Day 50 - Starting with $7438

Total P/L for Day 50: +1833

P/L as % of starting amount = +24.9%

Trade 1: SPY Puts $466P expiring 12/17 2 rounds, once around 10AM and next into close. Took 5% profit both times but each time it went over 30%

Total P/L: +865 (+5.5%)

Trade 2: SPY Calls $471C expiring 12/17 40 contracts, started scaling under 467.5 all the way to 466.8, closed when it hit 468.2

Total P/L: +746 (+11.8%)

Trade 3: SPY Calls $470C expiring 12/17 29 contracts Felt I left some money on the table when I closed 471C so I picked up calls again at a dip. My target was 468.8 but the constant rejections around 468.5-468.6 forced me to take profits and re-enter puts for close.

Total P/L: +222 (+3.6%)

A very good day but I could have reached this profit by only holding puts I bought in the morning. Take 5% each time or hold longer for bigger profits is always a struggle. I'm more comfortable booking profits just in case the tide turns.

Available to trade next day $8083

Day 49 - Starting with $6680

Total P/L for Day 49: +886

P/L as % of starting amount = +13.3%

Trade 1: SWING SPY Calls $469C expiring 12/17 19 contracts @3.16

Total P/L: +963 (+16%) Thanks for CPI numbers matching expectations. This was an oversize gamble

Trade 2: QQQ Calls $400C expiring 12/17 10 contracts @3.13

Closed @3.38Total P/L: +247 (+7.8%)

Trade 3: SPY Puts $468P expiring 12/17 7 contracts @3.45 for EOD pivot. Got the vix expectation wrong second day, This time I decided to book the loss. Maybe I should avoid EOD pivots.

Closed @3. Total P/L: -324 (-13.4%)

Available to trade next day $7348

Day 48 - Starting with $6073

Total P/L for Day 48: +896

P/L as % of starting amount = +14.8%

Plenty of trades today since it was so choppy

Trade 1: SPY Calls $471C expiring 12/15 2 rounds. Got stopped on 28 contracts the first time and entered later again with 30 contracts. Recovered losses on this trade when SPY crossed 469 momentarily

Total P/L: +76 (+0.6%)

Trade 2: SPY Puts $468P expiring 12/15 after I got stopped on calls the first time. Didn't wait for 5% since I'd missed the bulk of rejection move already

Total P/L: +160 (+2.9%)

Trade 3: SPY Calls $468C expiring 12/15 2 rounds. After I closed puts, waited for entry and made +5% the first time. The 2nd time I saw choppiness where I went +3.5% to +1% in minutes. Didn't want to be stuck with the position and close. That was a good idea, since SPY retraced lower after that.

Total P/L: +369 (+3.1%)

Trade 4: SPY Calls $470C expiring 12/15 23 contracts when the choppiness lowered and I expected retrace to 468.6

Total P/L: +291 (+4.9%)

Trade 5: SPY Calls $469C expiring 12/17 19 contracts near close. They went -13% wiping out day's profit but I decided to swing.

Available to trade next day $6680, of which $6K is assigned to call swing

Day 47 - Starting with $5521

Total P/L for Day 47: +603

P/L as % of starting amount = +10.9%

Only 2 trades in the first 45 mins and was done for the day.

Trade 1: SPY Calls $470C expiring 12/15 16 contracts on a dip at open

Total P/L: +322 (+6%)

Trade 2: SPY Puts $468P expiring 12/15 on a rejection on 5m 50MA.

Total P/L: +281 (+4.9%)

As a bummer, the VXX puts I closed on Friday for 40% loss are also up 90%. Instead of 1800 loss that would be up 3800. Facepalm!

Available to trade next day $6073, no swings

Day 46 - Starting with $5843

Total P/L for Day 46: -322

P/L as % of starting amount = -5.5%

Not a good day trading today. Blog site is extremely slow so I'll just post my performance without commentary

Available to trade next day $5521, no swings

Day 45 - Starting with $5312

Total P/L for Day 45: +550

P/L as % of starting amount = +10.4%

Trade 1: SPY Calls $456C expiring 12/13 9 contracts @5.5

Total P/L: +492 (+9.9%)

I felt I left some money on the table and went in again with 4 contracts 458C and then avgd down with 2 more @4.79 avg. This was greed But I got stopped out at 455. It held 454.9 and I got in again with 6 @4.9 and had to avg down again with 3 more. This time I didn't panic and had a stop below 454.8. But it held again and I set my target to 457. Closed slightly below it for a net profit. It went to 458 and I eventually did leave around 600+ on the table anyways. Shows how greed is unnecessary.

Trade 2: SPY calls $458C expiring 12/13 twice.

Total P/L: +58 (+0.07%)

All action in the first hour of trading, then I'm done for the day

Available to trade next day $5843, no swings

Day 44 - Starting with $5703

Total P/L for Day 44: -391

P/L as % of starting amount = -6.9%

Trade 1: Swing VXX Puts $23.5P expiring 12/17 scaled in more but they never recovered. I realized yesterday that these were a failed cause but hoped to recover some today. It opened so low that I decided to see where it went, and of course it went south

Total P/L: -1852 (-42.5%)

The rest of the day was a salvage operation. I got put hedges but they were so expensive that I paper handed them many times for pennies. They went 30-50% eventually.

Once I booked a loss on VXX puts, my mind was clearer and made better trades. But not before I scalped puts numerous times, too many to admit or remember. I was forever wary of extremely high premiums getting crushed and it did happen to me with calls later in the day

Trade 2: SPY puts $452P expiring 12/10 twice. These were closed basically at breakeven and would have been 10% up even after the EOD relief rally

Trade 3: SPY puts $450P expiring 12/10. Made less than 2% on these

Trade 4: SPY puts $447P expiring 12/10 about 6 times, I think. Cumulatively made 4.5% on them but some were closed at a loss. On a day like this it'd be hard to imagine put being red but that's how jumpy I was.

Trade 5: SPY calls $457C expiring 12/10 thrice with return of 4.4%. The first time I closed for 1%, next time got stopped for -4% then rode the relief rally till my conservative target of 452.2 which was also the top of the downward channel and was showing resistance again. Panicked again and closed. It broke through and those calls went 10% higher

Trade 6: SPY puts $444P expiring 12/10 Between the 3 rounds of calls, I expected a dump and took a quick scalp with puts, expecting market dump. Made about 4.4% on them before 5min showed a hammer and I switch to calls for the final run.

I wouldn't be too harsh on myself. The day was green, except the swung VXX puts and could have been very green if I'd held puts in the morning. Calls at close could have helped break even too but I followed a plan (452.2) and stuck to it (which is better than revenge trading)

Available to trade next day $5312, no swings

Day 43 - Starting with $5703

Total P/L for Day 43: 0

P/L as % of starting amount = 0%

Trade 1: VXX Puts $23.5P expiring 12/17 scaled in previous day and swung, and averaged down. Now holding 20 contracts @1.7. There has been tremendous IV decay on these, something I've seen previous days but was fortunate. The best price for the day was still a 5% loss for me and I was in a flight at the time. It closed -21% and counting. This will probably end up in a loss. Will swing and hedge with the remaining 2.3K tomorrow

Total P/L: +0

Available to trade next day $5703 of which $3400 is tied to VXX puts

Day 42 - Starting with $5424

Total P/L for Day 42: +279

P/L as % of starting amount = +5.1%

Trade 1: VXX Puts $23P expiring 12/17 2 rounds

Total P/L: +279 (+7.6%)

Expected 15-20% on these but with IV decay I let go for 7% since I was about to be on the road. These eventually did go 28% as I'd expected.

I scaled $23.5Puts for Dec monthly rest of the day and unfortunately they got decayed too.

Available to trade next day $5703

Day 41 - Starting with $5051

Total P/L for Day 42: +373

P/L as % of starting amount = +7.4%

Trade 1: VXX Puts $23P expiring 12/17 2 rounds

Total P/L: +373 (+6.4%)

Available to trade next day $5424

Day 40 - Starting with $4592

Total P/L for Day 40: +782

P/L as % of starting amount = +17%

Trade 1: Swing VXX Puts $23P expiring 12/17 20 contracts @2.1

Closed @2.49. Total P/L: +782 (+18.6%)

Available to trade next day $5051

Day 39 - Starting with $4237

Total P/L for Day 39: +355

P/L as % of starting amount = +8.4%

Trade 1: SPY Puts $459P expiring 12/1 5 contracts @4.91

Closed @5.2. Total P/L: +143 (+5.8%)

Both puts & calls were way too expensive today. so I stuck to VXX puts for most part.

