Year 2008 was almost equally as good a year for OPNewsletter as 2007 especially when compared with any major benchmark index like S&P 500. In 11 months completion, from Feb’08 till Dec’08, OPNewsletter outperformed S&P500 by a wide app 70% margin.
During the year when the DJIA decline 33.84%, while the S&P 500 trimmed 38.49%, the NASDAQ lost 40.54% and Russell 2000 lost over 35%, OPNewsletter went up by +48.2% excluding brokerage commissions and +37.5% including retail brokerage commissions (my commissions are even lower than commissions I am assuming in the calculations). If however, I calculate the way usually option trading newsletter calculates (returns/amount invested), then OPN returns are +144% but we know, we don’t invest money that way. What really matters is the gain on overall capital.
These results does NOT even include returns from bonus trades (earning play, momentum plays, almost risk free trades, swing trades, intra-day plays, etc.) where the success hit rate was over 80% (I didn’t spend time in counting too many bonus trades for past 11months, it is based on just the snapshot on the forum alone) and gains far outperforming losses.
Here is a snapshot of the returns, portfolio capital invested and thus effective returns and compounding effect of OPNewsletter results.
Except for the month of Aug’08, OPNewsletter has been positive every month. If you notice, very little capital was invested in the month of Oct’08 (expiration) and that was the month that most traders and investors alike want to forget. I warned OPNewsletter subscribers about the upcoming severity of the bears and we were on sidelines watching the show. We have been investing cautiously since then and only increased capital now for Jan’09 portfolios, that too only 30% so far. The maximum portfolio capital used was 84.3% for the May’08 expiration round.
During this period, we opened several type of income spread including Iron Condors, Diagonal spread, Double diagonals, calendars, double calendars, credit spread, debit spreads, covered calls, Straight calls and puts and even purchased stocks where buying options was not making good sense.
There are a lot of learnings that together with subscribers we have learned in the past year and things improves, we should be able to capitalize on those.
Pls click here to read what do OPN subscriber think and browse OPNewsletter should you choose to join the OPN community.
Going ahead looking for 3rd consecutive year of out-performance.
Profitable Trading, OP
Such is the bear market, it leaves no one. Those who thought that major price indexes had successfully tested the Nov’08 market lows and that move December onwards marked a new primary bull market, were taken by surprise and Jan closed on a negative note. Dow closing almost 9% down for the month and other indices almost in the same range. I have been saying this since Nov’07 and will repeat here again “In bear markets the winner is the one who loses the least” (it’s not my quote, I borrowed it from the net and don’t know who said this, but whoever did concluded it at best)..so stay very close. I also mentioned about the importance of 7,500 break for Dow that if that’s gone, just stay clear.