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April 2020 Updates!

Going over this months updates

What's New From April?

The Market

This month the
rallied as high as almost 16% and finished the month at about a 13% increase – a truly incredible move. We also saw some historic moves in crude oil – the price of the
actually went negative! That's never happened before in history and, honestly, not something I realized was even possible. Luckily, I have not been trading oil have not had to suffer its unprecedented moves. Meanwhile, as the oil market wreaks havoc, I've been making back some of my losses in the equities market.
as indicated by the
(/VX), collapsed down to nearly 30 this month. That simply means the demand for options has declined as a result of the rally. That lower demand also means cheaper option prices and declining
This worked to my advantage because it allowed me to
several positions at much cheaper prices than I could have a month ago. I still have a long way to get back to even, but I expect to see more and more opportunity as the year goes on.
For the time being, I'm trading extra cautiously. I have no idea what's causing the market to rally this hard... Some say it's because the Federal Reserve is pumping vast amounts of liquidity into the market, others say it's
buying back their positions, or both! There are several theories floating around. Whatever it may be, the result is a market that has bounced back in a huge way – the
is actually up money this year! At the same time, unemployment numbers are through the roof and significant portions of the world's economies remain inoperable. Maybe there's something I'm not seeing, but given what's happening I simply don't trust these price levels. My gut is telling me to be cautious about ramping up my risk. I'd rather be patient and see how things play out. I personally don't think we're out of the woods as far as the coronavirus goes, and half-expect to see another spike in infections. Maybe it's paranoia, but I already see people getting careless with social distancing – it's still too soon if you ask me. Hopefully I am wrong about that. Either way, I think we've rallied too hard too quickly and feel we are at high risk of another melt down.
At this point, all of my position except KRE are in the June
KRE is actually a very cool scenario in which I managed to eliminate my risk entirely while still leaving myself the opportunity to make over $200. Head on over to the Trade Journal to check it out for yourself! I am eager to add more positions, but not until we see an
spike... Going into the end of the month we had several days in a row where IV declined, and I want to avoid selling the lows– especially after seeing it go to 80 just a couple months ago.

New Article!

I published a new risk profile this month about Short Straddles. It is an
and the concept is very similar to the
which I wrote about last month. The next article I plan to write will cover
versions of both of those strategies, which can be helpful for small accounts.

Follow Me on Twitter @foodfortheta

For anyone that's new, be sure to keep up with my latest updates by following me on twitter! New followers are more than welcome so please don't be shy! You can also find a lot of my posts under the hashtag #DIYInvestor. I also want to give a big THANK YOU to my current followers. I know this stuff is pretty challenging, but I promise that I'm working hard every day to improve both the information and usefulness of this site. I'm grateful to have you aboard and hope you are having fun learning the ins and outs of this business!

Please Sir, May I Have Some More?

It's already May, which is my birth-month and hopefully a big profit month as well! I can't believe we are almost half-way through 2020... Looking forward to another month of strategic thinking and
Trading aside, I truly hope you all are safe and wishing you all strength in coping with these tough times. Also, an early Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there – the truest symbols of strength in tough times. Be safe, trade small, and appreciate the silver linings!

Until next time,
~ De'Shan

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