27-13 for October Grade D

Strictly on profit/loss, the October option cycle would grade out at F. This was my worst month in some time with 27 winners and 13 losers. Most of my trades are 80% to 90% probability going in, so that ratio is poor. Some of my losers were whoppers, 1000% basis the premium collected. Put buyers made ten times their money, if they bought when I sold and covered when I covered. 

Overall, I give back about 60% of my modest profits for 2014. The reason for the D grade, is the curve of a difficult market. More than a few strangle sellers and put sellers suffered huge losses this month. Some may experienced margin calls.

As for me, I got a bit too enamored of the bullish calendar cycle, ignoring so many of the the other warning signs. I did take out some insurance against an October smash. Back on July 31, I bought an October put spread on SPY, buying SPY Oct 180 puts and selling the Oct 171 puts. Unfortunately, my timing and my strikes prices on this insurance purchase were a bit off and it expired worthless.

The good news is that I live to trade another day. Hopefully a bit wiser from the experience. I didn't panic. I kept moving. Unfortunately, a lot of my moves were wrong. Many traders trade less, trade smaller, or take a break after a losing streak. Sounds good to me, so I may be more selective the next couple of weeks. The emotional reponse might be revenge trading to try and make up for recent losses. Most traders end up digging a deeper hole with revenge trading.