Trade 2: VXX Puts $23P expiring 12/17 20 contracts @2.11

Closed @2.22. Total P/L: +212 (+5%)

I know VXX puts is a very good trade but I'll not be following markets or trading for most of next week, so didn't want to swing on a short trading day. I wanted to close at 2.25 but this was rising when SPY was dropping, so didn't want to take chances with a decay. My target was reached in the next 20mins, but I'm happy to finish a short week strong

Trade 3: VXX Puts $23P expiring 12/17 20 contracts @2.1, Round 2

Scaled in again when SPY went to low 458, expecting a close over 460. Didn't buy SPY calls because they were too expensive and any amount of IV crush would be bad for my trade. However, my VXX puts also got decayed over the day and even with SPY at 461.25, they were trading at 1.95, I'll swing these with a GTC order of 2.25 for next week

I deployed my surplus profits for IVV today and got 4 of them at avg 461.54

Available to trade next day $4592, of which $4200 is tied to VXX puts

Day 38 - Starting with $3851

Total P/L for Day 38: +699

P/L as % of starting amount = +18.1%

Trade 1: SPY Calls $468C expiring 12/1 15 contracts @2.41

Closed @2.6. Total P/L: +275 (+7.6%)

This went to 2.95 in next 10mins but I wanted to secure my day's 5% profit first

Trade 2: SPY Calls $469C expiring 12/1 15 contracts @2.27

Scaled in during weakness again to retest HOD. Wanted to close 10 of 15 but somehow made a mistake in entering the trade. Expected 467.8 but order filled at 467.3. it finally got to 467.9 after some volatility but options were 2.52, so I didn't miss much due to decay.

Closed @2.45. Total P/L: +267 (+7.8%)

Trade 3: SPY Puts $467P expiring 11/29 10 contracts @1.51

FOMC minutes play. Scaled puts near 469 with 10% expected profit on vix spike at 2PM. It worked perfectly like always and these went 35% soon after I closed

Closed @1.67. Total P/L: +157 (+10.4%)

Available to trade next day $4237

Day 37 - Starting with $3501 (of which $1322 is used in swing trades)

Total P/L for Day 37: +724

P/L as % of starting amount = +20.7%

Trade 1: Swing SPY Calls $472C expiring 11/29 8 contracts @1.09

The screenshot shows a loss due to wash sale rules. I accounted for the $196 loss yesterday

Closed @1.12. Total P/L: +21 (+2.4%)

Trade 2: Swing SPY Puts $460P expiring 11/26 8 contracts @0.57

Closed @0.66. Total P/L: +69 (+15.2%)

Tech is weaker today. For Puts, I'll prefer QQQ

Trade 3: VXX Puts $21.5P expiring 12/10 4 contracts @1.62

Closed @1.72. Total P/L: +39 (+6%)

Trade 4: SPY Calls $469C expiring 11/29 8 contracts @2.32

Closed @2.5. Total P/L: +133 (+7.1%)

Trade 5: QQQ Puts $395P expiring 11/29 4 contracts @3.27

Closed @3.5. Total P/L: +90 (+6.9%)

Trade 6: SPY Puts $465P expiring 11/29 6 contracts @2.57

Closed @2.75. Total P/L: +102 (+6.6%)

Trade 7: SPY Puts $465P expiring 11/29 3 contracts, Round 2 @2.27

Closed @2.52. Total P/L: +74 (+10.9%)

Trade 8: SPY Calls $469C expiring 11/29 ,Round 2 with 11 contracts @1.45

Closed @1.58. Total P/L: +142 (+8.9%)

Trade 3: VXX Puts $21.5P expiring 12/10 7 contracts @1.55

Closed @1.63. Total P/L: +54 (+5%)

Available to trade next day $3851

Day 36 - Starting with $3183

Total P/L for Day 36: $676 (of which $25 goes to IVV)

P/L as % of starting amount = +21.2%

Trade 1: SPY Calls $472C expiring 11/29 4 rounds

Closed first round with 15 contracts for 7%, it went 60%

Second round with 10 contracts, third with 12 contracts were 5.5% & 20%. The last time at the end where I got 13 contract with total avg 1.24 and closed 5 for a loss and swung the rest. This was because I got cocky. Fidelity shows it as a wash sale because I'm swinging 8 calls but I'll account for the loss on 5 today.

Total P/L: +407

Trade 2: SPY Puts $472P expiring 11/24 25 contracts @1.11

Bought on rejection from 473.5 and kept adding. With a retest of 47.5, it lost about 7% in value just by decay. Then the market dropped and I booked 3.3% gain. It went to 200% gain and then 330% by close.

This trade could have ended my 2K challenge round 1!

Closed @1.15. Total P/L: +92 (+3.3%)

Trade 3: QQQ Calls $404C expiring 11/29 7 contracts @2.75

Closed @3. Total P/L: +176 (+7.6%)

Missed the rally in the morning to collect 60%, then tried shorting and missed the big drop again. The played the bounce well, until I got greedy and wanted to play the bounce one last time and gave up some profits and got stuck with calls into close. Bought puts as a hedge.

Available to trade next day $3501 of which about $1500 is locked up with swing calls and puts. The calls are very risky now and I could be looking at 1K loss here, so need to trade carefully and recover this with other trades

Day 35 - Starting with $2894

Total P/L for Day 35: $314 (of which $25 goes to IVV)

P/L as % of starting amount = +10.9%

Trade 1: SPY Calls $471C expiring 11/24 2 rounds with 13 and 5 contracts.

The first time was an early entry and avg down was early too, glad to end that in green. The next time was a better entry but with lower confidence and just to get over the 5% mark for the day, so didn't hold long

Total P/L: +51 (+1.4%)

Trade 2: SPY Puts $468P expiring 11/26 10 contracts @2.34

Saw a bear flag on 5min chart and went in with a small position, hoping to scale in. However, it started falling while I entered my order and didn't get the best price

Closed @2.44. Total P/L: +86 (+3.7%) Closed when it hit MA on multiple timeframes around 468.85

Trade 3: SPY Calls $471C expiring 11/22 10 contracts @0.99

Broke my general rule on 1dte options and went in with 5 when SPY broke HOD 470.25, and added 5 more around 470.55. Closed around 470.8

Closed @1.07. Total P/L: +77 (+7.6%)

I expected a drop after the spike to high 471s and I mentioned to someone on ST that it could see low 469. I was right and the rejection took it to 468.5. Would have been a 35% trade easily.

But with an eye on VIX and major MA supports, I played the bounce at the risk of overtrading when 5m showed a hammer.

Trade 4: SPY Calls $470C expiring 11/22 15 contracts @0.88

Went in with 10 at 469.9 and added 5 more on the retest around 469.8. I didn't have a target but 200ma on 5m and 50ma on 15m sat at 469.5. I closed at 469.25 for 7.5%. It did go to 469.55 for 22% return.

Closed @0.95. Total P/L: +100 (+7.5%)

Available to trade next day $3183

Day 34 - Starting with $2660

Total P/L for Day 34: +234

P/L as % of starting amount = +8.8%

I missed the drop from 469 to 466.5, felt chasing each time I wanted. under 467.4 was a good short but I held off. Played the bounce instead but was not very confident, so didn't invest all amount.

Trade 1 SPY Calls $470C expiring 11/24 13 contracts @ 1.14

Closed @1.25. Total P/L: +138 (+9.4%)

I expected 468 on the bounce and it did happen an hour later with options going for 1.45. This was a 25-30% trade. Edit: It went to 469 with options at 1.85 (60%). Wow that was serious underestimation, when I picked near bottom entry.

The fact that I can't read setups too well and enter/close early means I need to study more. I take consolidation as signs of weakness and panic sell most of the times. I'm not as disappointed as missing the profits as I am with being wrong and panicking. It dents the confidence, will probably not trade again today.

Trade 2: SPY Puts $468P expiring 11/24 @ 1.68

Came back in the end for a pivot trade. Bought between 469.75-470 an closed around 469.45, from which price reversed back up.

