How I made $302 in May 2023 trading options
Last month started off slow and steady.
I was making small profits, but getting restless.
Then, I let things get out of control.
By the second half of the month, I started trading basically everything and anything.
I mostly abondoned my trading rules (mainly cutting losses), and am now stuck with some really big losing positions.
The good news is that I managed to make $301 in May (closed trades).
Here is a look at the positions that were closed ( in my new, cool table formatting):
| Ticker | Action | Type | Trade Date | Expiry | Sell Strike | Buy Strike | Premium | Qty | Fees | Total | Net Profit/Loss | Days | Annual Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSCO | open | BPS | 2023-04-24 | 2023-06-16 | 45 | 40 | 0.66 | 2 | 1.4 | 130.6 | $3.28 | 22 | 5.44% |
| CSCO | close | BPS | 2023-05-15 | 2023-06-16 | 40 | 45 | -0.63 | 2 | 1.32 | -127.32 | |||
| DLTR | open | BCS | 2023-04-25 | 2023-06-16 | 170 | 175 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.4 | 138.6 | $7.20 | 17 | 15.46% |
| DLTR | close | BCS | 2023-05-11 | 2023-06-16 | 175 | 170 | -0.65 | 2 | 1.4 | -131.4 | |||
| TSLA | open | BPS | 2023-05-02 | 2023-05-05 | 150 | 148 | 0.17 | 1 | 2.1 | 14.9 | $14.90 | 4 | 679.81% |
| TSLA | close | BPS | 2023-05-05 | 2023-05-05 | 148 | 150 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| MDT | open | BCS | 2023-05-03 | 2023-06-16 | 95 | 100 | 0.88 | 1 | 1.4 | 86.6 | $25.20 | 8 | 229.95% |
| MDT | close | BCS | 2023-05-10 | 2023-06-16 | 100 | 95 | -0.6 | 1 | 1.4 | -61.4 | |||
| XOP | open | BPS | 2023-05-03 | 2023-06-16 | 107 | 102 | 0.8 | 1 | 1.4 | 78.6 | $22.20 | 13 | 124.66% |
| XOP | close | BPS | 2023-05-15 | 2023-06-16 | 102 | 107 | -0.55 | 1 | 1.4 | -56.4 | |||
| SPX | open | BPS | 2023-05-04 | 2023-05-08 | 3985 | 3980 | 0.5 | 1 | 3.28 | 46.72 | $23.44 | 2 | 855.56% |
| SPX | close | BPS | 2023-05-05 | 2023-05-08 | 3980 | 3985 | -0.2 | 1 | 3.28 | -23.28 | |||
| MS | open | BPS | 2023-05-08 | 2023-06-16 | 77.5 | 75 | 0.32 | 1 | 3.28 | 28.72 | $6.62 | 11 | 87.87% |
| MS | close | BPS | 2023-05-18 | 2023-06-16 | 75 | 77.5 | -0.2 | 1 | 2.1 | -22.1 | |||
| RUT | open | BPS | 2023-05-09 | 2023-05-10 | 1715 | 1710 | 0.77 | 1 | 2.4 | 74.6 | $37.20 | 1 | 2715.60% |
| RUT | close | BPS | 2023-05-09 | 2023-05-10 | 1710 | 1715 | -0.35 | 1 | 2.4 | -37.4 | |||
| SPX | open | BPS | 2023-05-09 | 2023-05-10 | 4050 | 4045 | 0.4 | 1 | 3.28 | 36.72 | $18.62 | 1 | 1359.26% |
| SPX | close | BPS | 2023-05-09 | 2023-05-10 | 4045 | 4050 | -0.15 | 1 | 3.1 | -18.1 | |||
| RUT | open | BPS | 2023-05-11 | 2023-05-19 | 1670 | 1665 | 0.36 | 2 | 3.4 | 68.6 | $35.20 | 5 | 256.96% |
| RUT | close | BPS | 2023-05-15 | 2023-05-19 | 1665 | 1670 | -0.15 | 2 | 3.4 | -33.4 | |||
| NFLX | open | BCS | 2023-05-15 | 2023-06-16 | 375 | 380 | 0.66 | 2 | 1.13 | 130.87 | 57.75 | 3 | 702.63% |
| NFLX | close | BCS | 2023-05-17 | 2023-06-16 | 380 | 375 | -0.36 | 2 | 1.12 | -73.12 | |||
