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Posted by Martin September 18, 2023
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August 2023 SPX put credit spreads trading review


August 2023 SPX trading was slow. Since I trade mostly bullish trades, during bear markets or corrections I sit aside and wait. Time to time, I open a bearish trade but in corrections or during high volatility, the bearish trade may quickly turn against me and I do not want to have too many bearish trades that need my attention or rolling back into bullish trades. So this month, I was mostly on the sidelines.

I also switched to broken wing butterfly trades. These trades offer better opportunity than plain spreads. They are initially sold for credit and they have a high chance of expiring worthless while providing some downward protection. Even if the trade goes completely against us, there is a good chance to repair it for credit. If you follow our trade signals, we had a call broken wing butterfly (BWB) that got completely against us.

 

Our SPX account is up +1,271.58% since the beginning of this program, and we have $25,680 in unrealized gains.

 

Initial SPX trade set ups

 

I dedicated a $3,600 initial amount that will be used to trade SPX PCS (now BWB) strategy per week. Today, the account is up at $48,711.95. However, due to the recent bear market, many trades are still open, and the funds are tied to those open trades. The trades need to expire or be closed for a profit to release the funds.
 

Our SPX strategy is designed as directional options trading. We are selling credit put spreads to collect premiums, and hopefully, these spreads expire worthlessly, or we repurchase them for a small debit.

We use a set of indicators, trend prediction (primarily based on moving averages, volume profiles, and trend forecasting), and market sentiment that generates bullish signals. The trading is based on a “trend-following strategy.” We open the trade if we have a bullish signal and a bullish trend. If we do not have a signal, we stay away. We also trade credit call spreads when we have bearish signals. In a choppy market, we stay away from or trade very short expirations (usually 1 or 2 days or up to 7 days), but the trading is muted as we need a trending market.

 

Here you can see all our 2023 trades:

 
SPX PCS account value
Click on the picture above to see the entire list.
 

Last month trading

 

Overall, the strategy resulted in a +1,271.58% gain last month.
 

Initial account value (since inception: 12/07/2021): $3,600.00
Last month beginning value: $48,711.95
Last month ending value: $49,376.95 (+1.37%; total: +1,271.58%)
The highest capital requirements to trade this strategy: $19,995
Current capital at risk: -$15,680
Unrealized Gain: $25,680 (-163.78%)
Realized Gain: $4,986 (-31.80%)
Total Gain: $30,666 (-195.57%)
Win Ratio: 54%
Average Winner: $707
Average Loser: $771

As you can see, our account currently shows a realized gain of $4,986, and we have an additional $25,680 unrealized gains.

 

SPX PCS account value
SPX PCS account value
 

SPX PCS account vs SPX net liq
SPX PCS account vs SPX index net liq
 

SPX PCS account vs SPX performance
SPX PCS account vs SPX performance
 

If you want to receive trade alerts whenever we open a new SPX put credit spread or a hedge trade, you can subscribe to our service:

 

 

Note that if you wish to subscribe to multiple levels, you can only subscribe to one level and send us an email that you want to be added to other levels.

Also, if you like this report, hit the like button so I know there is enough audience wanting to see this type of report. If you have any questions or want to see anything else about my SPX trading, do not hesitate to contact me or comment in the comments section. Thank you!

 
 




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Posted by Martin September 13, 2023
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Technical view: Amazon, Inc. (AMZN)


Technical view
 

AMZN is in stage #2. The stock is recovering from last year’s carnage. In 2022 it almost reached lows from 2020 Covid lows. It was a great buying opportunity. But for the entire 2023 it was rallying and erasing the losses. If you were bold enough to buy when everyone else was panicking, you are sitting on nice gains. The stock rallied 60% from the 2022 lows. And the company is a great business. On the surface, it may look like a boring bad enterprise – what is good about a grey boring internet selling portal? eBay does it too! But there is a difference between the two. There is very powerful advertising on their portals, powerful cloud service (gaining steam again), and much more.

 
Technical view weekly
 

Keep reading AMZN Technical View:




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Posted by Martin September 11, 2023
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August 2023 HFEA strategy report


August was a muted month for our leveraged strategy. However, despite a significant decline in the markets and our overall account, HFEA held well. We only lost -$158 (-1.05%) compared to the SPX market which lost 1.25%.