Closed @1.78. Total P/L: $96 (+5.7%)

Available to trade next day $2894

Day 33 - Starting with $2418

Total P/L for Day 33: +372 ($242 for next day and $130 for IVV)

P/L as % of starting amount = +15.4%

Trade 1 & 2: Swing Call credit spreads swing for SPY and QQQ up $32 at close on 11/16

Expired worthless. Total P/L: +118 (+13.4%)

Trade 3: SPY Calls $469C expiring 11/22 2 rounds. 10 contracts first time and 6 contracts next time. Set my expectations low 5-7% but these went to 20% each time

Total P/L: +162 (+6.1%)

Trade 4: QQQ calls $399c expiring 11/22 2 rounds. 1 contract first time and 7 next time. The first time this went 30% and QQQ was stronger than SPY. So I felt I missed out and next time I added when it fell back to 398.2. But it went to 397.3 and I had to avg down a lot. It did see a bounce back to my expected levels to hit 398.5. I again closed for a conservative 5%, just because I had a higher average

Total P/L: +92 (+5.6%)

Good day overall, the last trade was forced though. Could have waited for a better entry or not traded at all since I had already made my day's expected gain.

Available to trade next day $2660

Day 32 - Starting with $2276

Total P/L for Day 32: +142

P/L as % of starting amount = +6.2%

Trade 1: SPY Puts $467P expiring 11/22 7 contracts @ 2.57 , 2 rounds with 9 contracts each - 1 in morning and next in afternoon. The morning entry gave me 107 profit, the afternoon trade was closed for 10 profit but went 14%. My initial idea was to get 5% but with an early entry (1.29 avg) and theta burn, it went to 1.36 and missed my target by 2 cents. Then it moved back up and I panicked and closed. The last minute saw a big dip with the price closing at 1.48 (~14% return)

Total P/L: +117 (+4.3%)

Trade 2: QQQ Calls $396C expiring 11/22 2 contracts @ 2.62

After I closed my puts in the morning, I expected a bounce and closed this as soon as I met my avg daily target. This went 40%

Closed @ 2.75. Total P/L: +25 (+4.8%)

Each trade today was good, the follow through not so much. I'm just bummed about the last trade where I broke even but entered too soon and panicked to close.

I'm swinging SPY 472/473 Call credit spreads ( 7 spreads with net credit 0.14) and QQQ 401/402 CCS (3 spreads with net credit 0.08) both expiring 11/17. Max profit $118, max risk $882 (13.3% R/R). If these expire tomorrow, I may not have to trade as this is roughly 5%. I'm pretty confident about this trade

Available to trade next day $2418 of which $882 is risked already

Day 31 - Starting with $2069

Total P/L for Day 31: +401 ($207 for next day and $194 for IVV)

P/L as % of starting amount = +19.4%

Trade 1: Swing SPY Call credit Spread $470/471c expiring 11/15 7 contracts @0.15 net credit, max loss $595.

Expired worthless. Total P/L: +103 (+17.2%)

Trade 2: SPY Puts $467P expiring 11/22 7 contracts @ 2.57

Closed @ 3.01. Total P/L: +298 (+16.5%)

Available to trade next day $2276

Day 30 - Starting with $2187

Total P/L for Day 30: -118

P/L as % of starting amount = -5.4%

Trade 1: SPY Calls $465C expiring 11/17 2 rounds, 10 and 11 contracts.

Closed for pennies and it ran right after I closed the second time. And the run was incredible. 60% before it started consolidating and 80% for EOD spike

People I follow on stocktwits were bullish above 465.33 & 465.7 with 467 target. I should have entered again

Total P/L: +68 (+1.5%)

Trade 2 &3: Tried calls 2 more times but since I missed the initial run, I felt like chasing and didn't feel confident during consolidation and closed for a loss

Total P/L: -$57

Trade 3: SPY Puts $466P expiring 11/17 13 contracts @1.55.

I saw the inverted hammer on 5min but with low confidence I second guessed my idea and missed a good entry. Eventually ended up chasing and picked the bottom of that move to short. Lost instantly

Closed @ 1.45. Total P/L: -129 (-6.4%)

Trade 4: SPY Call credit Spread $470/471c expiring 11/15 7 contracts @0.15 net credit, max loss $595.

Pretty bummed about having the right trade but not following through with it. Even if I didn't take 60%, it could have easily yielded 25%.

Available to trade next day $2069

Day 29 - Starting with $2134

Total P/L for Day 29: +293 (of which $94 goes to IVV...still waiting for a good dip. Now $460 waiting to be deployed)

P/L as % of starting amount = +14.7%

Trade 1: QQQ Puts $390P expiring 11/15 11 contracts @ 1.67. Went to about 1.57 before going higher

Closed @ 1.92. Total P/L: +271 (+14.8%)

Trade 2: SPY Puts $463P expiring 11/17 3 rounds 2-3 puts each time. But I realized that I entered at the end of the trend each time and closed pretty quickly

Total P/L: +14 (+0.08%)

Trade 3: QQQ Calls $392C expiring 11/15 5 calls @2.19.

Saw a hammer on 15min and wanted to play the recovery and tracked these calls from 2. When it cleared my entry 391.23, it shot up to 391.48 instantly and didn't give me a chance to get lower premium so I bought at market price expecting 392 retest. Saw weakness and got out again for pennies. Diminishing returns on all trades, time to give up for the day and take the win.

Closed @ 2.21. Total P/L: +8 (+0.08%)

Recovered yesterday's losses and time to build back up.

Available to trade next day $2187

Day 28 - Starting with $2134

Total P/L for Day 28: -262

P/L as % of starting amount = -11.7%

Today was a short the rip day. I was up $174 (7.7%) in the morning after 2 trades. But then I got tempted to call the bottom on the fall and lost and kept adding. Then revenge traded calls twice and lost more before recovering some with puts, only to lose most of it and calls at end to salvage a little. All while puts probably paid 200% today (facepalm).

Lately I've been better at noticing a bad trade and closing out before too late. It felt bad losing most of this week's profit to greed. The last time I reversed from green week and day to red on a Wednesday, I ended up revenge trading the next 2 days and lost more. Today was a wake up call that 1 bad trade can reverse days' or even week's worth of progress, if not stopped on time. It also ruins the confidence.

Now a reminder to myself that greed and revenge trading are against the rules I want to follow long term.

There were too many trades to post. I'll just leave a screenshot of my shameful greed.

Available to trade next day $1989

Day 27 - Starting with $2134

Total P/L for Day 27: +117

P/L as % of starting amount = +5.5%

The markets dropped 0.6% at open and puts went up over 100% but I didn't make that trade. Waited for a bottom to trade, unfortunately entered too soon

Trade 1: SPY Calls $469C expiring 11/15 10 contracts @ 2.03. Entered with 6 at 2.18, then bought 4 more at 1.8

Closed @ 2.06. Total P/L: +29 (+1.4%)

Trade 2: SPY Calls $471C expiring 11/15 1 contract @ 1.11. Added this at the bottom to make it an even 2134.

Closed @ 1.16. Total P/L: +5 (+4.5%)

I closed my calls around 467.7 with expectation of 468 which eventually did happen

Trade 3: SPY Puts $466P expiring 11/12 5 contracts @ 1.77.Entered around 467.6, then averaged down at 467.9

Closed @ 1.86. Total P/L: +43 (+4.9%)

Again the idea was right and SPY dropped to 466.1. This would have made much higher

Trade 4: SPY Calls $468C expiring 11/15 2 round with 2 contracts each at around 466.6, with expectation of 467.25. It happened both times with 9.4% return first time but the second time I closed at breakeven when it rejected at 466.8 multiple times. However after a while it went to 467.19 before dropping again to day's low (465.9) and ending 467.4. Avg for 4 contracts 2.1

Closed avg @ 2.02. Total P/L: +41 (+4.8%)

I called the eod pivot to 467 from 466.6 and it ended 467.4 but after the breakeven trade I realized I should not be fighting for diminishing returns.

Available to trade next day $2251

Day 26 - Starting with $1950

Total P/L for Day 26: +184

P/L as % of starting amount = +9.4%

Trade 1: SPY Puts $468P expiring 11/15 8 contracts @ 2.25.

Closed @ 2.38. Total P/L: +109 (+6%)

Trade 2: SPY Calls $470C expiring 11/15 9 contracts @ 2.1. Impulse trade when I thought SPY was bottoming near day's low and entered early, then averaged down.

Closed @ 2.13. Total P/L: +21 (+1.1%)

The idea was right but closed when previous low started looking like a resistance. Was 6-7% trade from my lower cost buys. It hit my target of 2.2 at 468.78 but fell quickly from there. I'm not worried about the early sell as it looked weak before and after that spike.

Trade 3: QQQ Puts $398P expiring 11/15 6 contracts @ 3.16. Impulse trade again on QQQ falling but I got caught with a high cost basis and then averaged down, which was also not too good. The spread was too wide. However I was right about QQQ falling EOD and this option went to 3.5 (QQQ 397.6) the next 10minutes.

