Monthly Update for March

It's been a good month, a lot of activity, and of course some wins.

Beginning Cash: $6,160.09
Current Cash: $6,123.56
Income for month: -$36.44
Although techincally I have less equity then at the start of the month, my positions are solid now, after taking a fairly large loss from ERX. I've recovered that loss and have only two positions open now, one of which is SSO, my protective index put. This month has been good for me and the stock market, and I'm on target for my 10% increase to $6,600 for the year.

PCLN
Sold 1 Apr 55 Put for $.70 on 3/12
Bought 1 Apr 55 Put for $.30 on 3/20
When PCLN crossed below it's 20 MA on close (by dropping 7%) I sold to open this stock. It bounced off its 50% fibonnaci retracement so I didn't hesitate selling an OTM put. I could've sold one that was closer in price, but this was the most comfortable with the best premium.

SSO
Bought 1 Jun 12 Put for $.55 3/16
This is my idea of portfolio protection. If the entire market collapses, this may actually make me money, but not a lot. It's Bid is at about $.30 now, which is a little from the market going up, and a little from the VIX going down. I may sell this for a small loss and look at some other means of securing the portfolio.

FSLR
Sold 1 Apr 70 Put for $.70 3/18
Bought 1 Apr 70 Put for $.05 3/28 (no commissions paid on $.05 and less from TOS)
When I sold this, FSLR had dropped like 8% the previous day and this was 40% OTM. FSLR recovered and surged with the rest of the market. I bought to close to free up the margin, and begin looking at other trades.

QLD
Bought 100 Stock at 27.56 3/24
Sold 100 Stock at at 27.95 3/25
On a fairly weak day, I bought QLD trying to take advantage of a potential upside move the next day. Well the move up was weak, and I actually got stopped out after I moved up my Stop Loss to 27.95 to make sure I locked in some profit. After the stop loss hit, the market continued lower for the day. This was my first pure equity trade. I had a stop the entire time, and am fairly pleased with the result.

POT
Sold 1 Apr 60 Put at $.55 3/25
POT has shown good strength lately and when it dipped I sold on weakness. This was 30% OTM and seemed safe. It still is, this and SSO are now my only open positions.

FAS
Bought 200 Stock at 5.8 4/1
Sold 200 Stock at 5.94 4/1
This is the first post on this trade. The market looked poised for a breakout and I bought FAS (the 3x Financial ETF) at 5.8 with a tight stop at 5.7. The market immediately pushed FAS to about 6, then hovered in the 5.8 to 5.95 range. I had a limit sell at about 6.1, but FAS never even got close. I finally sold when it became clear this was a range day for a small (very small) profit of $28 (only $18 after commissions).

Overall, I've won on all the closed positions so far. Although, with the market heading up on a strong rally, I won't take all the credit. Looking for May positions soon, I'll keep you posted.