Monthly: Loserville 70-4 grade C-

I lose a little over 1% for the August option cycle. I count 70 winners 4 losers, which sounds great until you hear the size of the losses. I get whipsawed in Chipotle, taking a 2000% loss on one leg

Here are some etfs best to worst, 2018 ytd performance:

IWM +10.5% Russell 2000, US small cap
SPY +7.2% S&P 500 US large cap

TLT -4.6% US 20-year Treasuries
GLD - 9.3% gold

EEM -10.4% emerging markets equities
SLV -12.9% silver

My account +10.8%. So I gave a little back this month, but am still having a decent year. It is telling that the US stock market is going up almost alone. Many foreign markets are in correction mode, some even in bear markets.

I confess to getting nervous on expiration Friday as many stocks moved lower in the morning. After the recent big losses, I took profits instead of waiting it out on expiration day.

Rule #1 remains: Live to trade another day.

Sometimes that translates into reducing risk after taking some big hits. Reversion to the mean often works, but when it fails, and there is a trending move, those whopper losers can zap an account. I took another 20x loss in sold Chipotle calls, only to see CMG whipsaw back down the next day on a food scare. Markets can be perverse like that.

I plan to be moving soon, so while I will try to keep the blog up to date, posts may be spotty, late perhaps abbreviated. I have yet to meet the person that enjoys moving. Cheers.