Monthly 81-9, Grade C-, weathering the storm.

I lose a bit over 5% this month. Grade C- because of the big loss. However, market conditions were difficult for many boats. I count 81 winners, 9 losers for the October option cycle.

Unfortunately, many of the losers were huge, and almost all the winners small or tiny. So despite a high win percentage, the losses out weigh the gains, and I have a negative month. Amazon, Facebook, Nvidia are some of the losers. For the most part, I stay within my rules. One winner was Tilray. Selling way, way otm options worked this time.

Here are some etfs year-to-date:
SPY +3.8% S&P 500 US large cap
IWM +0.6% Russell 2000 US small cap

GLD -6.2% gold
TLT -10.4% US Treasuries 20 year

SLV -14.1% silver
EEM -15.8% Emerging market equity

My account +6.2%. So respectable. It is telling that almost everything is down now. Only SPY has a reasonable return for the year. QQQ is not on the list, but is still up for the year.

I wish I knew what was coming next. The sentiment still doesn’t feel like a top, but corrections can happen at any time. This recent slide came on no real news. The reasons cited have been out there for months now. Netflix boomed higher on earnings day, and has given all that back. That is not bull market action, so caution is reasonable. That said, so many pundits and newbies seem obsessed with a crash, that a crash is extremely unlikely. What is more likely is the recent meat-grinder action where both bulls and bears might lose money, if they are positioned wrong.