It was a choppy week for us at SPX Option Trader.  We ended this past week with -153% ROI in our SPX Daily Outlook trading, -156% ROI in our SPY Daily Outlook trading, +17% ROI in our SPX Aggressive Trader, +14% ROI in our SPY Aggressive Trader and -132% ROM in our SPX Spread Trader. So while we made a profit in the Aggressive Trader, we had a down week in the Outlook Trader. This was the largest weekly drawdown for us in the Outlook Trader since July of 2021. So, the roughest week in over 2 years. While that doesn’t lessen the sting of a down week, it does help put it into perspective.

No one likes to take a losing trade, none of us are trading for the purpose of losing money. Yet it is a reality of all trading, we lose at times. Trading is a journey with a lot of twists and turns in the road. Not everyday is a winner, in fact often times day trading is a grind. To be a successful day trader a person must learn to accept that this path is full of twists and turns. We’ve had a great year so far, and just ended a 9 week winning streak in the Outlook Trader.  A few rough days doesn’t mean our approach is invalid and it is time to start over. It is all a part of trading. We stay consistent in approach and weather the storms.

We have a 60% win ratio, which means that we lose on average  4 out of every 10 trades. That means we average at least 2 losing days per week, and sometimes more as we did this past week. Averages hold up over the long term, but in any given week it can vary. It is rare to take more than 2 losers in a week, but it happens. This is just a fact of trading, we don’t always get on the right side of the trade.

This is why it is so key to trade a lot size that allows you to handle the storms of trading. A trader should be able to handle 5 or more down days in a row without impacting your lot size. Money management is key to handling rough patches in trading. If you are trading too large of lot size for your account size, these types of rough trading days can wipe you out. Be sure you aren’t trading more than you can handle to lose comfortably. Many traders seek to trade as large amount as possible, but that really isn’t the best approach. Consider how much you can afford to lose without causing you great concern and trade that amount. Because losses do occur, drawdowns happen and the unexpected downturns come. The key to trading is to have a solid approach and still be trading when things start going our way again.

We had a rough weeks and even months before. This is simply part of trading. There is nothing unusual about going through periods of drawdowns. So, don’t despair and don’t throw in the towel. Storms come in trading and to be successful you must weather those storms and still be standing when it passes. Just realize this is part of trading, stay consistent and you’ll be there when things turn. We look forward to a great week of trading ahead of us. Below are our comments for each day of this past week:

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