On Sunday I journaled about the orders I placed. I listed my stock price baseline for CMCSA as $42.52. I listed my stock price baseline for PG as $119.56. I chose those baselines based on what the stocks were trading at when I transferred the shares into my margin account. That doesn’t make any sense to do that. I know what my cost basis is on those stocks and that is what I should have used. After all, if I had a cost basis that was higher than what the stocks were trading at when I transferred the shares into the account, I wouldn’t have set the baseline lower.

I have to say that I was letting my ego get in the way. I looked at what the stocks had been trading at over the last 52 weeks. Then I told myself that I would be losing out if I sold them too far below what their 52 week high was. Based on not wanting to sell them too cheap, I chose strike prices and premiums for the CALL contracts I wanted to sell. The end result is that I didn’t sell any of the contracts because the stocks had gone down from the previous close.

On Monday I wrote the bad news that all of my stocks were down for the day and I didn’t sell any of my CALLs. In my mind, things didn’t go my way on Monday. While it’s true that I didn’t sell any of my CALLs and it’s also true that the stocks were down from the previous day, it did not have to be that way. I could easily have sold my CALL contracts on CMCSA and PG if I had only set my baseline prices accurately. Then I would have chosen different strike prices and different premiums.

The reality is that my cost basis on CMCSA is approximately $16.03 per share. My cost basis on PG is approximately $46.59 per share.

Now it’s Wednesday and all the premiums will naturally be lower because the contracts have lost two days of time value. However, I’m not going to continue to be foolish and refuse to sell contracts today. In fact, I’ve also decided that I’m not going to continue to be foolish by trading on a platform that has higher commissions, fewer capabilities, and less data. So, today I entered orders for CALLs that are likely to be in the money at expiration. In other words, I have intentionally set strikes at which I’m likely to get assigned. Furthermore, I have set my premiums so that they fall within the Bid/Ask and are near the last sold price.

My intention is that the stocks will be purchased and then I’ll take the cash and move it to a different brokerage firm. Then I will trade near where the stock is selling and not based on what its 52 week high is.

I entered an order to Sell to open one CALL of CMCSA with an expiration of Friday, May 8, 2020 at a strike price of $36 and a premium of $0.60. The Bid/Ask was $0.54/$0.75. The last sold was $0.57. The stock closed at $36.05 yesterday.

I entered an order to Sell to open three CALLs of PG with an expiration of Friday, May 8, 2020 at a strike price of $116 and a premium of $1.40. The Bid/Ask was $1.27/$1.57. The last sold was $1.34. The stock closed at $116.01 yesterday.

I entered an order to Sell to open four CALLs of LUV with an expiration of Friday, May 8, 2020 at a strike price of $30 and a premium of $0.05. The Bid/Ask was $0.00/$0.10. The last sold was $0.05. The stock closed at $26.42 yesterday. Naturally, I don’t expect that I would get assigned on this contract, assuming that I can sell it. Since my cost basis is $30, I don’t want to sell it at a loss. I’m happy to just hold on to it and wait for it to recover. In the meantime I’ll keep on selling CALLs at $30 as long as I can for whatever premium I can get.

Since I had funds available to withdraw, I also decide to have a little fun today.

I entered an order to Sell to open two PUTs of GE with an expiration of Friday, May 8, 2020 at a strike price of $6 and a premium of $0.08. The Bid/Ask was $0.06/$0.08. The last sold was $0.08. The stock closed at $6.20 yesterday.

I entered an order to Sell to open one PUT of HTZ with an expiration of Friday, May 8, 2020 at a strike price of $2.5 and a premium of $0.15. The Bid/Ask was $0.10/$0.15. The last sold was $0.13. The stock closed at $3.01 yesterday.

I give thanks to the Universe for the abundance it provides me. I surrender and am open and ready to receive.

Bhavatu sabba mangalam - May all beings be happy