Monthly Report for March 2008 +6.8% / +$14,380
Wow! What a month March was! We did a good job adjusting to the every changing markets and combined this was some good luck from the market gods to turn in a great month!
Here are the results of our closed trades:
WIN LOSS WIN % LOSS %
ACF 24.7% 1 24.7%
ACI -23.9% 1 -23.9%
AFL 14.0% 1 14.0%
DIA 21.1% 1 21.1%
ERTS 0.5% 1 0.5%
FXI 18.8% 1 18.8%
GDX 13.5% 1 13.5%
HOG 39.7% 1 39.7%
JPM 26.9% 1 26.9%
LOW -50.5% 1 -50.5%
RUT 16.9% 1 16.9%
UAUA -7.4% 1 -7.4%
UNP -3.4% 1 -3.4%
WMT 24.2% 1 24.2%
WYNN -12.7% 1 -12.7%
YHOO -30.9% 1 -30.9%
ZMH 3.5% 1 3.5%
AZO 7.9% 1 7.9%
DECK 14.6% 1 14.6%
DO -16.7% 1 -16.7%
HON 19.4% 1 19.4%
MORN 23.3% 1 23.3%
OIH 16.1% 1 16.1%
SWIM 24.1% 1 24.1%
BNI 23.4% 1 23.4%
XLE 76.3% 1 76.3%
EEM -6.4% 1 -6.4%
RIG 36.8% 1 36.8%
XLF 3.8% 1 3.8%
MSFT 19.2% 1 19.2%
MA 7.1% 1 7.1%
FMCN 2.1% 1 2.1%
24 8 19.9% -19.0%
3) We used a wide variety of techniques and burned some of our profits to try out new thoughts successfully.
I put on a few too many new trades in the last week and got caught short on the Thursday rally. I gave up almost 1.7% of my monthly return. You can see I will have some work to do to recover from these. Here are the open trades:
WIN LOSS WIN % LOSS %
AMP 0.6% 1 0.6%
DIA 5.0% 1 5.0%
ERTS 0.5% 1 0.5%
FDX 9.6% 1 9.6%
GDX -1.4% 1 -1.4%
KSS -17.1% 1 -17.1%
LVS 10.1% 1 10.1%
MOS -7.5% 1 -7.5%
RUT BWB 8.8% 1 8.8%
SHLD -30.0% 1 -30.0%
TGT 5.8% 1 5.8%
UPS 4.8% 1 4.8%
USB -11.8% 1 -11.8%
USO -27.6% 1 -27.6%
8 6 5.7% -15.9%
Ugly losses, ugly win / loss ratio, and small wins. April is going to be busy!!
Update on Goals for 2008
Lose 40 pounds - I gained a 1.2 pounds over the past month so I need to concentrate here. My health in general is pretty poor and taking care of it is usually the first thing I let go in the face of tons of work and stress.
Drink a cup of water before every meal - I was doing well for awhile but could improve again. Being in my office and not traveling actually helps this quite a bit.
Take my vitamins everyday - Much better. Even if I don’t get to eat breakfast I pop the vitamins in my pocket and take them with lunch.
Work 150 times this year / 13 times a month - Fail. I haven’t even seen my house in the daylight much less a gym. Bad Mojo!
Give $25,000 to charity - We have given away $5,500 given so far this year.
Produce $250,000 in personal income (outside of my business and retirement) - Exceeded my goals for March.
Pay off $125,000 of personal debt - So far we have paid down $34,000 in personal debt.
Study for and receive my Series 65 (Investment Advisor) license - Fail. I haven’t touched the material and now I’ve probably forgotten most of what I’ve already learned.
Insanemoney.com - Doing very well here. New design is in place, forums discussions are rocking, and we are slowly building a fantastic trading team. We have grown so much that we needed a new server and host and just completed our fourth move in 7 months!
Raise $1,000,000 of investor funds - Haven’t started yet. I need to complete my license first.
Make 3% a month in options - Check. Did that.
Lessons learned:
1) Like moths to a flame I got back into put diagonals the last week and got burned. I need to tighten my entry requirements and reduce my size to no more than 1 contract until I get more experience.
2) Calendars are still making us a ton of money but I’m becoming concerned about a potential drop in volatility.
3) Short straddles have been very successful. Even with a completely undisciplined entry in FMCN I still managed not to get hurt too bad. This sideways moving, high volatility, earnings season is a perfect time for short straddles.
4) I did well adjusting calendars but not double diagonals. I need to spend more time studying double diagonals and how to work them before I size up.
5) The weekly review process and real time portfolio management are working out well and increasing my returns.
6) I’m very pleased with the community of traders we are building. The ideas are rolling in, accountability is high, and the money is flowing.
Plans for April
My biggest concern moving forward is our overly bearish position and long vega. If the market rallies and volatility drops our portfolios are in for a pretty big beating. I will likely start reducing those exposures by shaving some positions and initiating new positions that are more bullish / neutral with negative vega (short verticals, short iron condors, short butterflies).
Looking forward to working together with all of our team members to reach a consistent 10% a month returns while managing our risk.
In the end, in order to become what others aren’t we have to be willing to do what others won’t.
All the best,
Mojo
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