when the FOMC released its statement this afternoon i made several trades. i got back into gold with one of the miner stocks, barrick (newmont is probably a better choice but i have my reasons which i won’t go into now). i bought some july QQQQ puts before the announcement, because i read in separate places there is statistical evidence that after a hike the market is down from where it started a week later, and at the end of rate hikes odds are indexes will be lower a month later (i would link the places i read this but i am too tired to at this hour). i also shorted the dollar / yen pair, which is why i am still up at 2:30 AM. even though i have stops in, i still feel like i should watch this trade. in less than 12 hours, i had doubled my money…on paper.
well, now they are realized gains. i had every intention of staying here reading, typing, and keeping one eye on the screen, but it sure feels like the dollar has lost its downward momentum for now, and there are a bunch of numbers due out in 3 hours that i am worried might push it north again. so rather than be greedy, i am taking a double. babysitting duty is over and i can go to sleep. in the morning i am sure to see that shortly after i closed the trade the dollar fell off a steep cliff.
i am still learning about trading markets, experimenting with different strategies on a small scale. i have been buying and selling stocks for a number of years now, but i am now making a much more focused effort to play this game. so far, it is one of the best games i have played, but the rules are incredibly complicated and the competition is intense. (i wish that it were a more social game like warcraft).
in a way though, i don’t feel like i am competing with anyone. even on zero-sum playing fields like currency or options trading where for every winner there is an equal and opposite loser, i picture it more like surfing or swimming, just diving in and moving with the flow. if anything, the market is a faceless opponent.
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