How it all began...

From an early age, I knew my potential was limited due to the fact I didn't really give a crap about school.  In this day and age, practically everyone has a degree of some sort to add to their resumes to land their high paying dream job.

I went to a technical school for accounting and flunked out of the program by 2%.  For the next few years, I was in/out of school and worked on the side.  

While I was working at a retail store, a former classmate came into the store and we exchanged a few pleasantries.  She graduated and was now working for a reputable company nearby in her field of study.  A pang of guilt stabbed at my heart.  If only, I studied for my finals that day.  I wouldn't be in this situation.

Determined, I started looking for a full time office position.  I sent out a ton of resumes, but I hardly got any call backs due to my lack of experience.  Eventually, I landed an accounting clerk position that paid $10 per hour at a small company.  My commute was an hour each way and my days were long.  But I was happy to be making money on a consistent basis.  I worked hard for the next three years, yet I did not get a raise at all.  They took advantage of me and I was ready to move on.

For the next 8 years, I have slowly climbed my way out of minimum wage.  In 2008, I took on a part time job to supplement my income working an extra 16 hours per week on the side.  Yes, I still have my part time job to this day but on a very scaled basis.

As you can see, I never made a lot of money from my day job.  I struggled to save money in every way I can.  I knew from the beginning, I was never going to get far with just the salary I make from my day job.

In order to grow my wealth, I need to make money work for itself and that's what I have done for the past decade in the stock market.  It is not an easy ride up, there have been many hiccups and bumps along the road.  But I have learned over the years to adapt and deploy new strategies to improve my overall performance in the stock market. 

All it takes is making that one step!  

Portfolio Figures: Quarterly Update

This blog is to track my progress in my stocks & options account. In general, I haven't really been keeping a good track record of my overall portfolio. I've switched in and out of many discount brokerages. Currently, I have two brokerages for CASH/MARGIN/OPTION, TFSA and RRSP.  

QUESTRADE TFSA (Combined CAD)
Total Contribution:  $31,000.00
Current Equity:  $45,573.05 (+749.91)

QUESTRADE RRSP (Combined CAD)
Total Contribution:  $40,000.00 + $8,000.00 = $48,000.00
Current Equity:  $73,116.86 (-1,651.03)

INTERACTIVE BROKERS CASH/MARGIN/OPTION (Combined CAD)
Total Contribution:  $59,242.46 + $4000.00 = $63,242.86
Current Equity:  $93,612.99 (+3,429.24)

BALANCE TRANSFER @ 0.99% GOOD TILL OCT 2015
Current Loan:  -$13,521.20

TOTAL PORTFOLIO VALUE AS OF MAR 31, 2015:  $198,781.70

I am quite pleased with the performance of my overall stock portfolio.  My gain is 49.75% from my original investment.  

Early March, I transferred my account in kind from Virtual Brokers to Interactive Brokers.  With this consolidation, I can concentrate more on option trading with increased margin and buying power to work with.

I have not contributed $5,500 to my TFSA for 2015.  Right now, I am focusing on saving up cash to repay my balance transfer loan by October 2015.  I do not wish to take money out of my stock portfolio.  Plus, I need to account for other upcoming expenses such as car insurance, property taxes, and wedding!

My goal of reaching $200k is within reach now.  I will reset my goal for the end of the 2015:  $225,000!

March Option Performance

This month I ended up realizing $1,464.44 in option premiums, but I spent $40.49 in commissions.  I let 7 positions expire worthless.  Gutsy, I know.  I closed 3 positions early.  

On average, I realize $725 per month from option premiums.  Even now with more margin and buying power from transferring my account from Virtual Brokers to Interactive Brokers, I am having a trader's block.  

Stocks are at all time highs and I don't want to over extend myself into this unpredictable market.  It's always better to be safer than to be sorry!  

My upcoming premiums for the months ahead are not that significant, but it is still cash flow coming in as I hope they will expire in my favour.

