Aug 26 Options Trades Update

Here is a list of my current options writing trades still open. I am looking for pointers to tweak the strategy with my other trader friend, to make it more resilient to huge moves which was seen in Aug 07. This will help especially for folks(like me) who still have a not master pulling the stop trigger. 8) ......Lets see what comes out. Stay tune.

Aug 24 Options Trades Update

The N225 Nov & Dec Call Options are decaying nicely in my favour. US market is moderately up as we speak. ACH & STLD up some 11% & 2.87% respectively have recovered strongly due to strong rebound in the sector and are trading above their purchase price for the covered call trades. At this rate, I will be called out on Sep 21 expiration.

Aug 22 Option Trades Update

The N225 Nov 20000 & Dec 20500 call options are decaying nicely. Next target is of course to look at Jan but I won't rush into it. US market is up as we speak suggesting that risk appetite has return. The STLD & ACH covered calls positions are recovering well. If the Wall street can hold it up tonite.....Asian market should rise tommorrow as well. Good for everyone.

Aug 18 Options Trades Update

Stocks rallied Friday after a surprise move by the Fed to cut its discount rate. Asian markets should spike up strongly on Monday which is not good for my N225 naked calls play. One thing interesting to note is that despite the Nikkei 225 index having shaven off almost 10% from when my calls positions were opened & had the largest one day decline on Friday, the premium on my Dec call positions rose sharply on Friday to 30-35 pts.(I sold for 20pts on average). Yen has risen against the US$ to as high as 112 yen & that could be the reason & by that itself caused the call premiums to rise. In any case, generally, this market rebound is good for everyone. My US positions will recover......my dad's spore's position will recover....he will not be as moody. I am hopeful that the market bottom has been reached & that it will recover lost grounds gradually from here. Cheers & have a great weekend!

Aug 14 Options Trades Update

The US indices are extending their reach to the downside as selling remains widespread across most areas as we speak. This appears to be the tone for the day & if this should be the end result, Asia markets tommorrow might follow suit and possibly resulting in the N225 Nov & Dec call options premium to further decay in my favour.

Aug 13 Options Trades Update

Asian market were mainly trading in positive territory on Monday although cautiously. I wrote additional Dec N225 20500 Call Options for 20 pts. The Nikkei 225 index close at around 16800 level. The US & UK market are trading higher on Monday morning as we speak & if this can sustain all the way to the close, this might mean that Asian markets will follow through with more vigour on Tuesday trading.

FINANCIAL MARKET TURMOIL

The US mortgage crises lingers with no end in sight & was further dealt a blow last night when BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank,said it froze three asset-backed securities funds because it's no longer possible to ``fairly'' value their holdings. ECB & Fed had to intervene by pumping billions into the financial systems to maintain liquidity. Asian markets were not spared today & were sharpy down.
I squared off the Oct N225 20500 Call Options for 1 pt. The Nov N225 20000 Call Options were last done at 10 pts. I wrote new Dec N225 20500 Call options for 20 pts. The actions by ECB, FED & reassurance from Bush did not appear to help Friday as market is trading sharply down again as we speak.

Aug 09 Options Trades Update

The dust with the mortgage crises appeared to have settled somewhat in the US market & the key indexes were up again last night. It was another day of volatile trading nonetheless. I took on additional ACH covered calls positions.... bought on average at $45.75 & sold the Sep 45 call options at $4.2. This will result in a called return of 7.5% for 6 weeks. The sentiments in the US are also seen carried over to the Asian markets today...with the major indexes also up. As the N225 index is up some 200+pts this morning, I am now joining the offer to sell the Nov N225 Call Options for 20 pts. Not filled yet.

Aug 07 Options Trades Update

Japan market is weak today. It has been range bound for quite a while already. This works nicely for the naked call selling income strategy. The Nov N225 20000 naked calls which I currently have were last done at 15pts today. I will wait for the next big upward move if any to commit anymore positions...just a couple more would be nice to complete the N225 plays for Nov. But I am not going to force it in. Need to remind myself constantly here. Easier said than done. Trading was volatile in the US last night but was good that it closed with a strong rebound. The natural thing is to expect the Asian market to follow suit today but this was not to be the case. Kind of a weak & range bound performance. Caution is still in the air I suppose. The UK market appears to have taken the US lead & is looking strong in the early morning trading...up some 77pts on the FTSE futures as we speak.

Aug 06 Options Trades Update

In the Japan market, I sold additional Nov N225 20000 Call Options for 20 pts today. I am still waiting to square off the N225 Oct 20500 calls for 1pt which was last done 2 at pts. In the US market, I sold Sep ER2 950 Call Options for 0.2 pts. ACH & STLD are down much from their original purchase price along with the overall market sentiments. The usual thing to do is to write secondary calls in Sep as per the covered calls strategy.

Aug 02 Options Trades Update

I sold Nov N225 20000 Call Options for 25 pts yesterday last done at 20 pts. I am looking to sell more Nov N225 from the 20000-21000 range when the opportunity arises. I am at slightly bearish to sideways & at most cautiously optimistic against the Japan market here. Therefore selling call options on N225 options. Having said that, no one can be 100% certain. As traders, I think its still about stacking the odds in one's favour & adopting strict risk/money management to win most of the time & when there are losses...keep them small. Easier said then done. Therefore my journey continues.
On the US front, last night, trading was volatile again but major indexes remains mainly in positve territory. With the market two-days advance which has lifted the Dow some 250 pts, I think it is probably too early to tell if it is out of the woods yet. The market is probably still nervous about mortgage defaults leading to losses & possible tightening of lending standards. I will be following the market developments closely.

Aug 1st Options Trades Update

With the Asian market making deeper declines today, I bought to close the Sep N225 20500 call options for 1 pts. Now I only left with the Oct N225 20500 call options & they were last done at 4pts. I am looking to buy them back at 1pt. Just sticking to the rules. The market at large world wide is a little crazy this period. This would make one of the trading "war stories" we tell our grandchildren.