The collision of global markets and social mood

Monday, March 21, 2011

More Pop

As if in celebration of the Vernal Equinox, nearly the whole financial world is green today. I celebrated the solar new year/return of spring yesterday with a fine Macanudo while sitting in the sun.

This morning I'm watching the 50 day MA on the S&P cash around 1300. That is the spot where I'd like to hedge my SPY 128 calls from last Thursday.

Friday was a good session if only because I stuck to my game plan. I dumped the entire OEX/SPXU (incorrectly said SDS in my Friday post) hedge at a nice profit.

Many people scoff at trading OEX options, but it is a dynamite hedging vehicle when the markets are moving and you know when and where to buy them. Very few people trade them, which is what I like. They force you to be a trader.

For example, imagine an instrument that can return 2-5X your investment overnight then be worth zero at the close. It happens. Conversely, imagine an instrument that allows you to control a $64,000 emini contract for $200. And the $200 is the most you can lose.

At big levels in crazy markets, you can create astronomical profit potentials with very little risk. But you must know exactly when and where to take on that risk and when and where to take your profits. If you noticed the 575 calls on Friday hit a high of $3.50 and closed at zero.

By sticking to my plan, I got out with a 2X return overnight on the calls. That doesn't always happen, but it's sure nice when it does. There's nothing like when a plan comes together.

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