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January 2008 Trades

Balance in Trading Account as of January 1, 2008: $2,384.23

January 9, 2008: March 2008 Soybean Meal: March Soybean Meal formed a small flat top triangle and prices just barely did close above the top of the flat top triangle on January 3. On that date, Bean Meal closed at $350.6. The top of the flat top triangle is $349. Trend Seeker showed an Up trend with a strong strength rating so there was a trigger to enter a trade in this market to the upside. After pulling back on January 4 and 7, Bean Meal, on January 8, moved back above the top of the flat top triangle. When prices got to the top of the flat top triangle on January 8, at $349, I placed an open order to buy one March 360 call for $1,300 or less. My open order was filled on January 9 at $1,300. On January 14, after rising as high as 369 early in the day, Bean Meal sold off sharply. I wanted to minimize any loss on this trade, so I liquidated my option early in the afternoon when Bean Meal was down $2.50. I was glad I got out when I did as Soybean Meal continued to get pummeled in the afternoon, dropping $6.10 to close at $352.50. I was able to liquidate my option for $1200. So, my loss on this trade was $100 before commissions.

Balance In Trading Account as of January 31, 2008: $2,196.39

February 2008 Trades

No trading activity in February 2008.

Balance In Trading Account as of February 29, 2008: $2196.39

March 2008 Trades

No trading activity in March 2008.

Balance In Trading Account as of March 31, 2008: $2,196.39

April 2008 Trades

April 28, 2008: Deposited $3,000 into brokerage account.

Balance In Trading Account as of April 30, 2008: $5,196.39

May 2008 Trades

May 9, 2008: July 2008 Corn: July 2008 Corn presented a High-Lo Breakout strategy. The July 2008 Corn contract reached a contract high of 628.2 cents on April 9. Since then, the contract had developed a channel formation. On May 8, prices finally closed at 630.2 cents which was above the previous contract high of 628.2 cents. Trend Seeker confirmed that July Corn was in an Up trend. So, on May 9, I placed an open order to buy 1 July 2008 Corn futures contract at 628 or lower and I set my initial stop at 620 cents. My order was filled on May 9 at 628 cents. For the day, this market closed at 629.4 cents giving me a profit of $75.00 before commissions. Unfortunately, the next trading day, on May 12, the market opened at 625 cents and proceeded lower and I got stopped out right at my stop at 620 cents. So, my loss on this trade was 8 cents or $400 before commissions. I was glad that I got out at 620 cents as the market fell the rest of the day and closed for the day at 613.6 cents.

May 14, 2008: August Live Cattle: August Live Cattle presented a good opportunity via the Hi-Lo Breakout Strategy. Live Cattle reached a contract hight of 99.475 cents on April 25. On May 13, prices broke above the April 15 high and closed at 99.975 cents. The next day, on May 14, prices pulled back to what had been the April 25 contract high, 99.475 cents, and I placed an open order to buy 1 August Live Cattle 100 call option at 360 points or better. One point equals $4 in this market. My order got filled at 350 points or $1400. On Monday, May 19, Live Cattle prices gapped lower at the open and moved down sharply through the rest of the trading day. August Live Cattle was down 1.20 cents and settled at 97.90 cents. I liquidated my option that day as prices had moved well below the support where I had wanted to get out of this market. My loss on this trade was $440 before commissions.

Balance In Trading Account as of May 31, 2008: $4,179.00

June 2008 Trades

No trading activity in June 2008.

Balance In Trading Account as of June 30, 2008: $4,179.00

July 2008 Trades

July 16, 2008: December 2008 Eurodollar: This market can be a slow moving market but it had formed a pennant formation. I redrew the top line of the pennant to encompass all the resistance at the 97 basis point area. I was looking at a close above 97.00 point as a trigger to enter this market on a trade to the upside. This market finally closed above 97.00 on July 15. Also, Trend Seeker confirmed that this market was in an Up trend. So, on July 16, I placed an open order to buy one December Eurodollar futures contract at 96.99 or lower. I set my stop loss at 96.89. My open order was filled on July 16 at 96.99. On July 17, December Eurodollar had a fairly sharp pullback. The December Eurodollar was down 12 points to close at 96.865. I was stopped out right at 96.89. My loss on this trade was $250 before commissions. The market dropped 10 points from my entry to where I was stopped out. 1 point in this market equals $25.00. The pennant formation that I based this trade on did offer some signs that a breakout of the formation would have a difficult time succeeding. For one thing, there was quite a bit of resistance above the formation. Another thing was that the formation itself was rather wide and sloppy. The formation just was not a good tight formation which is the type of formation that has the best chance of producing a profitable trade.

July 25, 2008: Added $160.00 to trading account.

