Wow what a roller coaster this morning! The market took a big dip yesterday, and then it gapped down today and dipped even further. Dozens of potential trades were setting up, all while seeing a lot of our open positions go down in value. There was a lot to take in this morning.
I loaded up my accounts with positions. In the main account, I bought stock for EBAY and NVDA. In the extra options account, I bought call options for EBAY, bought a call spread for SQ, and sold naked puts for XLK and NVDA. In the low-priced account, I bought shares of GFL and CNO.
I had a lot of positions close today. I had three stock positions reach stoplosses (STM, MCHP, and GFS). I had two stock positions reach their time limits, and both locked in a partial profits (CVX and LXU). For options, I had one surprisingly reach its profit target amidst this market turmoil (Pfizer) but then I had another that hit its stoploss (URI).
My overall unrealized account balance is down noticeably right now from where it was just yesterday in the morning before the market turmoil. One thing I can tell you: I've been in this situation many times. And in the moment it can sting or bring up tough emotions, but the sting doesn't last forever and the market condition doesn't last forever. This is a drawdown, and this is the exact type of thing we have to be able to live through if we want to be able to benefit from the long term potential of this trading strategy. It doesn't mean there isn't risk with each trade you take, but we know we have a whole lot of data that suggests historically this trading strategy may have been quite profitable. We just have to endure the bumps and bruises along the way and be comfortable with the risk involved.
By the way, I noticed something interesting today. A month ago, my account balance was down even further than it is today. And at that time, I started to have a lot of winning trades, and my account balance grew. And at some point along that path of growth, I reached the same balance that I see in my account today. What's interesting is at that time of growth, looking at the balance made me feel a sense of accomplishment. Yet today, with the balance exactly the same, I feel a sense of dissatisfaction. It's the same exact number, yet two totally different feelings. When I step back and notice that, it helps me detach from the feelings a bit and let go of any storyline going on in my brain about all of it.
If you have any questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you.