We are deep into the 4th quarter and I’ve had many very profitable weeks. Take a look at my Trade History. If you are a regular reader of Main Street beats Wall Street you have watched me make my trades as I make them. Recently I developed a new page Called Trade Confirmations. On this page you’ll see my trade confirmations my broker emails me a minute or two after I make a trade. This is part of my transparency policy. There is absolutely no other trader, blogger, financial guru, TV personality or any other person or company doing what I do completely FREE. People I talk to think I’m nuts! “You’re up to something.” “What’s the catch?”…. No catch, I love to help people and I want to help the people who live on Main Street beat the hell out of Wall Street. I must say, I don’t only hope Main Street beats Wall Street helps you, but I really believe this site is helping me. I believe my desire to be a good mentor is keeping me on my toes. I look into each trade a little more and look into more technical analysis before I make the trade to ensure success to inspire you. What kind of site would this be if I had all losing trades. My trading success has been improved immensely since the inception of Main Street beats Wall Street. Please re-read my Home page and Let’s get Started page and get started!
Out of all my great weeks, this week might have been the most gratifying. Last week I projected to only have a $600 profit this week. Thursday and Friday I found a few deals I liked and I ended up putting $6150 in my mattress. To make this profit my trading only involved 3 stocks. Yelp, Micron and U.S. Steel, the usual suspects! Let’s see how I did it.
Yelp
On Monday the week didn’t look like I was going to be putting much money in my mattress. I didn’t have any options ready to expire this week and all my stocks were at a price lower than where I bought. I decided to make some moves to free up some margin money so if I found a deal or two I could take advantage. I had a Yelp option expiring on Nov 18th. Since the stock was down I was able to do a “Buy to Close” and make a profit and free up some margin. On Sept 21st I sold 10 contracts of the Yelp 11/18/16 $40 Calls for $2.30 ($2300). This Monday I bought out of the option for $1.70 ($1700) for a profit of $600. The deal was over and I had some extra margin power.
Profit +$600
Micron Technology
I had 5000 shares of Micron (MU) free because My Calls expired last Friday, Oct 14th. I was having trouble finding an option I liked expiring this Friday because the stock was on a little dip. The stock came up a little but to find a nice premium I had to go out an additional week with the Expiration Date. On Tuesday I sold 50 contracts of MU 10/28/16 $18 Calls for a premium of $.20 ($1000). The stock reversed and went down a little and on Thursday I noticed I could get out for $.09 instead of waiting over a week for it to expire. I did a “Buy to Close” at $.09 and made an $.11 profit (+$550). This deal was over in 2 days.
Profit +$550
U.S. Steel
Also on Thursday, as usual I was watching U.S. Steel (X). I was watching the price or the stock move while watching the Candlestick Chart. Since it was to be a projected slow week, I decided to make a move dictated by my technical analysis and try to make a quick $500. I have a reputation to uphold lol. I put in an order to buy 10,000 shares of X at $19.40. I don’t consider myself a Day Trader but this was clearly a day trade. As soon as I was executed on the purchase of the 10,000 shares at $19.40 I put in an order to sell the shares at $19.50. I wanted a quick $.10 on the 10,000 shares for a profit of $500. I was executed on the sale and I put $500 in my mattress with a 10 minute trade. I don’t want to get used to that because I don’t want to be a Day Trader. It’s very risky!
Profit +$500
U.S. Steel
This trade is what really made my week. Thursday evening Steel Dynamics, another steel company I watch, had some good earnings news which was moving all the steel stocks. Friday the market opened down and so did X. However, watching the the news headlines on steel and the Candlestick Chart on X, I felt X was going to go up on a down day. At the open the stock was down in the $19 area (down $.15 or $.20). About 15 minutes into the day the stock started to move up and because of the news, I felt it wasn’t going to stop soon. When it got above $19.25 I put in an order to buy 10,000 shares at $19.30 to do another Day Trade. Before I could get a sell order in it was up to $19.50. I would be happy to sell at this price and it was Expiration Day, I decided to sell a $19.50 Call and make a premium along with the $.20 on the stock. Before I could get that order in, the stock was over $19.60. I decided to watch a little and see what happens. The stock went all the way up to $20 and stopped. If I would have been happy making $.20 I am for sure happy making $.70. With the stock at $19.95 I sold a $20 Call expiring at the end of the day and got a premium of $.20 ($1000). Now I had $1000 locked up and a stock up $.65. I’m just hoping it goes above $20 and I get assigned. The stock went all the way up to $20.42. I was happy! Later in the day there was some profit taking going into the weekend and the stock started down. I ended up selling the stock at $20 and went Naked on the Call. The stock went below the $20 Strike Price and stayed there until the close where it closed at $19.78. What a fantastic trade! I ended up making $3500 on the stock and $1000 on the option for a total of $4500 in about 5 hours. And don’t forget, I also own another 10,000 shares of X which I have a $20 Call sold on expiring in November. The money from this weeks trade is in my mattress but not for long. I’m gonna withdraw from the mattress and take my wife to Costa Rica for her birthday in December.
Profit +$4500
This turned out to be a great week after it had lower expectation. It’s nice when that happens.
If you have any questions on any of these trades send me an email.
Total Weekly Gain +$6150
Have a great weekend!
Steve
The Options Coach