Here are my upcoming option premiums that are set to expire in their respective months:

APRIL	$659.25
MAY	$387.07
JUNE	$107.99
JULY	$584.93

Set to Expire: March 27th

Option	Position	Days Held
FB 27MAR2015 68.5 P	-1	16
MA 27MAR2015 83.5 P	-1	18
SBUX 27MAR2015 88.5 P	-1	18

I sold very out of the money (OTM) PUTS on FB, MA, SBUX two weeks ago and collected $85.63 in premiums after commissions.  I risked a total of $24,050.00 of buying power, but once the contracts expire worthless, my buying power will be replenished and I can do more option trading.

I am using the size of my portfolio to create income through options.  Taking advantage of the margin & buying power that I have in my non-registered account @ IB.  

Of course, there are risks involved.  But with calculated bets, I have generated income streams from selling puts and credit put spreads mostly.  I have also dabbled in buying calls and selling covered calls.  

I continue to learn and evolve as I pick up things from here and there. 

A lot of people would say: "Whoa, hold on there, you're risking $24,050.00 just to make $85.63?"

Yes, of course, there are risks involved when trading options.  Worst case scenario, I end up getting assigned if current market prices decide to fall to my strike prices.  I will just end up owning 100 shares of FB, MA & SBUX in which I don't mind really.  I know they're strong good companies that won't go belly up. 

Day before Expiration

Option Position

AAPL 20MAR2015 97.5 P-2

GOOGL 20MAR2015 495 P5

GOOGL 20MAR2015 500 P-5

TXRH 20MAR2015 35 P-1

V 20MAR2015 63.75 P20

V 20MAR2015 65 P-20

I'm not too worried about my top three options that are expiring on March 20, 2015.  I will let them expire worthless.  Yes, that's the term we option traders use.  

As for Visa, I want to close out my position for March 20, 2015 in case of a downside.  But Visa split 4:1 today.  Instead of having 5 contracts for my bull put spread, now I have 20 contracts.  This means my commission will be quadrupled and eat into my profits.  So I am going to let it ride out.  Really hoping V will stay above $65 per share by end of tomorrow.

If all goes according to plan, I stand to gain a net of $971.65 in realized profits.

Opportunity Calls, Grab It!

For the past month, Starbuck's share prices has been hoovering around in the low $90s.  I am bullish on Starbucks and wanted to get in on the action with an option CALL rather than my usual selling PUT for credits.  

Option CALLS are extremely volatile compared to option PUTS.  But if the stock rises to its occasion and you called it right, you can reap endless of profits.

I had some USD cash in my IB account, so I decided to make a calculated "bet" on $SBUX.  

PC‏@PC_Trades

BOUGHT 1 SBUX May15'15 92.5 CALL @ 3.3

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1:01 PM - 10 Mar 2015

The cost of my option CALL is $3.30 per contract.  Each contract has 100 shares, so I paid out $330.  The very next day, $SBUX went down and of course, the value of my call option dropped to $2.89 per contract.  Gulp, I was already down by $0.41 per contract => $41.00!!

Today, $SBUX rose to $93.38 per share.  Good news for my CALL, it also rose by $0.96!  So now, I'm up by $0.55 per contract => $55.00.  $55/$330 = 17% gain in two days.  Not bad eh?  But I'm greedy, I want more!  So I'm still holding... 

Patience is key in the world of options.  I have 64 days to ride this out.  

UPDATE:  My GTC order to close out my position was executed on March 18th, 2015.  I made $200 less commissions in 8 days.  I could have made more money, but I am happy to walk away with a profit.  Go $SBUX!

Showing Less in Public

Personal finance is indeed personal.  Perhaps, I was over sharing my detailed progress line by line.  No one really cares except for me.  It is my money to be made, not yours.

In my Progress Tab, I've taken off my detailed dividends, detailed option trades, detailed stock trades and detailed trading expenses.  Now it's just a summary of my monthly activity in my overall stock/option portfolio. 

I will still continue to live tweet my trades and talk about my option/stock trades.  But now, it leaves more to the imagination.  I won't lay it all out as before.

Anyways, I'm at full trading power at Interactive Brokers.  Time to really put the money to work.