Trading Career

Trading as a career attracts most investors. At some point, a trader who is profitable will think that this may be the time to become a full time trader. Trading promises a life that is filled with freedom. If you can trade well, you can live and work anywhere in the world without the need to report to anyone, the need to manage anyone, and the ability to break away from routine. You have no boss, no customer, and no working schedule.

A good way to start is to begin devising a plan to pay off all your debts and to save enough money to live for at least 12 months without any income. The sooner you can clear your debts, the faster you will achieve financial independence. It will be challenging to begin a trading career when monthly bills and debt repayment are a constant lingering in your mind.

Successful traders make plenty of money from the market but are extremely careful with their money. Managing your personal finances well is the first crucial step as it provides you the necessary skill to manage your trading account in the same manner. A successful trader will always approach the market with a clear rational mind for maximum gains while minimizing risk and losses.

All June Trades Expired This Weekl

Index and ETF 6/20/2008 Update: All open trades expired worthless today. This is the 5th month in a row that all the Index and ETF trades expired worthless. I want this trend to continue so that we have a decent 30% or better return for the year.

What are the disadvantages of this option trading strategy?

Because I only place two to four trades a month and a majority of them I leave untouched until expiration, my style is a little boring. But that’s what I like………steady……..boring…….income…….month-after-month. The other issue most traders have is the concept itself. It’s not commonly taught to the public and that’s why you don’t hear too many main street investors using it. It’s been used by professionals for years to generate income but not by the retail investors/traders. Once your account grows like mine, you won’t mind the boredom.

Market Conditions - Are they really important?

The beauty of credit spreads is that they work in a bullish, bearish, and sideways markets. It’s amazing that sometimes even when the trade is wrong, we still can be profitable. That’s because we leave ourselves lots of cushion in our trades. Keep in mind that past performance does not guarantee future results, but how else would you evaluate any trading system? Remember, the professionals are option sellers not buyers. That’s why close to 80% of all options expire worthless. My subscribers are the sellers looking for that high percentage trade and income month-after-month.

Update on Open Trades Expiring In June (20th)

Index and ETF 6/15/2008 Update: The markets recovered nicely last week and now the filled June trades should safely expire in 5 days on the 20th. I have posted and emailed new new trades expiring in July this weekend.

Update on Open Trades Expiring In June (20th)

INDEX 6/8/2008 Update: The 3 filled June Bull Put trades continue to be very safe with only 13 days remaining to expiration. We were able to complete one Iron Condor trade last week when the RUT Bear Call trade was filled. This Iron Condor has a return of 6.4%. Even though the Dow dropped 400 points one day last week the Bull Put trades are still safe with lots of distance remaining. I am researching new trades expiring in July later this week after the market settles down from the bad economic news and record oil and gas prices last week.

I am creating new flash movies this month to illustrate how to select and order credit spread trades using OptionsHouse. These movies will be playable from the members flash movie page. This broker is very popular now and continues to add new features. Their fees are the lowest of all the options brokers and my trades are getting filled quickly when the markets cooperate.

ETF 6/8/2008 Update: The 3 filled June Iron Condor ETF trades continue to be very safe with only 13 days remaining to expiration. Even though the Dow dropped 400 points one day last week the Bull Put trades are still safe with lots of distance remaining. I am researching new ETF trades expiring in July later this week after the market settles down from the bad economic news and record oil and gas prices last week.

Update on Open Trades Expiring In June (20th)

INDEX Update: The 3 filled June Bull Put trades are safe with only 20 days remaining to expiration. This weekend 2 new June Bear Call trades have been emailed and posted to the members page. When these trades are filled we will have 2 Iron Condor trades completed earning 6.4% and 8.7% each. These are the returns I expect to when completing Iron Condor trades.

ETF Update: The 3 filled June Iron Condor ETF trades very safe with only 20 days remaining to expiration. I am very pleased with the 9.9% return on the SPY Iron Condor trade this month. I am researching new ETF trades expiring in July next weekend.