As the market weathers continued geopolitical concerns and awaits any unexpected news from the fed, we are swaped our utility. 

We had been considering swapping out of DTE for several weeks now, as it had been lagging, the market decided of us. We stopped out of our position in DTE yesterday for a small loss of  .43%.  You can see all of our closed trades here.  

The timing couldn't have been better,  the alternate we had been eyeing threw multiple buy signals on Chaikin Analytics.  AES threw Relative Strength and Relative Strength Breakout signals.   See all of our open positions here. 

We are very happy with our results using Chaikin Analytics.  Our winners have returned an average of  14.48% while keeping losses to a minimum, our average loser has only cost us 3.25% We'll take it! 

While all of the Chaikin Analytics we use to check the health of the S&P are flashing green, there are some worrisome signs that trading conditions could become more volatile, especially given the catalyst of an extremely busy week of earnings, world wide geopolitical unrest and government news -- The Fed, GDP and Jobs.   The VIX is has made some recent higher highs and higher lows.  Small cap market action is diverging tremendously from large cap counterparts, while many of the developed world stock markets have broken their long term Chaikin trendlines.  Our in depth market analysis using Chaikin Analytics can be found here.   Tomorrow (Monday) we'll add no new stocks to our portfolio.  We are interested in selling a call spread on the IWM, and may add that to our open options positions into the close. 

• See all open and closed long stock trades here
  
• See our option trading results here
  
• ETF trading  results here.
  
• What's the trading environment?  S&P directional outlook, domestic sector trend analysis and worldwide ETF relative strength analysis here.
• A quick review of our Bullish trading rules here
• Free Trial (to be discontinued by Summer's end!!!) here

High Probability option trading adds several layers of complexity compared to trading stocks and ETF's, but the rewards are certainly worth the extra education and effort! When we added the trading edge inherent to Chaikin Analytics to our system of high sucess-rate directional options bets, the returns have been just spectacular (insert  additional hyperbole here)  

Over the past year, we've kept a public facing  running log of all our trades taken according to Chaikin Analytics buy and sell signals.   

• 51 Total Trades
  
• 38 Winners
  
• 74.5% Win Rate
• Average return 38% PER TRADE!
  

If you are a Chaikin Analytics Subscriber and would like to learn some high probability option trading techniques, email me to learn about my one-on-one Personal Training program.   Already know how to trade vertical and time spreads?  Get a Chaikin Analytics free trial and up your win rate dramatically.

Weatherford Intl. reports after the bell today ( 7/23).   We noticed  good volatility skew between the AUG1 and AUG options, so we are trying to grab a few bucks with a double calendar.  Calendars are one of our favorite ways to play earnings.  With this strategy you benefit from the post-earnings volatility collapse.   You're looking for higher implied volatility in the front month ( short strikes) compared to the back month ( long strikes).   The skew between the two is where your potential profits come from,  when vol. collapses it will hit the front month harder than the back month.  

We  do have a bullish bias for WFT based on a Bullish PowerGauge rating, strong relative strength and pretty strong recent accumulation.   That said, this particular strategy is about benefitting from volatility skew not necessarily betting on direction. 


Here's the trade we put on ahead of WFT's earnings after the bell.

We'd like WFT to stay between our goal posts  of 22 - 24 however, as long as WFT stays between 20.95 and 25.39 we won't lose.  We entered this trade for .24 ( 168.00  for 7 contracts) if  we are right on, it could be worth 378.00, or 225% profit.    See all our option trades here:  http://www.chaikinpoweruser.com/options-trading-results.html

Today, we adjusted our stops on our long Chaikin Power User stock portfolio.  We set them at 2% below either the long term Chaikin (orange) trend line or the lower volatility band (when price is significantly above the long term line). 12 of 15 portfolio positions have unrealized capital gains, many in the double digits.  All but one of our holdings have a Bullish Power Gauge rating or above. 

• See all open and closed long stock trades here
  
• See our option trade results here
  
• This month started an ETF Portfolio set up to out perform the ACWI.  Results so far here.
  
• Is it time to trade bullishly, bearishly, or based on the market going nowhere.  Here's where we gage the market on a daily basis. 

Tired of watching us make money?  Grab a free trial of Chaikin Analytics here.