Hey Guys,
The market started the morning looking like it might be rebounding, but then it went right back down near where it ended yesterday. This whole week the market has been handing us down days. The market (specifically the S&P 500) is actually setting up for one of my classic pullback trades with these down days.
I just bought an MES futures position for that exact reason. It's the same trade setup I normally take on stocks, but I'm using futures as a vehicle to trade it. Notice that I bought the December expiration (/MESZ21). Earlier this week when I bought a futures position, it was for the prior expiration (September expiration /MESU21). I teach more about expirations on this page.
I picked up some Salesforce stock (CRM) and grabbed the options for it in my extra options account. I also picked up options for MDT.
I closed my options positions on ULTA, MSFT, and FISV since they reached their time limits. ULTA locked in a profit while the other two were losses. The FISV options were such a wild ride. They went from being up nicely about 24 hours ago to being nearly a total loss. If you look at the chart, it went straight up and then straight down. That means my stock position took a beating too, but it's not scheduled to be closed out until Monday (unless it hits an exit before then).
Also, my KR position hit the stoploss. The earnings didn't go our way this time. That means my options for KR also went down noticeably in value. Those earnings days trades can be really abrupt sometimes. The abrupt profits are fun. The abrupt losses are not so fun.
We'll see where the market goes next. There has been a lot of back and forth in the last few days. We're in the classic pullback setup, so maybe the odds will help us and put some wind behind our backs in the coming week. We'll just have to wait and see how it unfolds.
If you have any questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you.