$SPY #Options – day trading 10/02

Posted on by diogenes227

These trades are based on this post:

#Options – Buying calls and puts

A TRENDING DAY – PUTS.

Trending days are defined as any day a call or a put position gains 100 or more percent.

FIRST TRADE – all Twitter time stamps are Pacific time:

SECOND TRADE:

THIRD TRADE:

$SPY #OPTIONS – at play in the day-trading game

Posted on by diogenes227

Once again, it was a day to play SPY options.

But then, what day is not a day to be in that day-trading game:

#Options – Buying calls and puts

For fun let’s call this day “The Roll And the Coaster.” Had to roll out of the calls and into the puts…

FIRST TRADE:

FROM THE ROLL:

TO THE COASTER:

RECOVERY:

REENTRY:

TAKING HALF OFF FOR A PROFIT:

TAKING FINAL PROFIT ON SECOND HALF

FLAT FOR THE DAY

(CLICK ON CHART FOR LARGER VIEW)

#Stocks – and out of the blue the brokerages fell…

Posted on by diogenes227

Reportedly, this slam down in the brokerage stock is a result of Charles Schwab (SCHW) announcing a no-commission policy for online trade with presumably its competitors to follow.

And this is precipitated, according to reports, by the brokerage Robin Hood, which has been not charging for trades since its beginning. Robin Hood? Compared to these others, is that even a competitive trading house?

Regardless, SCHW, AMTD, ETFC, and IBKR are (at the moment) down either double-digit percentages or close to it in an out-of-the-blue across-the-board plummet. AMTD is down 23% (Holy cow!).

Whatever.

I would note the NYSI (long-term breadth) is falling. When it is, “accidents” like these often happen.

(click on the chart panel for a larger view)

#ShortStrangles on Stocks 9/30 – 10/04

Posted on by diogenes227

This week’s setups:

Last week’s results:

#MarijuanaStocks – the wither in the weed patch…

Posted on by diogenes227

At one point last year, the marijuana stock sector was the leading sector in the entire market.

Everywhere analysts were hailing it as the next great growth sector, especially after Canada joined several states in the U.S. to legalize weed, both medically and for recreational use. Made sense, and before anyone could say “don’t Bogart that joint” there were cannabis shops practically fighting Starbucks for retail space.

#MarijuanaStocks – gains are high in the weed patch

At one point, the founder and CEO of TLRY, because he owned so much stock in his heralded IPO, was something like the fourth richest man in the world…for a day. But now that day is done.

The chart panel below tells the rest of the story and there is not much more to say about that.

(click on the charts for a larger view)

#IPOs – a stealth bear market since summer

Posted on by diogenes227

It appears while the main indexes have held near their highs this year, there’s seems to be a stealth bear market going on with many of this year’s prominent IPOs.

As has been written about here before (last visited in the link below), this is maybe the easiest trade there is in the the market — buy above the high of the opening day, using that high or the low of the first day (depending on one’s individual risk tolerance) and hang on for the long term:

#IPOs – A Great Year For “Dummies”

Well, it was a great year for the likes of SWAV, PINS, ZIM, BYND, SOLY, that is until summer. While none of these stocks have been stopped out (the high of the first day) they have not been going well since summer but as can been seen in the chart panel below there were opportunities to take profits to preserve profits, especially in crazy run ups in say SWAV or the famous IPO for BYND.

Sometimes when stocks just go silly even the most disciplined IPO investor needs to take notice and thank his or her lucky stocks.

In the larger market picture, this is the kind of weakness that can be seen in many sectors. It is just easy to see here.

P.S. Once again, the LYFT chart is included as a cautionary tale to not buy unless an IPO takes out the high of its IPO day.

(click on the chart panel for a larger view)

Margin Debt – setting up a S&P 50% plunge?

Posted on by diogenes227

FINRA margin debt is a long-term indicator and always reported a month late.

So now we have the August numbers, down 6% month over month, as reported by Advisor Perspectives Monday (see the chart below). But it’s not the margin number that is concerning, it’s the chart pattern for the long term.

In the 1990s margin debt chugged along in a reasonable bullish fashion before finally going ballistic in 2000 just before the dot-com bubble burst. Then again, coming out of the 2003 bear market, it moved up gradually before going ballistic again in 2007 on a bubble in housing, fueled by excessively low interest rates for too long a time, and we had the financial crisis of 2008/2009. And now in 2018 margin debt has pushed higher than ever before on deregulation and tax breaks to corporations fueling stock buy backs, and some would say on a lot of hot air.

It the fall of last year it topped and has not gone higher this year. That is ominous for long-term investors.

Consider the pattern on the chart below.

Note that in both 2000 and 2007 the market made a new high after margin debt topped and fell. Each time on the chart, the debt numbers formed a plateau lower than the peak as the market made those new highs.

What comes next?

That is always the most important question in the stock market.

In 2000, the S&P plunged 50% (the Nasdaq, 78%), and in 2008 the S&P plunged again down 56%. Note the pattern in place on the chart now. Same old same old.

So is another 50% bear market imminent? It’s likely because although they always say it’s different this time it never is, even though it sometimes takes a long slow time to get it done.

This is a bit tricky at the moment because of the late reporting. One has to guess what is happening with margin debt behind the monthly market moves. Since the August drop in price is reflected in the margin debt drop (big professional players lightening up, maybe desperately lightening up), and since the market has rallied so far this month, one can guess margin debt may move up a bit here in September but not a enough to head off what is to come.

And since the market likes to fool everyone into complacency at the last possible moment, a new high here would probably be just enough to lock long-term investors in when they should be at least shuffling, if not running, to the exit.

If by chance it doesn’t move up, October could become an October of old, which is to say…uh, crash… crash… crash.

(click on the chart for a larger view)

#ShortStrangles on Stocks – 9/20 to 9/27

Posted on by diogenes227



See chart panel below.

(click on chart for a larger view)

Short Strangles on Stocks 9/16 -9/20

Posted on by diogenes227

Short Strangles on Stocks 9/9 – 9/13

Posted on by diogenes227

This week’s short strangles (see chart panel below):

Last week’s short strangles:

Results were for the week but during the week (and FB stopped out at breakeven):

CHART KEY: The number in the yellow flag on the lower right is the cost of the strangle. The number in the white flag on the lower right is the price gain on the position (a negative number on the shorts is a gain). The number in the green flag on the lower left of each chart in the panel is the percentage gain or loss on the price of the strangle (not accounting for margin needed for the position).

(click on chart for a larger view)