.18
HOC Mar 19 2011 41.0 Call 166.18
HOC Mar 19 2011 41.0 Call 214.07
IBM Feb 19 2011 150.0 Call 130.78
ANNALY CAPITAL MGMT INC (NLY) 1.34
PATRIOT COAL CORP (PCX) (12.42)
PCX Feb 19 2011 25.0 Put 15.39
PAREXEL INTL CORP (PRXL) (9.34)
SVM Jun 18 2011 11.0 Call (57.71)
SKYWORKS SOLS INC (SWKS) 53.04
UTX Feb 19 2011 80.0 Call 12.00
WNR Mar 19 2011 11.0 Call 109.17