Closed @ 3.19. Total P/L: +21 (+1.1%)

Trade 4: SPY Calls $470C expiring 11/15 5 contracts @ 1.95. Round 2. EOD pivot move when it fell to 468.6 and held 50ma on 5min and Vix gapping down on 1 min. Price went up 0.05 while booking the trade. Didn't expect high 469 so got out around 469.1 while it went to 469.25 before reversing

Closed @ 2.02. Total P/L: +33 (+3.4%)

The idea was right but closed when previous low started looking like a resistance. Was 6-7% trade from my lower cost buys. It hit my target of 2.2 at 468.78 but fell quickly from there. I'm not worried about the early sell as it looked weak before and after that spike.

Part of the reason I've been too jumpy is because I'm learning to deploy all capital. As the account grows lager, I'll need to condition myself to not be flustered by $ profits/losses but instead find better trades for 5% gains.

Available to trade next day $2134

Day 25 - Starting with $1773

Total P/L for Day 25: +193 ($177 for next day and $16 surplus for IVV)

P/L as % of starting amount = +10.9%

Trade 1: QQQ Puts $398P expiring 11/10. 5 rounds with target of 5% each time.

Total P/L: +84 (+5%)

There were too few puts today and market ran with euphoria at open and my idea was to short the spikes. At 1:30 PM SPY went to low 467.4, down from 470.5 and QQQ dropped to 397.5 from 401.

Puts would have paid 20% the first time and 75% the last time

Trade 2: QQQ Calls $400C expiring 11/10 @ 2.19

Closed @ 2.3. Total P/L: +21 (+4.9%)

Trade 3: SPY Calls $469C expiring 11/10. I was scaling in and out of this targeting 5-10% returns

Total P/L: +88 (+8%)

Available to trade next day $1950

Day 24 - Starting with $1617

Total P/L for Day 24: +159

P/L as % of starting amount = +9.9%

Happy Diwali!

Trade 1: SPY Calls $467C expiring 11/10. Scaled in 8 contracts @ 1.75 avg

Total P/L: +159 (+11.3%)

This trade went +34% to 2.35 at 467 about 15min after I closed but I was happy with exceeding my day's target of 5% and closed

I got busy with Diwali preparations and didn't see another trade forming. Inverse hammer on 30min closing at 11AM ended at 466.5. The next 30mins brought down SPY to 465.4. Would have been a good trade with a smaller put position

Available to trade next day $1773

Day 23 - Starting with $1467

Total P/L for Day 23: +170 ($147 for next day + $23 surplus for IVV)

P/L as % of starting amount = +11.6%

FOMC day! Markets moved sideways but kept giving opportunities for small scalps. QQQ bounced off my support around 388.7 so I got calls each time there

Trade 1: QQQ Calls $390C expiring 11/8. 4 rounds with 4 calls each the first 2 times then 3 calls each the next 2 times. I closed around 389.1 each time for 2-3% gains

Total P/L: +92 (+2.8%)

FOMC Play - I generally buy puts at 1:45PM and close at 2PM on the dip and buy calls for the pop if the news isn't too bad, then puts again at the pump. But I missed my entry into puts and still bought them late

Trade 2: QQQ Puts $389P expiring 11/5 2 contracts at 2.03. Bought 1 initially at 2.33 and averaged down at 1.73 when the market pumped

Closed at 2.12. Total P/L: +17 (+4.3%)

Trade 3: SPY Put $460P expiring 11/8 @2.17. Didn't average down at the pump

Closed at 1.79. Total P/L: -38 (-17.7%)

Trade 4: QQQ Calls $390C expiring 11/8 again on the dip. 4 contracts @ 2.68

Closed at 2.8. Total P/L: +49 (+4.5%)

This went to 2.97 after things cooled down. During extreme volatility, it even went to 3.15. Incredibly QQQ was up 1% with this call up to 4.5 at close

Trade 5: SPY Puts $464P expiring 11/8 again. 6 contracts @ 1.76

Scaled in 6 contracts and closed after market close. The reason I decided to keep scaling was that eventually I will need to deploy full capital to achieve 5% return, else I'll have to trade multiple times or expect higher % return on lower invested capital

Closed at 1.85. Total P/L: +49 (+4.7%)

I traded pennies while calls would have made 100% today. The rally was absurd and unexpected, so I'm not upset over forgone profits. There'll be another day. Greed has left me negative for the day a lot of times.

Available to trade next day $1614 with surplus for IVV $23

Day 22 - Starting with $1382

Total P/L for Day 22: +85

P/L as % of starting amount = +6.1%

A day to short over 462 and buy at MA supports. After my initial gains, I just traded 1 option each time to preserve gains

Trade 1: QQQ Calls $390C expiring 11/8 4 contracts @2.1

Closed @2.23. Total P/L: +46 (+5.5%)

Trade 2: SPY Calls $462C expiring 11/8 2 contracts @2.41

Closed @2.48. Total P/L: +15 (+3%)

Trade 3: QQQ Calls $390C expiring 11/8 1 contract @2.06 Round 2

Closed @2.16. Total P/L: +9 (+4.2%)

Trade 4: SPY Puts $460P expiring 11/8 1 contract @1.99

Closed @2.09. Total P/L: +10 (+5%)

Trade 5: SPY Call $463C expiring 11/8 1 contract @1.95

Closed @2.02. Total P/L: +6 (+3%)

Each trade was an easy 5-7%. Didn't want to risk my profits for the day by going heavier

Available to trade next day $1467

And back over 2K finally :)

Day 21 - Starting with $1289

Total P/L for Day 21: +93

P/L as % of starting amount = +7.2%

Trade 1: QQQ Calls $390C expiring 11/8 5 contracts @1.6

Closed @1.66. Total P/L: +33 (+4.1%)

This was closed too soon but I needed to free capital to average down on SPY calls

Trade 2: SPY Calls $463C expiring 11/8 10 contracts @1.31

Initially had 2 but then averaged down by freeing up money and profits from QQQ calls

Closed @1.35. Total P/L: +43 (+3.2%)

Closed around 459.8 when I saw theta decay eating into my profits. It went to 460 and back down under 459 so I'd consider my conservative approach a win today.

Trade 3: QQQ Calls $388C expiring 11/8 6 contracts @2.31

Closed @2.34. Total P/L: +17 (+1.2%)

An impulse buy based on hammer and double bottom on 30min chart. I was late to the entry and started with 1 contract at first but then FOMO kicked in and I bought 5 more, with expectation 386.5. This seemed like a gamble and was down 4% soon after so I closed in profit on signs of resistance at 50ma on 5min. QQQ soon went 386.4 with options trading 2.45 within 5mins and 2.55 in 15mins (QQQ 386.7). I was just not too confident due to a late entry but this was a good 10% play.

Available to trade next day $1382

Day 20 - Starting with $1313

Total P/L for Day 20: -24

P/L as % of starting amount = -1.8%

The swing from previous day were up decently at open. 0dte SPY $455 put went from 0.3->0.8 and 11/5 $454P went from 1.98 -> 2.9.

I expected markets to be weak but I was wrong and didn't take profits at open. Called the top twice and made out with minor profit but was caught the third time.

Trade 1: SPY Puts $454P expiring 11/5 2 contracts @1.98 swing and 1 @2.29

Closed @2.17. Total P/L: +25 (+4%)

Trade 2: SPY Put $455P expiring 10/29 @0.3

Expired worthless. Total P/L: -30 (-100%)

Trade 3: QQQ Put $379P expiring 11/5 1 contracts @2.18

Closed @2.34. Total P/L: +16 (+7.2%)

Trade 4: QQQ Put $383P expiring 11/5 2 contracts @2.69

Closed @2.76. Total P/L: +13 (+2.5%)

Trade 5: SPY Puts $457P expiring 11/5 2 contracts @2.52

Closed @2.17. Total P/L: +14 (+2.8%)

Trade 6: SPY Puts $456P expiring 11/5 2 contracts @2.34

Closed @2.03. Total P/L: -62 (-13.2%)

Calls at open were the play today, despite the high OI pointing to close under 455. The volume of puts at 457 grew considerably during the day. Diminishing returns from calling the top should have given me a hint.

