welcome to the occupation
Hello, my name is Trader Vic and I’m a new options trader. To celebrate successfully surviving my first year and turning a profit, I started this trading journal. The primary purpose is for me to remember what I traded, why I traded it, and how the trade worked out. However, I will also include book reviews, market commentary, thoughts on trading platforms, and other items I feel like writing about.
in the beginning
Sometime in 2007 I noticed Sharebuilder was offering options trading. Not knowing anything about options, I assumed they were a scam dreamed up by Wall Street to lighten my wallet, so I ignored the advertisements.
Around mid-summer, Casey Serin made the front page of MSN as the world’s most hated blogger. Through the same article, I stumbled across Housing Panic, where the author mentioned he was short Countrywide (CFC) using puts.
Having discovered what options were good for, I read the disclosures and was approved for level two options trading at Sharebuilder. With only the knowledge that options were volatile and 90 percent expired worthless, I promptly began speculating.
At the time, the now infamous sub-prime crisis began to hit the mainstream media. I focused my speculation on firms that wrote sub-prime mortgages and liar’s loans, as well as banks and brokers with large amounts of level three (i.e. marked to myth) assets. Trader’s Journal will ignore this period, because while I did well, I attribute it mostly to luck, with a minor dash of skill.
moving forward
In the fall of 2007 I had outgrown Sharebuilder’s limited options trading capability and went looking for a better platform. After reading several reviews of trading platforms, I settled on Optionsxpress. This is the point where Trader’s Journal starts.
Using the educational tools provided by Optionsxpress, I learned a bit more about options. I also read a few books, some of which were useful and some not so much. Along the way, I also discovered some amazingly useful web sites. However, I think the best way to learn is to trade with a limited stake (i.e. an amount one can afford to lose) of real money.
disclaimers
All journal entries are posted after I have closed out the positions. As this web log is a hobby, the amount of time between closing a position and the subsequent journal entry is variable and can be quite long.
This site is intended for entertainment purposes only. No content on this site should be construed as a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security, future, or derivative. At any given time, authors may or may not hold a position in securities discussed on this site and are not required to disclose such positions.
For privacy purposes, position sizes and amounts will be reported in percentage terms.