I have decided that I DO NOT like writing monthly updates for my trades. At this point in time I am too active and I try to write as I go but it ends up being just frustrating. But I didn’t like weekly either. Maybe a fortnight?
For the month of August, I’ve traded thusly:
I turned my earnings strategy position on MCD (see July’s Post for the original position) to an Iron Condor… I think… by selling the 285/255 calls and puts against my 250/290 long calls and puts. They expired.
At least I hope that’s an Iron Condor. Maybe it’s a mangy buzzard…. It’s forces I don’t normally play with, I usually stick to the Wheel Strategy.
I ended up losing on MCD. I don’t know if I would have faired better to have closed the position outright, or tried selling the long puts. But the reality is, you are going to have a losing trade here and there.
I also bought SGOV and sold 2 DKNG covered calls with an August 14th expiration.
I tried to do an earnings play on BIDU by selling 130/101 calls and puts and buying the 130/101 calls and puts further out.
I held NOK without selling any new covered calls until I can get the price I want at the expiration date I want.
I also forgot that DKNG had an earnings announcement this month and failed to plan my covered calls accordingly.
Oh well, it happens.
My earnings play on BIDU got me a [very] small profit, but I lost money on my earnings play on NVDA and broke even (not counting commissions) on ORCL.
I sold a NOK weekly put at the $9 strike which expired
I sold covered calls on NOK at the $12 strike and DKNG at the $27 strike and a HIMS put at the 26.50 strike and they all expired.
I also purchased shares of TSPY and did not reinvest the dividends. I plan on using the [very small] payouts to add funds to my emergency cash for now. After that I may reinvest dividends or maybe I’ll use it to add to my account. Who knows. But my emergency cash is not going to cover much of an emergency as is.
If you don’t have an emergency cash fund anywhere, then having one, even in a jar under your bed is better than none, and I highly suggest that you make it a priority. Throw $20 a payday into a jar. Most of you won’t really notice that amount being gone and it will eventually add up.
So to be clear, that’s stuff I did throughout the month. I did not do it all at once.
I generally place trades on a Monday or Tuesday and manage trades on a Friday if need be.
I certainly have other things to do than be glued to the screen watching stocks, although watching television isn’t neccessarily that much of an improvement (ahem).
This month I’m going to continue to do covered calls on the shares I have, if I can get a decent premium in the timeframe I want.
As I have a small account, most of my funds are in stocks, so there’s not a lot I can do beyond covered calls currently, but I’m working on another strategy with what I do have.
Otherwise NOK pays dividends, which are not reinvested, so I’ll make a little chump change from that until they get called away.
DKNG does not pay dividends.
SO one aspect of the wheel strategy that you could do, is to only do the strategy on stocks that pay dividends so you can collect those.
HOWEVER, you do need to pay more attention to the ex-dividend date, because if you get your shares called away right before that, then you WON’T get the dividends. But you will get money for the shares, so it all depends on how much you care about getting the dividends.
It’s just nice to collect dividends whilst you’re waiting for the shares to be called away.