So long, farewell, goodbye...

Well, that's it for this blog.  This is the last entry.  When I first started this blog, I did it to "help me to become a better trader".  And, it has.

If you've followed this blog, you will have seen my ups and downs.  You've noticed my trading style has changed and that I've gotten better over the couple of years that this blog was active.

There are MANY ways to trade profitably, and INFINITELY more ways to trade unprofitably.  If you are looking to learn more about trading and becoming a successful trader, then keep looking for information, keep putting in vast amounts of time studying trading.

My advice to you is simple:
1.  Ask GOD to give you the wisdom needed to be a profitable and successful trader.  Remember what the bible says:  you can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens you.  I attribute my success to GOD.  I firmly believe that He showed me the ways to trade - specifically the high/low system.  If you do nothing else to learn how to trade, do this step.

2.  Find a trading style that is a good "fit" for you.  Some people must have very fast paced trading - like day trading, in and out of a trade in sometimes as little as just a few minutes.  Some people are very long time - like finding undervalued stocks and buying them until you retire.  And of course, there's everything in between.  There is NO right or wrong style, it's whatever fits your personality.

3.  Once you find a trading style that is a good fit for you, then BACKTEST, BACKTEST, BACKTEST, BACKTEST....
Backtesting gives you EXPERIENCE, without losing real money.  Backtest until you are consistently profitable.

4.  Once you have backtested, then PAPER TRADE.  There is no time limit on this.  Simply paper trade until you are consistently profitable.

5.  Finally, once you have done all these steps - THEN it's time to get into live trading.

I give you the above advice because I've done SOME of it.  The parts I didn't do - ended up costing me dearly.

If you take time and go through this blog - especially the stuff from the past year, then you will be able to figure out the majority of how I trade.  It doesn't guarantee your success, but it does give you at least a couple of ways that you can trade in order to possibly profit.

Best wishes in all you do - keep praying - keep believing - and eventually you will become the trader you want to be.  Claim it!

New Trade - KR

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Time to make some profit.

Here's the 2nd trade I got into today.

Same method as DELL, the hi/lo method.  2 day's close above a significant high and I'm ready to trade.

The target (i.e. next level of resistance above) is 26.84, so just over a dollar or so away.  Not as much way to go as DELL, but since it's still the same method, then I buy 90+ days out.

I bought the October 26 Call for $1.00, and put my stop just below to levels of support below.

Now that I've given some examples of my different methods of trading, I'm not going to go into the particulars too much anymore to shorten the time it takes to blog these trades.  I'll still put them on here, and with some research of this blog, you'll easily be able to understand how I trade.

Let's make some profit now.

New Trade - DELL

Isaiah 54:17 "... no weapon forged against you will prevail..."

The markets are starting to show some strength again after some foolery lately.

Today I got the second consecutive close above a significant high.  The line on the chart shows the high, but that high was longer than 3 months ago, so you can't see it.  Believe me, it's there.

This is the first method of trading that I use, for lack of a better term, I just call it the "hi/lo" system.  The main thing is that this used to be bear territory and now with 2 days of closing in this territory tells me that the bulls are getting strong and should push the bears back to their next "line in the sand" - i.e. the next level of resistance above, which is approx 23.00

In this method, I'm looking for longer dated option, around 90+ days.  So, today I bought a Nov 18 Call for $1.07.  This trade is something that we'll give plenty of room, and time, to move - also plenty of room above to make some great profit.  I have a stop placed just below the 2nd level of support below.

We'll let God take it from here...

IP - target hit, profit taken

Glory to God, another profitable trade!

Here's the chart:

Textbook choppy market trading - and NO SURPRISE news on this one.

After the entry, the stock went down and traded near the last low.  I actually got out of this trade around 1:00 p.m. EST.  I was watching it go down during the day, saw it hit the zone, and by the time I got my computer up and running (yes, I was at work during this time so my laptop wasn't up and running) the stock price had already started trading back up.

