Category Archives: Trading Journal

QLD: $1,498.00
Feb 15 option proceeds: $58.50
USLV: -$59.20
————
$1,497.30

As I posted on my Twitter feed this morning, I picked up some USLV (3x weighted silver) this morning at $10.81.

If you haven’t seen, gold and silver have both fallen over 10% in the last two days:

I am averaging into my position in silver because as you know, I cannot predict direction and I have no idea when the bottom will be.

I decided to use USLV instead of SLV because it’s much cheaper per share and also because it’s weighted 3x.  This means that for every 1% SLV moves, USLV will move 3%.  It’s more risky, but I’m using less capital. Look how much USLV has dropped relative to its recent highs compared with SLV:

Here’s a chart of the last 11 months showing SLV (silver), AGQ (2x weighted silver), and USLV (3x silver):

I will continue to buy as it drops further until it starts going back up.  Please note that I only do this for instruments that I believe are going to recover, such as the indices and silver.  You’ll notice that I never do this for individual stocks because you never know when a stock is going to go to zero.

Just like when I was heavily drawn down in my SPY position about 1.5 years ago, I am not worried.  I think silver will go back up.  Stay tuned for my future buying positions.

Nice up day in the indexes today. My QLD position is now $1,972 + $58.50 from the options in February for a total of $2,030.50.

Short 1 ES @ 1545.50 (this was supposed to be 1545.75 but I clicked the wrong level on the chart)
Short 3 ES @ 1546.25
Short 5 ES @ 1546.75

Target profit: 1543.75
Stop loss: 1548.50

Target profit hit.

Second trade was a winner, although a small one contract winner:

Short 1 ES @ 1551.25
Short 3 ES @ 1552.00 (order never filled)
Short 5 ES @ 1552.75 (order never filled)

Stop loss: 1555.25
Target profit: 1548.50

This trade was called live on my Twitter feed.

Buy 1 ES @ 1554
Buy 3 ES @ 1553
Buy 5 ES @ 1552

Target profit: 1557.50
Stop loss: 1548.75

I got stopped out.

Buy 1 @ 1564.50
Buy 3 @ 1563.75
Buy 5 @ 1563 (this order was never filled)

Close position @ 1567
Stop loss @ 1560.75

Here’s today’s chart with entry positions and you can see the order to buy 5 which was never filled.

Today’s trades:

(red triangles = sell, green triangle = buy)

Sell 1 ES @ 1556.25
Sell 3 ES @ 1557
Sell 5 ES @ 1558

Stop loss: 1560.75
Target profit: 1553.25

The dividend was paid yesterday and my estimate was off by 29 cents, so the actual numbers are:

SPY: $31,115.00 (closed)
hedge: -$3,281 (closed)

$27,834.00 (SPY gain + hedge loss)
$1,223.60 (realized)
$2,931.69 (realized)
$1,129.72 (dividend)
$3,562.22 (dividend)
$5,221.55 (realized)
————————
$41,902.78 (total for trade)

Closed everything.

SPY @ 129.
SH @ 40.09.

SPY: $31,115.00 (closed)
hedge: -$3,281 (closed)

$27,834.00 (SPY gain + current hedge loss)
$1,223.60 (realized)
$2,931.69 (realized)
$1,129.72 (dividend)
$3,561.93 (estimated dividend to be paid on 10/31)
$5,221.55 (realized)
————————
$41,902.49 (total for trade)

All positions closed.

Hedges and money management. Around $9k of the gain in this trade was from hedging. Had price not gone against me, my end result would’ve been less.

I was set to buy more if SPY got down to $105 which would further lower my average cost, but part of the reason I sold today was that is a long way away and if price decides to go back and forth between 120 and 112 again without making it down to my next buy point or going up to a net profit area, I don’t want to sit around waiting. So I saw a good opportunity today to exit and I did.