Initially, I dedicated $15,000 to this strategy. That represented approx. 15% of our portfolio. When the SPXL underperforms the market and my position goes down and is below my cost basis (my position is in red), I add new shares to my portfolio. I deposit cash and buy shares. Once this bear market ends, and trust me, it will, as no bear market lasts forever, I will stop buying new shares but trim the position and save cash from selling for the next bear market. This is a standard balancing approach. Keep my position at about 15% of my main portfolio. When it moves to 20% (or more), I sell enough to bring the position back down to 15%. If it moves down to 10%, I will buy enough to bring it back to 15%, and so on.

 

MONTH NET-LIQ PROFIT/
LOSS
PROFIT/
LOSS %%
June 2022 $12,199.81 $5,276.32 76.21%
July 2022 $15,551.55 $3,351.74 27.47%
August 2022 $13,414.80 -$2,136.75 -13.74%
September 2022 $10,454.70 -$2,960.10 -22.07%
October 2022 $16,809.60 $6,354.90 60.79%
November 2022 $18,659.90 $1,850.30 11.01%
December 2022 $16,562.20 -$2,097.70 -11.24%
January 2023 $15,010.60 -$1,551.60 -9.37%
February 2023 $13,990.20 -$1,020.40 -6.80%
March 2023 $13,132.00 -$858.20 -6.13%
April 2023 $15,222.60 $2,090.60 15.92%
May 2023 $13,808.00 -$1,414.60 -9.29%
June 2023 $14,273.50 $465.50 3.37%
July 2023 $14,981.00 $707.50 4.96%
August 2023 $14,823.00 -$158.00 -1.05%

 

Our HFEA strategy decreased value in August 2023 by -1.05% while the entire market decreased by -1.25% in the same period. Overall, the HFEA portfolio is up 10.27%. I think that is still a good result considering that I started this account in the worst time at the end of 2021 and rode it through the entire bear market in 2022.
 

HFEA charts

 
HFEA net-liq 8
Strategy Net liquidation value
 

The chart above illustrates how volatile the account can be during volatile markets. The best approach to this strategy is to buy and forget. Watching the position too often can bring you diarrhea.

HFEA net-liq 8
Strategy vs SPY Net liquidation value
 

HFEA vs SPY
Strategy performance vs. SPY

 
 




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Posted by Martin September 06, 2023
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Technical view: Aflac Incorporated (AFL)


Technical view
 

AFL is in stage #2. The stock performed very well during the bear market. We had a decline but it recovered very nice and it wasn’t as deep as what we saw in 2020. Today, the stock is also pulling back from a strong rally which may provide a good opportunity.

 
Technical view weekly
 

Keep reading AFL Technical View:




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Posted by Martin September 04, 2023
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Septembear or Septembull?


Will we see a Septembear or Septembull from now on? August correction is over. I know it is a bold statement, and you may find many people out there who would oppose and disagree with me. CNBC keeps pulling bears from the past who got stuck in the past, and they keep predicting a bear market, recession, and the end of the world. It’s almost comical.

The US economy was resilient and strong despite rapid interest hikes from the FED, but that started changing. The very last jobless claims report we received on Friday started showing cracks in the labor market. Bears use it as evidence for their recession claims. But the charts of multiple economic data show otherwise. The chance, not prediction, of a continuing bull market is higher than the odds of a recession. People fail to acknowledge different circumstances to what was happening in 2020-2023. We could be rightfully worried if the monetary policy happened during normal boring years. But 2020 was not a normal, boring year. A sudden economic stop moved the pendulum of economic balance way to the extreme. In 2021, that pendulum swung to another extreme. In 2022, we overshot to the opposite extreme again, and in 2023 that pendulum is attempting to get back to the mean. I don’t think this is recessionary unless the FED screws it all up (yes, the chance is high).