Available to trade next day $1289

Day 19 - Starting with $1216

Total P/L for Day 19: +97

P/L as % of starting amount = +8%

Plan was same as yesterday to build a put position and scale in. Expected SPY to drop to 456.5 from 457.9 and QQQ to 382.5. Both targets met but my QQQ initial buy was too soon and IV crushed both sets of puts

Trade 1: SPY Puts $454P expiring 11/5 2 contracts @2.27

Closed @2.42. Total P/L: +29 (+6.5%)

Trade 2: QQQ Puts $379P expiring 11/5 4 contracts @1.74

Closed @1.79. Total P/L: +21 (+3%)

Trade 3: QQQ Puts $379P expiring 11/3 3 contracts @2.06

Closed @2.19. Total P/L: +42 (+6.8%)

Trade 4: SPY Puts $452P expiring 11/3 3 contracts @0.91 was entered to catch any spike over 458 and triggered right before close and went negative. Them Amazon results drove everything down and I ended with a profit since I didn't want to swing so much

Closed @0.93. Total P/L: +5 (+1.8%)

Both these gave 15-20% returns from their low

Swinging SPY puts 2 contracts 11/5 $454P @ 1.98 and 1 contract 10/29 $455P @0.3

Available to trade next day $1313

Day 18 - Starting with $1106

Total P/L for Day 18: +184

P/L as % of starting amount = +16.4%

Was out most of the day but traded confidently. Options pointed to a drop to 452 till Friday and I mostly traded puts with an intention to swing if the drop didn't happen today

Trade 1: SPY Puts $452P expiring 11/3 4 contracts each in 2 rounds, profit both times but the second time was a flush and I could have earned much more if held till close. Since I was out and SPY kept rising hitting triggering my put buy orders, I didn't want to take a risk and set a conservative sell target in absence of data. If the sell didn't fill I was ready to swing.

Avg price 1.615

Closed @1.76. Total P/L: +108 (+8.3%)

Trade 2: QQQ Call $381C expiring 11/3 1 contract @2.66

Closed @2.9. Total P/L: +23 (+8.5%)

This was a hedge to SPY 452 puts round 1, since QQQ was much stronger today. I literally caught the bottom here and it eventually went to 4.4 but I took conservative profits on any sign of weakness

Trade 3: QQQ Put $379P expiring 11/3 3 contracts @2.2

Closed @2.38. Total P/L: +51 (+1.8%)

My staggered buy orders at 2.4, 2.2, 2 filled but 1.7 didn't fill. Should have kept 1.8 instead. This also went much higher with the eod flush and ended at 2.85. Again chose to be safe and book profits as they came available

Available to trade next day $1216 and surplus for IVV $73

Day 17 - Starting with $1136

Total P/L for Day 17: -$30

P/L as % of starting amount = -2.6%

Too many quick scalp trades, mostly unnecessary and I didn't wait for them to play out. Kept tight stops to avoid losses. Trying to build confidence by reading the charts. The read was correct but I didn't follow through

Day 16 - Starting with $1272

Total P/L for Day 16: -$136

P/L as % of starting amount = -10.7%

Didn't trade as a part of 2K challenge last week but looked to book profits on stocks as they appeared to peak. Closed NET, PINS, PSTG and some others to buy on an upcoming correction in my opinion. Also with my day job, it is getting difficult to trade and update daily but I'll try my best

Trade 1: SPY Puts $451P expiring 10/29 6 contracts @0.93

Closed @0.78. Total P/L: -$88 (-15.7%)

Trade 2: SPY Calls $455C expiring 10/29 3 contracts @1.24

Closed @1.32. Total P/L: +24 (+6.5%)

Trade 3: SPY Call Credit Spread $456/457 expiring 10/27 4 contracts @0.2

Closed @0.4. Total P/L: -75 (-24%)

This trade ended green on 10/27 with SPY closing under 454. I was double minded on whether to close or wait it out. The following day SPY went to 458 but was weak on 10/27

Trade 4: QQQ Put $375P expiring 10/29 1 contract @1.62

Closed @1.65. Total P/L: +3 (+1.8%)

Unnecessary trade

Day 15 - Starting with $1751

Total P/L for Day 14: -$479

P/L as % of starting amount = -27.3%

Was jumpy all day, the day gave 2 good dips with recovery - 2 mini Vs and I played it really badly.

The idea was right for some of these but the entry was almost always late and hence stayed jumpy and exited before my targets hit. Then there was revenge trading. Disappointed today.

Day 14 - Starting with $1796

Total P/L for Day 14: -$45

P/L as % of starting amount = -2.5%

Markets gapped up to 438 and went higher. I'll look to sell call spreads 445/446C if we see 442 today (current 440.8)

On a separate note, I had put credit spreads 425/430 which I built over last few weeks (outside of this challenge) sold at 0.93 (4 contracts). I closed them today at 0.11 for net 328 profit. There was a put debit spread leg (2 contracts 420/425) of this trade which expired worthless 2 weeks ago so the net profit is about 200. Since the total risk on this was about 2000, I didn't want to bring it into the challenge and lock up my capital in 1 trade.

Trade 1: SPY Puts with tight stop $438P expiring 10/18 4 contracts @2.02

Closed @1.91. Total P/L: -$45 (-5.6%)

No other trades, Looked for another entry in puts but didn't get it.

I'll be swinging 3 call credit spreads 445/446C expiring 10/15. Net Credit 0.14, Max risk $258. R/R 16%

Day 13 - Starting with $1658

Total P/L for Day 13: +$138

P/L as % of starting amount = +8.3%

Trade 1: Swing SPY Put debit spread $434P/$435P expiring 10/13 3 contracts @0.44

Closed @ 0.21. Total P/L: -$69 (-52%)

Trade 2: Swing SPY Call debit spread $436C/$437C expiring 10/13 3 contracts @0.39

Expired worthless. Total P/L: -$117 (-100%)

Someone who shorted this iron condor yesterday made 0.83 with a risk of 0.17, which now looks excellent but seemed very unlikely yesterday.

Trade 3: SPY Puts $434P expiring 10/18 5 contracts @2.79

Closed @ 3.37. Total P/L: +$288 (+20.7%)

Trade 4: SPY Puts $433P expiring 10/18 8 contracts @2.16

Closed @ 2.21. Total P/L: +$36 (+2.1%)

Another good day but I was only active for the first 10minutes where I managed to secure 20% profit in puts. It went to 50% but I was driving by then. The spreads were a good idea yesterday and the market did drop as expected. Unfortunately I was driving when the bottom hit and could not close my put spreads. Eventually managed to salvage some money on the puts before close. Maybe I should have stayed away from the swing since I knew I wouldn't be active.

I traded the FOMC pop again. Minutes were out at 2PM, so I bought puts at 1:45 (435.1) and close at 1:59 (434.8). Then again when it popped at 2, I bought puts for another minor gain. Since I was trading on my phone and didn't have any charts or live feeds, my entries and exits were not optimal

Available to trade tomorrow $1796

Day 12 - Starting with $1507

Total P/L for Day 12: $404 of which $253 goes to daily surplus to buy IVV

P/L as % of starting amount = +27%

Another day where Pre market started down 0.5% but turned green at 8AM. Pivots on weekly opex have not worked as expected since the last week. I'll be careful trading those.

Trade 1: SPY Puts $433P expiring 10/18 5 contracts @2.87

Closed @ 3.55. Total P/L: +$338 (+23.6%) Used a trailing stop limit 0.1 based on what turned out to be low of the morning session. Price went back green so I got a good exit

Trade 2: SPY Puts $433P expiring 10/18 3 contracts @2.92, Round 2

Closed @ 2.96. Total P/L: +$11 (+1.2%) Used a trailing stop limit 0.1 when premium was 3.06 and got triggered on the move back up to 435. I should use this more often as both times today, my profits and capital were saved by trailing orders

Trade 3: SPY Calls $436C expiring 10/18 4 contracts @2.16

Closed @ 2.3. Total P/L: +$55 (+6.3%) Waited for the end of day pivot (434) when SPY was at 433. Bought in last 5min (433.2) and closed at 433.8 within the next 2 minutes. It did eventually go to 434 before ending 433.6. Again it was a good exit.

Ending notes: Today was a good day. Traded less and didn't waste away my profits. The pivot worked but after hours was already under 433 by 4:05PM.

Swinging 1 trade - bought 3 iron condor for 10/13 expiry (debit spreads on both calls 436/437 and puts 434/435. Net debit $249, Max profit $51 (20%). With CPI numbers and FOMC minutes, I expect a volatile day, probably negative.

Available to trade tomorrow: $1658 of which $249 is used in debit spreads

I'll also be out for most of the trading day and will probably not trade or post at all tomorrow

Day 11 - Starting with $1471

Total P/L for Day 10: +$36

P/L as % of starting amount = +2.4%

Pre market started down 0.5% was was only down 0.25% by 9AM. Open interest on puts shows 435 or under as a good buying opportunity. About 39K open puts at 435 and 24K at 437

Markets opened over 437 and went green to 440. I didn't get my best entry for calls and stayed out this morning.

