DISCLAIMER: This is a simulated educational exercise using paper trading fake money. This is not investment advice and is not intended to be copied.

TLDR

• Trades today
  • None (nothing appealing + most money on sideline)
• Learning how to pace my capital allocation

Today In Review

Today was an interesting day. The market ended today down 25 basis points and was red basically since open. This downtrend had two effects on my current portfolio:

1. It raised the premium value of the put options I wrote earlier in the week
2. The increase in premium made it infeasible for me to buy these back to recoup my covers and make another move.

Thankfully today my analysis didn’t show any juicy trades, however if it did I would have had to either take a small capital loss to close a position and pursue the trade or pass on it entirely.

Lessons learned! But with 1 day remaining until two of my contracts expire (hopefully), it means I should be back with fresh capital for trading next week. I’ll see if I can close early tomorrow and sneak another trade in if there’s a compelling reason.

Portfolio Standings

Portfolio Value (Open)	$ 100,425.00
Portfolio Value (Close)	$ 100,425.00
Change (Day)	–
Change (Tot)	0.43%
Buying Power (Close)	$ 12,750.00
Trades Made Today	0

Closing Thoughts

This brings up a valuable lesson when writing options. The premium is enticing and even if you are sure it will expire worthless, you have to be prepared to have that capital locked away until that point in time comes. At present moment about 80% of my portfolio is currently on the sideline being used to cover in case I’m put a stock.