 
Septembear or Septembull
 

But, so far, J. P. is managing this economic monster well to a soft landing (if there will be any landing at all, it could just be a normal slowdown).
The market finished off August on a high note. Interest rates fell with a big drop in the Job Openings (JOLTS) numbers. The tech stocks had a good week. Oil is becoming a big story as it is hitting $86.05 per barrel today (Saturday). I fear that supply is being weaponized against us by countries that don’t like us.
President Biden cannot turn to an almost depleted Strategic Oil Reserve this time to help keep prices down. It is also very questionable whether he has the will to fight back by increasing supply in the U.S. The energy and tech sectors continue to look best right now.
 




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Posted by Martin September 03, 2023
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August 2023 Investing and Trading Report


Another month, August 2023 is over. And it was a difficult month for our investing and trading. I expected it to be difficult because the markets rallied too fast and too hard in the previous few months. And if you are subscribed to our newsletter, I wrote in it that I wanted a deeper pullback. And we got 5% retreat which was perfectly normal and to be expected correction. This was a correction and it didn’t change the narrative of a new bull market. In fact, it confirmed it. We have more bullish signals indicating that this market will go higher.

Nevertheless, this pullback had surprisingly bad impact to our investing and trading. Our net-liq of the account shed away a stunning 16.80%. It dropped by -$12,033.60. I suspect this to be the result of margin trading and options which suddenly spiked and because I have some of them naked and sold them during low IV time, their impact was significant. However, as the market returns back to upward trajectory, I expect this to correct and the account will go higher again.

Our cash to buying power dropped a bit as we continued reinvesting our proceeds:

 
Cash - Net-Liq - BP 08
 

Our options trading delivered $3,498.00 gain last month (4.88%). Our net-liq value decreased by -16.80% to $71,619.81 value. Our overall account is up 15.04% YTD and -31.56% from when the bear market started in January 2022.
 

Here is our investing and trading report:

 

Account Value: $71,619.81 -$12,033.60 -16.80%
Options trading results
Options Premiums Received: +$3,498.00
01 January 2023 Options: +$1,466.00 +1.97%
02 February 2023 Options: $2,754.00 +10.34%
03 March 2023 Options: -$1,462.00 -2.05%
04 April 2023 Options: +$16,410.00 +8.54%
05 May 2023 Options: +$6,942.00 +9.85%
06 June 2023 Options: +$3,116.00 +4.05%
07 July 2023 Options: +$4,484.00 +5.36%
08 August 2023 Options: +$3,498.00 +4.88%
Options Premiums YTD: +$37,308.00 +52.09%
Dividend income results
Dividends Received: +$795.50
01 January 2023 Dividends: +$407.13
02 February 2023 Dividends: +$731.21
03 March 2023 Dividends: +$482.14
04 April 2023 Dividends: +$820.22
05 May 2023 Dividends: +$590.19
06 June 2023 Dividends: +$848.65
07 July 2023 Dividends: +$478.37
08 August 2023 Dividends: +$795.50
Dividends YTD: +$5,402.09
Portfolio Equity
Portfolio Equity: $211,270.70 -$31,952.04 -13.14%
Portfolio metrics
Portfolio Yield: 6.15%
Portfolio Dividend Growth: 23.35%
Ann. Div Income & YOC in 10 yrs: $547,583.80 251.97%
Ann. Div Income & YOC in 20 yrs: $27,472,481,899.83 12,641,273.08%
Ann. Div Income & YOC in 25 yrs: $1,590,227,801,629,540.00 731,732,355,914.03%
Ann. Div Income & YOC in 30 yrs: $10,754,061,522,193,600,000,000.00 4,948,407,244,053,650,000.00%
Portfolio Alpha: 46.01%
Sharpe Ratio: 4.42 EXCELLENT
Portfolio Weighted Beta: 0.56
CAGR: 199.74%
AROC: 53.77%
TROC: 5.15%
Our 2023 Goal
2023 Dividend Goal: $8,000.00 67.53% In Progress
2023 Options Income Goal: $70,000 53.30% In Progress
2023 Portfolio Value Goal: $96,532.51 74.19% In Progress
6-year Portfolio Value Goal: $175,000.00 40.93% In Progress
10-year Portfolio Value Goal: $1,000,000.00 7.16% In Progress

 

Dividend Investing and Trading Report

 

In August 2023 we have received $795.50 in dividends bringing our dividend income at $5,402.09.

