Hello Suckers …

Recently I stopped posting my trades on this blog. The reason was that I had very little time doing it and the second reason was that my trade results were not as I would wish and I slowed down in trading. At the end of the last year I was quite successful in trading and lately, thinking what a great trader I was I overdone trading and lost all my profit, so at this point I am again where I was last year.

To me it means going back to basics and trade with limited risk at a time. For me it is hard to say, since I wish to be fully invested if possible. I want all my money work for me and not sitting idle in the account. But maybe some cash reserve is needed to protect my holdings. A few months ago I overextended my trading so much that margin calls almost ruined my account. At this point I am going slow down in trading as well as working on my trading plan and start posting here more when I achieve some consistency in my trading.

Consumer spending rose less than expected in January even as incomes improved, an indication that Americans may still be unsure about the slowly recovering economy.

Personal income increased 0.3% from the prior month while spending rose 0.2%, the Commerce Department said Thursday. In December, spending was flat, but incomes rose 0.5%.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires were expecting both spending and income to rise 0.4% in January.

Source: www.dowjones.com

The U.S. manufacturing sector’s expansion slowed in February, according to data released Thursday by the Institute for Supply Management. The report followed disappointing data covering January consumer activity that led some economists to mark down their estimates of first-quarter economic growth.

The ISM’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 52.4 last month from 54.1 in January. The February reading was the weakest since November. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected the February PMI to increase to 54.9.

Factory surveys from regional Federal Reserve banks as well as the ISM-Chicago’s local PMI all indicated a speed-up in activity last month. Thursday’s ISM report raises questions about the strength of the expansion on a nationwide level.

Source: www.dowjones.com

Freeport McMoRan (FCX)

Bear Call spread

BTO 1 FCX Feb18 2012 42.00 Call
STO 1 FCX Feb18 2012 39.00 Call

Price: limit credit $1.20

Max risk: $180
Max gain: $120 if price stays below $39 at expiration

Update:
01/10/2012 - filled @ $1.2 ($120 credit)

This trade shall open on Monday next week:

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (DO)

Iron Condor

BTO 1 DO Jan21 2012 66.25 Call
STO 1 DO Jan21 2012 61.25 Call
STO 1 DO Jan21 2012 52.00 Put
BTO 1 DO Jan21 2012 47.00 Put

Price: limit credit $4.61

Max risk: $39
Max gain: $461 if price is between 52.00 - 61.25 at expiration

Update:
01/09/2012 - trade canceled - market maker unable to execute as condor combination, it may work as separate spreads, so I will review later if it makes sense to add as separate spreads.

U.S. Natural Gas ETF (UNG)

Long call

BTO 1 UNG Apr21 2012 7 Call

Price: limit debit $0.25

Max risk: $25
Max gain: Unlimited

Update:
01/07/2012 - canceled, it didn’t meet the entry price