Wow! What an unfortunate month for Put Credit Spreads. Afraid this month returned all my yearly gains and then some. A bit of a disappointing way to end the year. We know months like this will happen. Big drawdowns are part of the overall strategy. The key is to take advantage when times are good to build up a stockpile of reserves.
| Ticker | Type | Spread | Expire Date | Open Date | Closed Date | Open Credit | Closed Debit | Profit / Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPY | Put | 250/252 | 12/14/2018 | 11/23/18 | 12/03/18 | $0.26 | $0.03 | 13.22% |
| SPY | Put | 250/252 | 12/14/2018 | 12/06/18 | 12/12/18 | $0.25 | $0.03 | 12.57% |
| SPY | Put | 249/251 | 12/21/2018 | 11/05/18 | 12/21/18 | $0.23 | $0.00 | -100% |
| SPY | Put | 260/262 | 12/21/2018 | 11/08/18 | 12/21/18 | $0.21 | $0.00 | -100% |
| SPY | Put | 248/250 | 12/31/2018 | 11/19/18 | 12/31/18 | $0.23 | $1.26 | -58.18% |
After months like this are done, and once I am done soaking my sorrows in whiskey (clearly not the expensive stuff) I typically find time to reflect. I often learn to appreciate losing months like this -- They are humbling. After many profitable months, it is easy to convince yourself this strategy can't fail. As a result, every few weeks I make a point of pulling a report just to see the months with massive losses. Very good to keep this in perspective. I do this via Options Cafe's Reports of course.
One thing to note. The trades above that had a closing debit of $0.00 and 100% loss I let expire. I just could not find a good exit point.
Let's hope the New Year brings us better trades!
Related Topics: spy, put credit spread