We did not purchase any dividend stock this month.

 
Here is a chart of our account equity showing our accumulation goal and the value of all stocks in our account. It shows a nice upward-sloping chart as our equities grow. This is a result of our options trading and using premiums to buy dividend stocks:

 
Account Equity 7
 

As you can see in the chart above, August was pretty much catastrophic for our equity holdings. They dropped significantly.

And here you can see the dividend income those equities pay us every year:

 
Annual Dividend Payout 7

 

Growth stocks Investing and Trading Report

 

In August 2023, we purchased no growth stocks.

 

Options Investing and Trading Report

 

In August 2023, our options trading delivered a gain of $3,498.00. I hoped, we would be able to make more money but due to the correction, I had to stay low and preserve cash to maintain buying power. I also used this income to adjust some of the SPX trades that needed adjustment so they can expire worthless.

 

Expected Future Dividend Income

 

We received $795.50 in dividends last month. Our portfolio currently yields 6.15% at $71,619.81 market value. I am happy with this progress as I am nearing a $1,000 a month in dividend income. As of today, our projected monthly dividend income is $688.97 (the real income is $450.17, but that is because our new holdings didn’t pay the dividend yet). Note that these numbers are averages. One month we get less another month we get more income.

Our projected annual dividend income in 10 years is $547,583.80, but that projection is if we do absolutely nothing and let our positions grow without adding new positions or reinvesting the dividends.

We are also set to receive a $8,267.69 annual dividend income ($688.97 monthly income). We are 1.51% of our 10 year goal of $547,583.80 dividend income.

 
Future Divi on YOC 08
 

The chart above shows how our future dividend income is based on the future yield on cost and what dividend income we may expect. The expected dividend growth depends on what stocks we add to our portfolio and the stocks’ 3 years’ average dividend growth rate. It is interesting to see what passive income we may enjoy 10, 20, 25, or 30 years from now.

 

Market value of our holdings

 

Our non-adjusted stock holdings market value decreased from $243,222.75 to $211,270.70 last month.

In 2023 we planned on accumulating dividend stocks, monetizing these positions, HFEA strategy, and SPX trading. We plan to raise more of our holdings to 100 shares to sell covered calls. We continued rebalancing our options trades that released buying power significantly. That allowed us to start repurchasing shares of our interest.

 
Stock holdings trading 8
 

We aim to accumulate 100 shares of dividend growth stocks we like and then start selling covered calls or strangles around those positions. We also planned on reinvesting all dividends back into those holdings.

 

Investing and trading ROI

 

Our options trading delivered a 4.88% monthly ROI in August 2023, totaling a 52.09% ROI YTD. We exceeded our 45% annual revenue goal in selling options against dividend stocks.

Our entire account is still down -31.56% from when the bear market started. However, in 2023 our account is up 15.04% YTD. During 2022 bear market it became apparent that although I had a lot of cash savings, I didn’t have enough. So my goal for the rest of the year will be accumulating cash. The market is still in an overbought territory so I will not be making new purchases, rather, I will be saving cash for the next crash.

Our trading averaged $4,663.50 per month this year. If this trend continues, we will make $55,962.00 in trading options in 2023. As of today, we have made $37,308.00 in trading options. This is below our projected goal. Based on the goal, we should average $5,834 options income per month. But I hope, as the year progresses, we can increase options income to our goal.

 

Investing and trading report in charts

 

Account Net-Liq

 

TW Account trading Net-Liq 7
 

The drawdown of our account is highly discouraging, but it started improving. I am not selling any stock positions, and I will be buying back those I sold to release our Buying Power. On top of that, I will be buying more dividend-paying shares as much as possible.

 

Account Stocks holding

 

TW Account holdings 7
 

Last month, S&P 500 grew 56.11% since we opened our portfolio while our portfolio grew 29.47%. On YTD basis, the S&P 500 grew 23.38% and our portfolio 19.99%. We are underperforming market by -3.38%.

The numbers above apply to our stock holdings adjusted by options premiums.