Trade 1: QQQ Puts $361P expiring 10/15 5 contracts @2.78

Closed @ 2.96. Total P/L: +$88 (+6.3%)

Trade 2: QQQ Puts $361P expiring 10/15 5 contracts @2.94. Round 2

Closed @ 3. Total P/L: +$28 (+2%) Price changed from 3.1 to 3 in seconds while I was closing my puts. But then QQQ dropped under 361 as I'd expected with premiums up to 3.5 by 1:20PM

Trade 3: SPY Calls $438C expiring 10/13 8 contracts @2.

Low 437 seemed like a good buying opportunity with 439 pin likely with 250K calls at 439 & 440 and 330K puts between 437 - 439

Closed @ 1.9. Total P/L: -$80 (-5%)

Another day where "V" did not work and about 840K puts expired ITM with a close under 435. Sell the rip kind of a day. I'm glad I booked a loss when I saw rejection in recovery in low 437. Maybe I should've bought puts then as it went under 435.

I deployed the surplus to invest in IVV from last week on today's drop.

Day 10 - Starting with $1697, tradeable amount $680

Total P/L for Day 10: -$226

P/L as % of starting amount = -13.3%

Expect an exact opposite of previous day - Gap down, further down to under 436 then theta burn until Vix cools down and price pivots based on option buildup. SPY ended previous day with a lot of ITM puts and significant number at 435. Need to see how many stay open for weekly opex.

Plan will be to look for a bottom to close the put hedge. Then look out for theta burn and add calls and put credit spreads when Vix cools

Will also look to deploy surplus for IVV ($165)

Trade 1: Put credit spread for 10/8 SPY 433/434 swing from previous day

3 spreads with net credit $31, risk $269. R/R: 11.5%

Expired worthless. Total profit +$31 (+11.5%)

Trade 2: Calls 3 SPY $440 for 10/11 expiry swing @ 2.14

Closed @1.5 Total Loss -$192 (-29.5%)

Trade 3: Put 1 SPY $437 for 10/8 expiry swing @1.05 bought at close

Closed @0.74 when SPY reached 437.4. Theta ate away the hedge. Total Loss -$31 (-30%)

Ended up being a choppy morning just burning premiums. Still keeping my swings as they never went positive.

Trade 4: First of the day at 12:30PM 2 Puts SPY $437 expiry 10/11 at 1.61 on breakdown below 438 for a test of 437

Closed @ 1.28. Total Loss -$67 (-20.8%)

This would have made 15% if I'd held or 30% on a better entry.

Trade 5: Calls 3 SPY $440 for 10/11 expiry scalp @ 0.72

Closed @0.76. Total profit +$11 (+4.6%)

This went to 1.3 at 2:30PM, I called the bottom but wanted to take whatever profits I could scalp and re-enter lower, closer to end of day. I guess that happens with shattered confidence.

Apart from $641 in 440 calls and $57 in loss, I have $1000 free to trade now, which I plan to use for end of day pivot trade if presented. 439 seems to be the pin at 2:30PM

Trade 6: Puts 4 SPY $438 for 10/11 expiry @ 1.44

Closed @ 1.38. Total Loss -$25 (-4.3%)

Trade 7: Puts 6 SPY $438 for 10/11 expiry @ 1.64

Closed @ 1.68. Total Loss +$58 (+2.4%)

Ending notes: A meaningful dip happened twice and I played it wrong both times, losing once and closing for penning the next instead of holding for 15% profits

Day 9 - Starting with $1805

Total P/L for Day 9: -$108

P/L as % of starting amount = -6%

I expect calls to build up fast at open, so will wait for VIX reversal to take puts for a scalp

Trade 1: Call credit spread for 10/8 SPY 444/446. This might be a swing, will decide during the day

3 spreads with net credit $66, risk $534. R/R: 12.4% Probability of profit 90.8%

Closed when Vix started dropping again. Total profit +$25 (+4.6%)

Trade 2: Call credit spread for 10/8 SPY 445/447. This might be a swing, will decide during the day

2 spreads with net credit $48, risk $352. R/R: 13.6% Probability of profit 94.6%

Closed at 438.6. Total profit +$37 (+10.5%)

Trade 3: Puts 5 SPY $435 expiry 10/11 @ 1.28

Stop loss triggered at 1.01. Total Loss -$140 (-21.8%)

Calls building quickly over 440 with SPY at 441.5. I'll look for another opportunity for puts end of day and keep my credit spreads for now

Trade 4: Puts 4 SPY $436 expiry 10/13 @ 1.98. Another attempt based on VIX., now out of cash for the day with $870 risk in credit spreads and $790 in puts

Stop loss triggered at 1.8. Total Loss -$73 (-9.3%)

Theta decay is incredible. SPY isn't dropping much with a rise in VIX and with every SPY drop, the premium on puts still goes down.

Now $720 free to trade again, but I'll stay away for now

After 1:30PM is when Vix started rising and SPY fell to low 439 as I expected. The 436 puts would have made 20% at that point.

Trade 5: Calls 3 SPY $440 expiry 10/11 @ 2.14 as Vix is falling and 30min shows a hammer forming. Would be a quick scalp I think

Missed 7% profits on a rise to 439.9 (quick scalp was correct). But holding and will add tomorrow if falls further

Swinging now

Trade 6: Puts 2 SPY $437 expiry 10/13 @ 2.52 as it might fall lower into close. Used money freed from Call credit spreads

Initially thought 440 pin but 439 looks more likely. Also tomorrow morning may be bearish before a reversal later in the day.

Closed @2.74 when Vix gapped down. Total profit +$43 (+8.5%)

Ending notes: Bearish for the day was correct but it happened later in the day and went below 439. My expectation was 439.5

Daily candle made a shooting star. I expect a gap down tomorrow and downside to 436 before resurgence. Will look to add calls based on option pivot

Swinging 3 trades:

1. Put credit spreads 3 contracts 433/434 expiring 10/8

2. Calls 3 contracts $440 expiring 10/11

3. Put 1 contract $437 expiring 10/8 expecting a gap down

Day 8 - Starting with $2002

Total P/L for Day 8: -$198

P/L as % of starting amount = -10%

A great day until it wasn't

The trade to be made today was buy SPY calls at open (429.3). Unfortunately fidelity doesn't let market orders until 9:32AM and my multiple attempts at limit orders at ask price didn't fill as it kept running away. The run was pretty much over in 2 minutes (431.3) as VIX started catching up.

I watched 10/11 SPY $432 call go from 2.67 to 3.37 but I stopped chasing as I saw 431.35 as resistance on 15, 30 and 60 min timeframes

AND, while I was moping about the missed call opportunity, I didn't buy puts for the downside. SPY dropped 3 points by 10AM

Lesson: Be agile to switch sides quickly

Today is weekly opex, I'm sure there'll be more opportunities to trade based on option pivots

Trade 1 - Scaling SPY $432 calls. Bought 3 @ 2.4, will buy more under 427 and then 426

Didn't need to buy more. Limit sell order filled at around 430.7 and it went higher back to resistance range 431.1 (3.22 premium on my calls)

Limit sell order filled at 3.1. Total Profit $209 (+29.1%)

Secured my daily profit target with only 35% of daily allocated amount. I want to trade more like this, fewer trades, less capital, higher profits. There were 3 such trades in the first hour today

Trade 2 - Scaling SPY $432 calls. Bought 1 @ 2.59 at 429.6 based on option pivot, will buy more under 428 and then 427

Again no additional buys, hovered around 429.5 before jumping to 431.2. I closed around 430.9

Closed @ 2.99. Total Profit $40 (+15.4%)

Trade 3 - SPY $432 call. Bought 2 @ 2.5 at 429.6 again, same plan although plenty of calls at 430 makes upside limited now

Closed @ 2.71. Total Profit $43 (+8.6%) Used Trailing stop limit when it hit my target of 2.8 around 430.5. Set trail of 0.1 on Last price and it hit when SPY reversed from that exact level. Expected limited upside over 430

Trade 4 - SPY $432 call. Bought 1 @ 2.41 at 429.3 again, same plan although plenty of calls at 430 makes upside limited now

Limit sell order filled at 2.65. Total Profit $24 (+10%)

Trade 5 - SPY $430 puts. Bought 2 @ 2.69 at 432.4 with options pointing a drop to 430 again. Bought 5 more in mid 433 to low 434 and avg 2.27 now for 9 puts

Didn't realize positive news on possible debt ceiling resolution and held on. Options still point to a drop with 650K ITM calls at 433 and put wall building at 431. I'll look to breakeven at least around 432.8 with target of low 432

Closed at 1.7. Total loss -$514 (-25.1%) Bias and I used up my full buying power for the day here for the pivot while I didn't go as heavy in any of the bullish trade all day. Had a brief chance to get out with $20 loss but wanted to get some profit out of it. 2 big red candles on VIX showed reversal and event then I was down 70 on this trade. Also didn't preserve capital and let losses overtake the day's profits

Didn't follow my plan and lost badly. Bad decision making. Don't get cocky

Tradeable for next day $1805

Day 7 - Starting with $1820

Total P/L for Day 6: +$214

P/L as % of starting amount = +11.7%

Trade 1 - 5 $SPY 428 puts 10/11 expiry @ 3.82. Bad entry, market order hit the day's premium high and ended up going over my daily starting amount. Literally bought at 200ma on 5min which was support. The drop just ran away while I placed my trade/chased.

