Well Happy new year everyone! Today the markets are trading again and I thought it would be a good idea to give an insight in my positions, and update all of you on the plans for the next couple of months!
MONEY!:
Current 'positions':
Cash balance: ~1600 EUR
Securities options net val.: +/+ ~200 EUR
Futures options net val.: +/+ ~ 50 EUR
Plans:
Over january I'll be adding some more cash (because IB holds a rule you need at least 2000usd to open new positions, and im now on the edge of that, it would be a shame to see a position fall, and because of that NOT be able to hedge it off because you cant open a position, eh!)
Just some money to be sure, so I think about 500-1500 EUR
FUTURES OPTIONS:
Current 'positions':
Long:
AEXL P Apr04 30.00 x 2
AEXL C Apr04 34.00 x 2
Short:
AEXL P Apr04 32.00 x 1
AEXL C Apr04 32.00 x 1
Underlying:
AEXL @ 33.80, no position in it.
Plan:
Opening positions on this one will mean no more money to open others (see above, I really need some extra backup funding quick - hehe), and 'leasing' frontmonth short backspreads will be put on as soon as the margin money is refunded.
SECURITIES OPTIONS:
Van der Moolen:
Current positions:
Long:
MOO P Jan04 6.00 x 1
MOO C Jan04 8.00 x 1
MOO P Apr04 5.00 x 2
MOO C Apr04 7.00 x 2
Short:
MOO P Jan04 7.00 x 1
MOO C Jan04 7.00 x 1
MOO P Apr04 6.00 x 1
MOO C Apr04 6.00 x 1
Underlying:
MOO @ 7.13, no positions
Plan:
Keep op leasing this baby. If it rallies more, the short flies will probably be short condors for february.
Royal Dutch:
Current Positions:
Long:
RD P Jan04 38.00 x 1
RD C Jan04 42.00 x 1
RD P Apr04 36.00 x 2
RD C Apr04 40.00 x 2
Short:
RD P Jan04 40.00 x 1
RD C Jan04 40.00 x 1
RD P Apr04 38.00 x 1
RD C Apr04 38.00 x 1
Underlying:
RD @ 41.89, no positions
Plan:
See van der moolen.
Philips:
Current positions:
Long:
PHI P Jan04 22.00 x 1
PHI C Jan04 26.00 x 1
PHI P Apr04 22.00 x 2
PHI C Apr04 26.00 x 2
Short:
PHI P Jan04 24.00 x 1
PHI C Jan04 24.00 x 1
PHI P Apr04 24.00 x 1
PHI C Apr04 24.00 x 1
Underlying:
PHI @ 23.31, no positions
Plan:
See van der Moolen
Aegon:
Current positions:
Long:
AGN P Jan04 11.00 x 1
AGN C Jan04 13.00 x 1
AGN P Apr04 11.00 x 2
AGN C Apr04 13.00 x 2
Short:
AGN P Jan04 12.00 x 1
AGN C Jan04 12.00 x 1
AGN P Apr04 12.00 x 1
AGN C Apr04 12.00 x 1
Underlying:
AGN @ 11.74, no positions
Plan:
See van der Moolen
Hagemeyer:
Current positions:
Long:
HGM C Oct05 1.20 x 2
Underlying:
HGM @ 1.85, no positions
Plan:
After added margin money, backspreads to rent the position.
after big moves -> lock in money with puts
hgm is a big boomer candidate here (or a go-broke one, lol!)
Deutsche Telekom:
Current positions:
Long:
DTE P Jun04 14.00
DTE C Jun04 14.00
Underlying:
DTE @ 14.66, no positions
Plan:
See HGM, only backspreads to 2 sides.
OVERALL PLAN:
Well, 2003 being my first trading year (from october or so..) it has been ... very interesting, I found out about crap brokers and a need to have one that suits your needs, I lost some money, I made some money, I learnt I am not as cool-headed as I thought and I gained a lot of insight in the stuff I trade.
Adding money is a big one here, not for the cash itself, mostly for the room to be able to put on a lot of positions, I am 'renting' a lot of positions now, but doing this put the margin money so tight that if I open a new position now, i risk not being able to put the next one on, therefore I keep some of them open to be able to make an EMERGENCY trade if it is needed.
On the positions I trade, I tried Futures (ESTOXX), broke even, and decided that (I gained 13 points, then in a MAD RUSH lost em all in half an hour) I am not the person for that game (yet..?) and quit it. Also tried smaller sized ETF's (QQQ, SPY), but even there I cant STAND That I just dont know whats gonna happen, and having heart problems at my virile young age from worries over a couple of bucks is not worth it for me!
Options, ahhh gotta love em
Having traded and still trading the 'perfect option position' (AEXL, RD, MOO, AGN, PHI) I very much like the concept op renting options and having unlimited upside. BUT! I REALLY dislike the gap between the profit zones, and feel there are better ways to have a potential unlimited upside while you are still able to rent the options, and i'm testing that on HGM & DTE.
That all said, number one priority is being able to trade and that means defending my money like Uncle Scrooge! (or dagobert duck as we call him
), and that is exactly what i am going to do the new year! Happy trading to all in 2004, and lets hope we are the ones stealing the money from the unfortunate (har har!)
Tiki
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