Sold -1 COF 100 SEP 09 35 PUT @1.30, Mark 35.84

I’ve finally managed to offload my COF puts. This position was entered two weeks ago at 1.90, mark 35.89. The total loss is $60 + $15. This is yet another poor trade because I didn’t exit when my stop was hit. This has been happening way too often lately while I’m trying to catch the top (another big mistake). While it might be obvious, but it’s now clear to me that playing with a limited capital is detrimental to my trading psychology. The commission is too much in comparison to my position size. So I was often inclined to hold when I should have been nimble.

The market finally moved downward with a sizable move today. S&P500 tanked 20 points in an hour this morning. However, on a second test of the 1000 level, I noticed a divergence on the TICK and COF wasn’t making a low like the market. That’s when I decided to unload this position as we’re at the bottom of the recent channel. In addition, the long term support at $35.45 (Figure 2, pink line) should be a tough nut to crack in the short term.

My only position left is my puts in BC. I am now going to tie my hands away from my trading platform and step back to developing my trade. On the other hand, my quantitative finance work has been progressing nicely and I should be able to publish some useful updates soon.

Update: COF closed at $35.09 today. I was early again. It’s pretty clear by now that my strategy is flawed. The more reason why I need to put my head down and really start thinking.

Capital One Financial

Capital One Financial

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