Closed at 3.47. Total Loss -$177 (-9.3%)

Trade 2 - 5 $SPY 434 calls 10/11 expiry @ 2.69.

Closed at 3.26. Total Profit $283 (+20.9%)

Trade 3 - 7 $SPY 432 puts 10/8 expiry @ 2.21. Resistance at 434.85 and the fact that there were too many 0dte calls ITM with not as many puts over 431, this was bound to drop after spending some time hovering around 435. Initially bought 3 puts and then added 4 more when Vix spiked

Closed at 2.41 Total Profit $136 (+8.8%)

Trade 3 - 3 $SPY 432 puts 10/8 expiry @ 2.03. again as 435 resistance got tested with stop loss at 1.9

Stop loss triggered at 1.88 Total loss -$46 (-7.5%)

Trade 4 - 3 $SPY 432 puts 10/8 expiry @ 2.1. Round 3.

Stop loss triggered at 2.16 Total Profit $17 (+2.7%) This went to 2.55 by EOD with SPY at 433

Tradeable for next day $2002 (1820 * 1.1)

Surplus to buy IVV: $32

The last 2 trades were unnecessary, but correct. SPY was in theta burning mode but had immense delta in ITM calls and end of day flush was expected.

Overall less trades than last few days.

Day 6 - Starting with $1655

Total P/L for Day 6: $299

P/L as % of starting amount = +18%

Trade 1 - 4 $SPY 432 puts 10/8 expiry @ 3.57

Closed at 3.81. Total profit $95 (+5.9%)

Trade 2 - 4 $SPY 432 puts 10/8 expiry @ 3.97 again

Closed at 4.18. Total profit $82 (+5.2%)

Trade 3 - Calls 2 $SPY 433 calls 10/8 expiry @ 1.81

Closed at 2.1. Total profit $57 (+15.9%)

Trade 4 - Call 1 $QQQ 354 call 10/8 expiry @ 3.11

Closed at 3.5. Total profit $39 (+12.5%)

Trade 5 - Calls 2 $SPY 432 calls 10/8 expiry @ 2.57

Closed at 2.23. Total loss -$70 (-13.6%)

Realized a third rejection in a bear flag on 5min chart and took a loss. Still holding 433 calls and watching

Trade 6 - Calls 6 $SPY 433 calls 10/8 expiry @ 2.14

Closed at 1.93. Total loss -$128 (-10%) Another rejection on 5min chart at 50ma and significant IV decay

Trade 7 - Puts 2 $SPY 426 calls 10/6 expiry @ 2.69 shooting star on 15min, stop loss at 2.32

Stop Loss triggered at 2.32. Total loss -$75 (-14.3%)

Trade 8 - 4 $SPY 427 puts 10/8 expiry @ 3.84

Closed at 4.06. Total profit $87 (+5.6%)

Trade 9 - 4 $SPY 426 puts 10/8 expiry @ 3.76

Closed at 3.9. Total profit $54 (+3.6%)

Puts traded and closed in quick successions as I saw more down after closing the 427 puts

Trade 10 - 4 $SPY 427 puts 10/8 expiry @ 3.5 based on options pointing to 427 pin. Bought around 428.7 and closed around 427.8, while it went down to 427.4

Closed at 3.9. Total profit $159 (+11.4%)

Still too many trades, signs of being jumpy. Puts at open would have made 100% without all the noise

Tradeable for next day $1820 (1655 * 1.1)

Surplus to buy IVV: $133

Day 5 - Starting with $1849

Total P/L for Day 5: -$194

P/L as % of starting amount = -10.5%

Trade 1 - Swing Iron condor and put credit spreads 10/1 expiry. Fidelity shows them as short iron condor and long butterfly spread

Net credit $56, max risk $244. R/R: 23.5%

Closed at net loss of -$89 (-36.5%)

This would have ended in a profit with SPY touching 434 before 2PM but with a very red morning, I had decided to cut my losses

Trade 2 - Set a conditional market buy order for $QQQ $356 calls 10/6 expiry to fill at QQQ 355.5 since I was running errands.. Filled at 3.85

Closed @ 4.1. Total Profit +$49 (+6.4%)

If I had my charts, I'd have kept it and bought more under 355. It went to 4.65 in quick time and then to 5. This trade would have made 25-40%. But life comes first. Onto the next one...

Trade 3 - Puts 2 contracts $SPY $430p 10/6 expiry at 3.07 since SPY touched 432, options pointed to a top, also rejection at 50ma on 30min chart

Closed @ 3.2. Total Profit +$25 (+4.1%)

Trade 4 - Puts 2 contracts $SPY $430p 10/6 expiry at 2.86 since SPY touched 432, again

Closed @ 3. Total Profit +$27 (+4.8%)

Trade 5 - Puts 2 contracts $SPY $430p 10/6 expiry at 2.84 , round 3

Closed @ 2.32. Total Profit -$105 (-18.5%) again I went out for errands and this time the market went against me to over 433. Instead of putting a stop loss, I set a limit sell.

Trade 6 - Puts 5 contracts $SPY $431p 10/6 expiry at 2.24

Closed @ 2.03. Total Profit -$101 (-9.1%) not a good day to call the top

Ending notes: I did not expect the rally SPY to 435 but puts kept building. My entries for puts were too early. Calls on QQQ from the morning went over 6. In hindsight that should have been the only trade today

Market did dip at close from 436 to 433. I should wait for later to call the top as options build up fairly quick near close. Although even this dip would not have led to a lot of profits on my loss making puts as theta decayed substantially, another reason to wait to call option pivots on opex days.

Day 4 - Starting with $1983

Total P/L for Day 4: -$134 (-$206 on day trades and +$72 on short iron condor)

P/L as % of starting amount = -6.8%

Bought IVV for $51 surplus from yesterday

Trade 1 - Iron condor 9/30 expiry Put credit spread $SPY 428/429 & Call credit spread 441/442

3 contracts with net credit $72, max risk $228. R/R: 31.5%

Trade 2: Calls 9 contracts SPY $437 10/1 expiry @ 1.04

Closed at 0.54. Total Loss -$456 (-48%).

Trade 3: Calls 1 contracts SPY $436 10/4 expiry @ 2.09

Closed at 2.32. Total profit $23 (+11%)

Trade 4: Calls 6 contracts SPY $436 10/4 expiry @ 1.75, Round 2 with SPY under 433

Closed at 1.67. Total Loss -$53 (-4.2%).

Trade 5: Multiple attempts at QQQ calls $360 10/4 expiry

Total profit $663

Not a good day trading. Should have kept stops and followed charts. 15min chart at 11AM showed a drop coming. It dropped 1 % from there.

I should have bought put hedges. I'm completely invested for the day at 12:30PM. Options still pointing to a recovery

QQQ recovered from 358 to 361 but I had to scalp multiple times to recover losses

Closed all calls between 432.4 and 433.4 as I'd achieved my day's profit ($175 in calls and $72 expected form short iron condor) by 2:45PM. May got eod lotto trades based on options pivot

Trade 6: SPY calls 9 contracts $432 10/1 expiry @ 1.57.

Closed at 1.15 Total Loss -$382 (-27%)

Too big of a lotto trade, was very confident and went heavy since I called it last few opex days and didn't play it. This time I played and still lost.