The overall markets were down considerably today, but they also started trading higher going into the close.  If I had waiting to exit until my normal 3:45 p.m. EST trading time, then I would have had much less profit. You gotta take profit when your target is hit and if you can monitor the trades sporadically during the day then do it.  PUTTING on trades need to be at the end of the day, but taking them off can be ANYTIME.

I originally bought this option for $1.50 and sold it today for $1.75.  This gave me a $0.25  profit with an ROI% of 16% in 5 calendar days.  Not bad for a choppy mixed up market.  That's the way choppy market trading goes, just looking for quick small profits.  Guerrilla warfare.  I'll take that trade every single day.

Now I'm back to zero trades on.  I'm comfortable with that.  Once I find another edge, I'll take it.  Until then I'm relaxed.

PXP - took stop, loss

Thanks to BHP, I took a loss yesterday.  It really doesn't phase me, it's just a really great learning experience.  The big takeaway is that it's amazing how news can really affect the market.

One simple takeover can move a sector so incredibly much.  But you know what, that's all part of trading.  There's NOTHING you can do about news.  When news hits, then it's either going to POSITIVELY affect your trade, NEGATIVELY affect your trade, or have NO affect on your trade.  It is what it is.

I always keep my portfolio risk exposure relatively low on each trade - EXACTLY for reasons like yesterday.  If I had purchased 10 Option Contracts, then I would have gotten hurt.  But, due to my account size, I keep my buys at 1-2 Option Contracts.  And, I always figure worst case scenario.

I always think of how bad it would "hurt" if I lost the entire option value.  This way, no matter what happens, my portfolio won't get hurt.  This is called "Portfolio Management". I'm not going to go into the depths of it now, but the gist of it is to keep each trade's risk only equal to a very small portion of your entire portfolio.  This way one bad trade won't hurt you.

Let's get onto the PXP chart:

I had a valid entry on Thursday, and on Friday I took my loss.  Momentum changed - obviously, so in order to protect any value left in my option, I got out.

I originally got into the trade for $1.61, and yesterday I sold the trade for $0.82, which gave me a $0.79 loss for an ROI% of NEGATIVE 49%.

No biggie, it's all part of trading.  Do you know what happened immediately after I took my loss?  I looked for my next trade to get into.  The loss doesn't affect me or my trading, I just keep on trading because I know that my trading style has an edge over the market, so the more I trade, the more my edge has a chance to work.  Just like Vegas baby!

Onward...

KAPOW!!!!

Stepped in front of that one!!

Let me get back up and dust myself off after stepping in front of the Energy Sector train.

Apparently BHP still has enough money after paying for it's spill in the Gulf of Mexico because yesterday it decided to buy HK for approx $38 per share.  BHP MUST REALLY HAVE A LOT OF MONEY because HK closed the day before at $23.49.

Check out the chart of HK:

Yes, that dot in the upper right hand corner of the chart represents the price of HK yesterday.  Nice little spike in volume, huh?  A mere 62% increase from the prior day.  For giggles, I looked at how much it would cost to buy one of the Call Options for HK on Thursday, it was approx $1.00 (or $100 really).  You could have sold that same option for approx $14.00 (or $1,400) on Friday.  Now THAT'S an ROI!!!!

Thanks to BHP, the entire energy sector (XLE) was lifted and was the highest closing sector yesterday.  XLE had a 2.69% increase from it's closing price the day before.  Here's it's chart:

The overall markets gained in the .33% to 1.37% range respectively.  Here's their charts:

So, BHP really pulled up the Energy Sector (Oil and Gas even more), when all the other market sectors were really flat.

Why do I care?  Because the trade on put on the very day before was PXP, which is in the Oil & Gas part of the Energy sector.  Onto the next blog entry...

New Trade - IP

Deuteronomy 28:8 "The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to."

In addition to PXP, I also took 1 other trade, IP.  Here's the chart:

This is just another simple trade.  I'm looking for a quick move lower down to the last low (in yellow).  I bought an August 30 Put for $1.50.

Now, let's see what happens.