Concluding NOV trade...

I finally concluded the whole trade saga on NOV (National-Oilwell Varco). Despite the whole hiccup on MB trading platform, I made a gross profit of US$1 (ya, it's only one dollar!). And after all commission and admin fee, most probably I lost a net of US3.05!

Here's the details of the trade:

(1) Bought NOVJY (NOV Oct 145 Call) at 7.80
in anticipation of the stock split of NOV (payable on 28 Sep and execution on 01 Oct) on Friday 28 Sep

(2) Sold NOVJY (NOV Oct 52.5 Call) at 15.00
Stock Split on Monday 01 Oct and I thought I profited US$720 (as posted here on Monday)!!!

(Note: I sold at a 'profit' on MB platform, since it's a green on my position window. But the symbol part was erroneous!)

(3) On Tuesday 02 Sep, I apparently got a short position NOVJY (NOV Oct 52.5 Call) and 2 long positions NOVJV (NOV Oct 72.5 Call). These 2 long positions should be what I had on Monday instead of the 15.00 NOVJY. I bought back the short position at 13.80 and sold one long position at 3.30.

(4) Sold the other long position at 3.31
on Wednesday only after MB platform recovered the options execution (Ya, many options were in chaos with all expiration dates wronged and no option execution can be done till 11am ET).

In summary, my gross profit is only US$1.


P/S: If you think you read wrongly, you don't. MB platform gone went all the time. The last time (about 2 weeks ago), I got lesser cash balance because of their system error. Fortunately, I always screen capture everything in trading!

P/P/S: I'm going to withdraw my cash asap and switch back to IB or OX or some other trading platforms.

Error on NOV splits trade!!!

This is maddening!!!

Today when I opened my trade platform, I got 3 positions: 2 long NOVJV and 1 short NOVJY.

And these were losing counters. I sold NOVJY yesterday for $15.00 to close, but apparently, this was an error. Today, the MB Trading platform revoked the order. And this became a short position. And the bought leg (from last friday) splits into 2, and hence the 2 long NOVJV.

I called MB Trading and they said I should cover the short position by the end of the day!! And I have to incur the losses despite their technical fault!!!

Let's see if the market reverse and how much I can salvage the trade. Maddening!!!

Another Split WIN!

This time round, I profit from the stock splits of NOV (National-Oilwell Varco). I bought into it 'accidentally' on last Friday when I limit the price of $7.80 for the NOVJY (NOV Oct 145 Call). Despite the Ask price then was $8.40, it plunged to execute my trade at $7.80. And then, the call option closed at $5.50.

As always, stock splits will result in the stock price to rise on the execution date (which is Monday ET). I sold it off at $15.00, but the price continue to rally to around $16.00. (although the price rise shouldn't be this much!)

Great! Another stock split win - profit of $720 or 92.3%!!!

P/S: In case, you are wondering how come I claim only $720 profit instead of $950... The reason is the trading platform displayed a daily PnL (as mentioned, the option closed at $5.50 and I exited at $15.00) and hence a $950 closed PnL displayed.

If You're into Forex trading...

When I'm going to start a forex trading account, I realised there are so many of them online.

These are som recommendations (or maybe considered as stringent criterias) to take note:

(1) You can open a mini account. A mini account can be funded with as low as US$250 (standard account is typically US$2,500). Mini Accounts feature smaller, 10k contract sizes and leverage of up to 200:1. For new forex traders, a mini account is a great way to get started trading in a live environment.

(2) Choose trading platform that provides you the convenience to fund your account via credit card or paypal. Do take note of the relevant banking fee - paypal (typically US$0.30 + 3.9% of the transferred fund) & credit card (US$10 to US$20 convenience fee).

(3) Look for platforms that suits your lifestyle. Some provides wireless platforms so you can trade on your PDA or mobile device. Some provides web platform while some others need you to download their real-time trading software.

(4) Commission-free forex trading - Pay no commissions, only the bid/offer spread. The bid-ask spread is already the commission for them. And also trade on spreads as low as 1-2 pips on the most widely traded currencies.

(5) Live chat is available to help you anytime '24/5' when you are trading.

(6) Additional forex resources are important. Chartings, trader educations & webinars will be helpful in your trading journey.

(7) Guaranteed fills on stop loss and limit orders. Stop loss and limit orders are an important part of every trader's risk management strategy.

Look out for all these before choosing your trading platform. With the right trading platform, victory is already half-way there.

Forex.com is one good one that I use; otherwise you can consider Oanda.com or Interbank FX.