by revtodd64 - August 19th, 2010 2:40 pm
What “the plot” is all about
Courtesy of Rev. Todd, Rev Todd’s IRA Plot
For several years I have been a wandering stock market pilgrim seeking the holy grail of trading. I started with $2500 from a tax rebate and started climbing the volatile active volcano of penny stocks. I barely escaped the lava and moved through a series of gurus. I journeyed through the lands that were infested with gold bugs; flew (and crashed) with the iron condors, traveled with a trading tribe of “turtle traders” until whipsawed unconscious; and flew too near the sun with Icarus-like option traders. None of these proved to be the holy grail, since I either had too little cash, too little time or too little patience since I work full-time and cannot devote myself to day trading.
In September of 2008 I discovered covered call writing. Once again I took a beating as the market underwent cardiac arrest in the ICU, but I noticed that while mutual funds were down 40-50%, I was “only” down 30% at the bottom and I recovered all my capital by the following February. I could also sleep at night and didn’t have to be glued to the screen. In the 1st quarter of 2009 I had 14 of 14 successful trades, made 15% writing covered calls, and followed that with making 14% in the 2nd quarter. Sounds like the holy grail, right? However, the VIX was at a peak and the premiums were more magnificent than the pearly gates and heavenly streets paved with gold. Then I got greedy. I succumbed to the sirens promising 100% a year and once-in-a-lifetime investments in breakthrough technologies. I started to lose money again.
I stumbled into PSW a few months ago and the buy-write strategies and hedges made sense to me. I started making money again. I didn’t find a holy grail, a messiah, nirvana, or the Kingdom of God, but I did start getting my daily bread. Oddly enough I make more money by being conservative than by taking risks.
So how did “IRA plot” come about? I assure you I am not affiliated with any Irish revolutionary groups, though I did spend a summer in Belfast. I’m talking about the Roth kind of IRAs. I recently took over managing my new wife’s IRA and my mother’s IRA. Not all the strategies at PSW work in IRA accounts. While Interactive Brokers allows me to sell cash covered naked puts, I cannot buy
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Tags: IRA, IRA traders, Phil's Stock World
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