Balance In Trading Account as of July 31, 2008: $4,000.40

August 2008 Trades

August 7, 2008: December 2008 Cotton:   December 2008 Cotton had formed a small channel. The top of the channel was 75 cents and the bottom of the channel was 70.78 cents. Trend Seeker said the trend was Down. On August 4, December Cotton closed below the bottom of the channel and this triggered a trade to the downside.On August 6, I placed an open order to buy one December Cotton 69 put at 410 points ($2,050) or better. One point in this market equals $5. My open order was filled on August 7 at 390 points or $1,950. Profit target for this trade is for December Cotton to move down to the 65 cent level which provides a potential profit of around $2,000. As of the close of trade, today, August 13, December Cotton was up 1.56 cents to close at 71.19 cents. Because this market today, August 13, moved above recent resistance at 70.30, I decided to liquidate this option. My option was liquidated for 380 points or $1900.00 which gave me loss on this trade of $50 before commissions.

August 14, 2008: December 2008 Coffee:    December 2008 Coffee had formed a pennant formation and Trend Seeker said the trend was Down. On August 13, December Coffee closed , at 139.45 cents which was below the bottom of the pennant. This action triggered a trade to the down side. This market has the potential to fall to its next support level which is 135 cents. I decided to trade this market to the downside a bit differently. Rather than buy a December put I sold two far out of the money December Coffee call options. On August 14, I placed an open order to sell two December Coffee 190 calls at 155 points or better. My open order to sell the two calls was filled on August 14 for 155 points for each call. One point in coffee is $3.75. So, selling the two options at 155 points each gave me a total of $1,162.50 that was credited to my brokerage account which brought my account balance to $4,854.46 after commissions.

Balance In Trading Account as of August 31, 2008:    $4,854.46

September 2008 Trades

No new trades inititated in September. Coffee trade initiated on August 14 still open.

Balance In Trading Account as of September 30, 2008: $4,854.46

October 2008 Trades

October 21, 2008: I liquidated December 2008 Coffee trade on October 21 by buying back the two options at 3 points or $11.25 each, which gave me a profit on the trade of $1,140.00 before commissions. This trade was my first trade selling options and the trade was a real learning experience. The market moved pretty heavily against me for the first two weeks of the trade. The market moved against my position by as much as $15 on the futures contract, but I had sold options deep enough out of the money that I was able to ride out the move against me. By the third week of September the market had reestablished its downtrend plus the value of the options I sold started to depreciate rapidly due to time decay.

October 30, 2009: March 2009 Coffee: This market has been in a strong downtrend for about two months now, but now is showing signs of making a bottom. I'm looking at this market consolidating and then going sideways for a while. That kind of price action makes this market a prime candidate for entering a spread. On October 29, I placed an open order to sell two March Coffee 87.50 puts for 90 points or better. This open order was filled on October 30 at 95 points or $356.25 for each option. On November 4, I sold two March Coffee 170 calls for 100 points or $375.00 each. The total amount credited to my account for selling these options was $1,462.50. These options expire on February 11, 2009. Neither of the strike prices for these options I'm selling, the 170 cents and 87.50 cents, have been reached by the market in the last 36 months. So as of the close of trade on January 8, 2009, the 170 calls are worth $75.00 (20 points) each or $150.00 total and the two 87.50 puts are worth $60.00.00 (16 points) each for a total of $120.00. That gives me a profit on this trade at this point of $1,192.50 before commissions. March Coffee closed down .75 cents today, January 8, 2009, settling at $113.45.

Balance In Trading Account as of October 31, 2008: $5,366.02

November 2008 Trades

March Coffee spread initiated on October 29, 2008 still open.

November 19, 2008: February 2009 Gold: This market looked as if it had bottomed and Trend Seeker still said the trend was down. This market looked to be a good candidate for a spread as this market could very well stay within its trading range over the next two to three month. The February 2009 options expire on January 27, 2009, so there would be the advantage of rapid time decay with this trade. I am selling deep out of the money calls and puts. On November 19, I sold two February Gold 1080 calls at $390 (390 points) each for a total of $780 and I also sold two February Gold 550 puts at $360 (360 points) each for a total of $720. The total amount credited to my account for selling these options was $1,500.00. February Gold closed today, January 9, 2009, at $856.40 up $1.90 for the day. The February 1080 calls, today, January 9, settled at $30 each for total of $60 and the February 550 puts settled at $10 each for a total of $20. That gives me a profit on this trade at this point of $1,480.00 before commissions.

Balance In Trading Account as of November 30, 2008: $7,108.56

December 2008 Trades

1. March Coffee spread initiated on October 29, 2008 still open.

2. February Gold spread initiated on November 19, 2008 still open.

Balance In Trading Account as of December 31, 2008: $7108.56

2008 Trading Activity