 

Stock holdings Growth YTD

 

TW Account holdings Growth YTD 8
 

Our stock holdings are underperforming the market. Hopefully, this trend will improve, and we will do better than S&P 500. However, our portfolio performs better in bear markets so far. In 2022 we outperformed S&P 500 by 11.73% (it lost less than the market).

Our 10-year goal is to grow this account to $1,000,000.00 value in ten years. We are in year two, and we accomplished 7.16% of that goal.

Our 6-year goal is to reach $175,000 account value to be eligible for portfolio margin (PM), and today we accomplished 40.93% of that goal.

Our 2023 year goal is to grow this account to a $96,532.51, and today we accomplished 74.19% of this goal.

 

Investing and Trading Report – Options Monthly Income

 

TW Options Trading Income 8
 

Investing and Trading Report – Options Annual Income

 

TW Options Annual Trading Income 8

 

Our dividend goal and future dividends

 

TW Received vs Projected Dividends 8
 

We planned to make $8,000.00 in dividend income in 2023. As of today, we received $5,402.09. We also accumulated enough shares to start making $8,267.69 a year. Our monthly projected dividend income is $688.97, and our current monthly dividend income is $450.17.

 
TW Received vs Future monthly Dividends 8

 

I have a favor to ask. If you like this report, please, hit the like like button button, so I know that there is enough audience that like this content. Also, if there is something you want to know or you want me to change this report to a different format, let me know in the comments section.

 




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Posted by Martin August 29, 2023
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Technical view: NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)


Technical view
 

NVDA is in stage #2. The stock rallied very hard and there is a lot of controversy about this stock and the company it represents. We have a strong cult built around the stock. People would die defending it and they buy no matter what. And these people were awarded sticking to their guns further empowering their cult-like mentality. Then there is a whole other group of bears saying that this stock is crazy, the run unsustainable and the stock is overpriced. The rest don’t know how to value this company. And it is a problem. It is extremely hard to value NVDA and predict its future outcomes. Even if we step way far away to see the whole picture.

 
Technical view weekly
 

Keep reading NVDA Technical View:




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Posted by Martin August 16, 2023
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Technical view: Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. (ABR)


Technical view
 

ABR is in stage #2. This is one of the better mREITs out there. I have invested in a few of them in the past and got burned in all of them. I invested in AGNC or ARR. A friend of mine invested in NLY. All three failed. AGNC looked promising but after a year or two when I was invested, they started cutting the dividends. ABR is the only one, so far, that has raised the dividends and also provides capital appreciation. The stock was on a downward spiral since November 2021 but since it hit its bottom in April 2023 it staged an impressive recovery:

 
Technical view weekly
 

Keep reading AES Technical View:




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Posted by Martin August 09, 2023
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Will 4500 SPX level hold today?


Yesterday, the selloff continued but in the afternoon we rallied and erased most of the losses in an attempt to retake the 4500 of SPX level. Will this level hold today? Or was this a bottom of the dip? Or is something worse brewing under the hood?

Today we may see the 4500 SPX level retest again but tomorrow we are due to receive a CPI report and investors may be buying for the event expecting a rally. So, we can expect weakness this morning but another rally attempt in the afternoon.
 




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Posted by Martin August 08, 2023
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Markets being weak


The markets continue being weak for today. All indicators are pointing to more weakness and yesterday’s rally was just a bounce attempt. It seems that more bearishness will be on Wall Street with more and more bears (and media) coming out with all sorts of doom predictions. The most prevalent prediction out there is that the stocks are set for a crash. Didn’t we just went out from a year long bear market?

Many studies I watch show however, that this weakness is perfectly normal and to be expected. And on top of that, we can expect gains to follow. Of course, once we clear this pullback.

Investors are still reluctant to be buying at the current levels. The markets are down about 2.5% and the investors wish for at least 5% pullback to buy back. But savvy long-term investors do not sell but buy. If you choose a good quality company, you do not need to trade it. You buy it, and then enjoy the life-long ride. And days like this one is perfect to be adding to your portfolio.

Given that the rally yesterday was weak and with no volume, I expect further weakness today. But we may see a better day tomorrow as the investors may start positioning their portfolios for the latest CPI (Consumer price index) report due on Thursday. Today, more weakness brings the market to the short-term oversold territory.
 




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