Monthly: Big W, 104-23 grade C-

I count 104 winners, 23 losers for the February option cycle. There is an old movie Mad, Mad, Mad World where they are looking for the Big W. The SPY chart looked like a big W as it made a double bottom. I sold too much premium when volatility was low, and paid for it when vol exploded.

I followed my trading rules and covered as the underlyings moved through the strike price. The losses were large. My stress level was high.

Here are a few etfs and the 2018 results:

EEM +5.1% Emerging market equity
GLD +3.5% gold

SPY +2.7% S&P 500 U.S. large cap
IWM +0.6% Russell 2000 U.S. small cap

SLV -1.6% silver
TLT -6.4% U.S. 20 year treasuries

My account -2.4%, so not good. That said, it could have been a lot worse. With the explosion in volatility more than a few accounts were wiped out. Going forward, I will remain humble, hopefully having learned something from the market turmoil.