| ADBE | open | BPS | 2023-05-16 | 2023-06-16 | 310 | 305 | 0.62 | 2 | 1.41 | 122.59 | 41.18 | 3 | 501.02% |
| ADBE | close | BPS | 2023-05-18 | 2023-06-16 | 305 | 310 | -0.4 | 2 | 1.41 | -81.41 | |||
| SLB | open | BPS | 2023-05-16 | 2023-06-16 | 40 | 37.5 | 0.3 | 2 | 2.8 | 57.2 | 21.02 | 7 | 219.21% |
| SLB | close | BPS | 2023-05-22 | 2023-06-16 | 37.5 | 40 | -0.17 | 2 | 2.18 | -36.18 | |||
| NKE | open | BPS | 2023-05-17 | 2023-06-16 | 110 | 105 | 0.72 | 2 | 1.41 | 142.59 | -198.82 | 7 | -1036.70% |
| NKE | close | BPS | 2023-05-23 | 2023-06-16 | 105 | 110 | -1.7 | 2 | 1.41 | -341.41 | |||
| BA | open | BCS | 2023-05-22 | 2023-07-21 | 230 | 235 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.41 | 138.59 | 57.19 | 3 | 695.81% |
| BA | close | BCS | 2023-05-24 | 2023-07-21 | 235 | 230 | -0.4 | 2 | 1.4 | -81.4 | |||
| RUT | open | BCS | 2023-05-22 | 2023-05-26 | 1840 | 1845 | 0.3 | 1 | 2.4 | 27.6 | 15.2 | 4 | 277.40% |
| RUT | close | BCS | 2023-05-25 | 2023-05-26 | 1845 | 1840 | -0.1 | 1 | 2.4 | -12.4 | |||
| DLR | open | BPS | 2023-05-23 | 2023-07-21 | 80 | 75 | 0.72 | 2 | 0.19 | 143.81 | 52.41 | 4 | 478.24% |
| DLR | close | BPS | 2023-05-26 | 2023-07-21 | 75 | 80 | -0.45 | 2 | 1.4 | -91.4 | |||
| RUT | open | BPS | 2023-05-24 | 2023-05-26 | 1730 | 1720 | 1.08 | 1 | 2.4 | 105.6 | 53.2 | 3 | 647.27% |
| RUT | close | BPS | 2023-05-26 | 2023-05-26 | 1720 | 1730 | -0.5 | 1 | 2.4 | -52.4 | |||
| WFC | open | BCS | 2023-05-24 | 2023-07-21 | 45 | 47.5 | 0.45 | 1 | 2.5 | 42.5 | 9.46 | 7 | 197.31% |
| WFC | close | BCS | 2023-05-30 | 2023-07-21 | 47.5 | 45 | -0.3 | 1 | 3.04 | -33.04 | |||
| TOTAL | $302.45 | ||||||||||||
| Win % | 94.74% | ||||||||||||
| Avg. Win/Loss | $15.92 |
Notes / Learning points #
Learn to take losses: #
I had a ton of small wins this month, and one big ass loss.
That one loss (on NKE) messed up my mental game though.
I wanted to make back the loss as quickly as I could, so I started entering a whole bunch of trades without thinking much.
Now, I'm stuck in some HUGE losing positions (ADBE, DD, SYF, TGT).
Some of it was bad luck, but it was more me being reckless (i.e. entering too many positions at once) and not sticking to my trading rules (i.e cutting losses).
In the next month I will probably be taking some humungous losses if I cant wiggle my way out of some of these.
In summary, I need to not get so emotional from losses, and just stick to the trading gameplan.
Short term expiry trades #
One good thing that I did this month was trade short term expiry on indexes (i.e. RUT, SPX).
I was aiming for 5% - 10% max profit, 85% Probability OTM, with under 7 days to expiry.
They seem to work well in low volatility environments when there's not much else to trade.
I got really lucky on a couple though where my order got filled way above my limit price. So, still not sure if it's a viable long term strategy.