Small gains, reduced activity B- grade

I start the year cautiously, with small positions, few trades. Self-grade is B-. After the shellacking I took in 2020, I remain gun shy. My trading account is up 0.4% for calendar 2021. SPY up 0.5%, but QQQ down at this point. The bigger story might be the corrections in gold and silver, down substantially from their highs.

Here is the ETF scoreboard for 2021 so far:

EEM emerging market 5.2%
SPY SP500 0.5%
TLT US20 yr treasury 0.1%

IWM Russell 2000 0.0%
QQQ Nasdaq 100 -0.6%

GLD gold -4.1%
SLV silver -6.6%

Here’s to a better year for all.

2020 The good, the bad and the ugly

I posted the following to the Reddit options sub >>

Time for a year in review. For me the emphasis is on ugly.

After a 67 percent drawdown and a margin call in March, I end up with a 37 percent loss for 2020. No need to say I told you so, for those so tempted.

A near perfect storm of an accelerating decline with some sharp rallies, my big ego from a 55 percent gain in 2019, and being sick with the flu, led to some bad decisions.

I had at least 50 percent buying power available when the downside started. That gets chewed up real quick on portfolio margin. I was faked out by many of the rally attempts. Obviously, I was over exposed to a sharp decline.

When the margin call came, I moved most of what I had left to cash and regrouped. Overall I see myself as a cautious trader. I'm sure more than a few were wiped out and most of them tell no tales.

The good is that I got off the mat, up over 40 percent from the account lows. The bad is that a 200 percent gain is needed after losing two thirds of the account.

The good is that I have other accounts, that are way more conservative.

I've gotten better about looking at the task at hand. The day, the hour, the moment directly ahead. My predictions are no better than coin flips, so I'll skip those.

My rule number one is

Live to trade another day

This past year, I survived and hopefully am wiser for the experience. Happy new year to all.