Summer Trading Results:
Just looking through my trading log. I thought it would be fun to look at my results in a table.
It has been a very good Quarter thus far, with the market enjoying a steady recovery during the earnings season. My copper position is down 4%, but I'm holding it patiently until fears of a global recession have passed. I'm not including the copper results, as that position is still open. I sell covered calls every month on it to milk some cash flow.
This is all condors (except for some hedging with futures when needed, part of the condor strategy).
If anyone is interested, here's a link on building iron condors. It's rather technical, so I'll answer any questions on what I'm doing -- if anyone is interested.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/ironcondor.asp
The basic strategy is to pick a stock index, a high and a low, and an expiration date. Then arrange a trade in which I make a profit if the index closes between the high and the low at the expiration date.
I trade options on the Russell 2000 index (RUT). This works just as well on any broad index, like S&P500 (SPX).
I do one-week contracts, expiring on Wednesdays. I put $5000 at risk each week.
My goal is to make more than 10% ($500) while keeping my risk of failure under 10%. When the trade goes against me, I make adjustments so that I never, never, never lose the entire $5000. When the trade goes well, I make adjustments to squeeze some extra premium out of the deal.
Week ending; profit/loss:
7/6 $693
7/13 $1194
7/20 $1073
7/27 $-1614
8/3 $1071
8/10 $1328
8/17 $934
I made bank of
$4679 on $5000 at risk. That's 93.6% return in just 7 weeks! I wish it could be like this every week, all year round.... but it's like crawfish season. Really good, while it lasts.
I have another 7 weeks before Q3 ends. It should get easier, as earnings season matures.
I made of a lot of risky trades and bad mistakes during the first half of the year, so my total profit this year-to-date is $6359. That's 26% on a portfolio that started at $24,000.
This is the first year that I expect to show a profit over the whole year. Then I gotta pay taxes on that.