Ending notes: I got greedy today with eod lotto calls. Since I'd got it right but not played large enough, I went heavy and lost. With monthly and quarter end opex, puts have been the best play. I expected 432 close and bought calls in low 431 but the plunge was incessant and closed in low 429, just saving my short iron condor

I got in some put credit spreads and iron condors for tomorrow and am in a loss in those.

Day 3 - Starting with $1803

Total P/L for Day 3: +$232, out of which $180 will be added to next day's starting amount and $51 will be added to surplus to buy IVV on dips

P/L as % of starting amount = +11.4%

Trade 1 - Put credit spread $SPY 429/430 9/29 expiry.

3 spreads with net credit $48, risk $252. R/R: 19%

Expired worthless. Total profit +$48 (+19%)

Trade 2 - Put credit spread $SPY 427/428 9/29 expiry.

3 spreads with net credit $35, risk $265. R/R: 13.2%

Gave myself 1% buffer for the swings

Expired worthless. Total profit +$35 (+13.2%)

Trade 3: Puts 5 contracts SPY $435 10/1 expiry @ 2.59

Closed at 2.8. Total profit $104 (+8%)

Had a chance to close these at +7% but was already red when I realized a bull flag forming on SPY. Holding for now.

Added 2 more to original 3 at 2.52 due to another rejection from 436.8

Closed around 435.6, when my limit order hit

Trade 4: Calls 2 contracts SPY $438 10/1 expiry @ 2.15

Closed at 2.22. Total profit $13 (+3.3%)

VIX isn't showing a clear direction yet. While there was a bull flag on 5min, I closed my call when I noticed resistance around 436.8

Markets are choppy around 435/436 levels. I'm pretty confident that the put credit spreads will expire worthless, giving me 11%+ return for the day. I'll use this day to watch and learn and may get back into a trade around 3:30PM EST if options provide a pivot.

Trade 5: Calls 8 contracts SPY $438 10/1 expiry @ 1.55

Had a chance to close at 1.8 but I expected 10% from this trade. With a rejection from 436 level, I bought 5 more from 435.2 down to 434.7

Closed at 1.46. Total Loss -$80 (-6.4%). These went to 1.8 in the next 10 minutes, which was my target all day. Went even higher. I should have stayed with my conviction there. Having a high cost basis doesn't help.

Trade 6: Puts 5 contracts SPY $433 10/1 expiry @ 2.4 to hedge the calls.

Added 3 more hedges on top of my original 3.

Closed at 2.5. Total profit $51 (+4.3%)

Trade 7: Calls 2 contracts QQQ $362 10/4 expiry @ 2.31

Under 359 looked like a really good buy for 360 retest. I booked my profits at 359.6. This eventually went to 3.25 with QQQ at 361.6

Closed at 2.49. Total profit $34 (+7.4%)

Total $1700 invested at the moment in calls, down $ 170 in open positions. Profits booked for the day $168 and $83 in spreads looking increasingly likely at 1:45PM EST

Profits booked for the day $122 + $83 expected in spreads as of 2:05PM

Trade 8: Small position on puts based on SPY and QQ pivots, see screenshot

Total profit $27 (+5%)

Again closed too soon. Pivots were correct 435 and 360 and this should have netted around 30%

Ending notes: The calls I bought should have netted 20% instead of a loss and puts to close the day should have netted 30%. That was about $550 in forgone profits on trades where I had conviction but didn't follow my plan.

Low 434 for SPY and 359 for QQQ were screaming buys based on option volume and delta. Similarly, high 436 and high 361 were were instant shorts.

I'm swinging an iron condor for 9/30 428/429 put credit spreads and 441/442 call credit spread with net credit $72 and max risk $228 (31% return on risk) with high probability of success.

Day 2 - Starting with $2092

Total P/L for Day 2: -$289

P/L as % of starting amount = -13.8%

Trade 1 - 3 $SPY $438 puts 10/01 expiry @ 2.67

Closed at 2.94. Total profit $80 (+10%)

Although I saw weakness in the broader markets driven by debt ceiling news, I secured my desired profits early. It went to 3.5 in the next 10 minutes

Trade 2 - 5 $SPY $440 calls 10/04 expiry @ 2.17

Closed at 1.54. Total Loss -$319 (-29.4%)

Got in these way too early and kept them for a recovery, but given the resistance at 435, I had to close them for a loss. Other trades all day were largely to offset this loss.

Trade 3 - 1 $SPY $436 calls 9/30 expiry @ 2.95

Closed at 3.22. Total profit $27 (+9%)

Trade 4 - 3 $SPY $436 calls 9/30 expiry @ 2.38

Closed at 2.65. Total profit $78 (+9%)

Trade 5 - 3 $SPY $436 calls 9/30 expiry @ 2.24

Closed at 2.3. Total profit $17 (+2.6%)

Trade 6 - 7 $SPY $436 calls 9/30 expiry @ 2.45

Closed at 2.2. Total loss -$178 (-10.7%)

This was a bad trade with 435 being resistance all day, I bought calls at 434.9 and instantly regretted it

Trade 6 - 1 $QQQ $362 call 10/30 expiry @ 3

Closed at 3.3. Total profit $30 (+10%)

Trade 7 - 1 $SPY $435 calls 9/30 expiry @ 2.97

Closed at 3.3. Total profit $33 (+11%)

Trade 8 - 8 $SPY $437 calls 10/1 expiry @ 2.18

Closed at 2.27. Total profit $69 (+4%)

Trade 9 - 8 $SPY $435 puts 9/29 expiry @1.77

Closed at 1.86. Total profit $77 (+5%)

Trade 10 - 10 $SPY $434 puts 9/29 expiry multiple trades

Total profit $39

Traded the last set of puts with tight stop and got stopped the second time. Re-entered and made up for the loss

More trades in the screenshot

Ending notes: Got trapped a few times with calls. Today was short the rip day. While dip buys at 433 worked, I missed the 433-436 rally. While shorting that, I closed too early, mainly since I expected 435 close. That is also where I switched to calls and lost.

Kept my risk to under $2100 at any time during the day

Definitely should have traded fewer times. In hindsight, the only trade needed today was the first put buy. 438 puts closed at 5.71, up from buy price of 2.67, over 100% profit.

Lessons: Follow the "no overtrading" rule. Be patient with winners

I'll swing put credit spreads expiring tomorrow. Risk $517 out of $1803 allowed to trade tomorrow. Maximum reward on swing $83 or 16%

Day 1 - Starting with $2K, expecting $200 return for the day

Max risk taken at any time during the day: $551 (PCS) + $943 (Calls) = $1494

Total P/L for Day 1: +$92

P/L as % of Max Risk = +6.1%

P/L as % of starting amount = +4.6%

Trade 1 - Put credit spread $SPY 439/441 9/27 expiry traded at 9/24 close of day owing to a strong rebound off the lows in Sept. Gave myself 1% buffer in case markets receive bad news over the weekend

3 spreads with net credit $49, risk $551. R/R: 8.7%

Expired worthless. Total profit +$49 (+8.7%)

Trade 2 - 3 $SPY 441 puts 9/30 expiry @ 1.87

Closed at 1.76. Total loss -$34 (-6%)

Choppy start to the morning. Futures gave up substantial gains overnight for markets to open red, largely driven by weakness in Tech. I wanted to hedge my PCS with puts but I entered late and didn't notice the number of 0dte puts built at 442. Price reversed from under 442 and I took 6% loss on this one.

edit: good to have taken a loss on this as SPY went to 444

Trade 3 - 5 $SPY 9/30 443 calls @ 1.89, target 2.3 at Bought at $SPY roughly 442.65 and expected close around 443.4

0dte option volume suggests a buy in low 442 or under it, and a sell in high 443. My expectation for the day is a move to low 444 before retracing and ending the day at 443.xx

edit: Noticed VIX rising and the 15min chart forming an inverse hammer. Closed at 443.1. Price went to 443.3 before reversing to under 443. Also lower timeframes showing inverse head & shoulder formation

Closed at 2.02. Total profit $63 (+6.7%)

Trade 4 - Scaling back in $SPY 9/30 443 calls. Bought 1 @ 1.7 when SPY was at 442.25. There is very high call volume at 443 and 444, so I'd look to exit again in low 443.

edit: Again noticed VIX rising and took my profits. also I never got my complete fill so stayed in only 1 call. However, this exit was too early and SPY went to 443.1 in next 10minutes with the option premium at 1.97.

Closed at 1.84. Total profit $14 (+8.2%)

Ending notes: I watched QQQ delta build up at 371 and 370 and expected a drop at close. Puts rose 20% as expected as QQQ fell from 371 to 369.9. Should have made the trade