Prosper Newsletter: July 2006 > Stock

You understand that the following information is educational in nature and is not intended to be legal, accounting, or tax advice. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and should consult your own legal, accounting, and tax advisors before making your financial decisions.

Trader Focuses On Options; Profits $137,645.94

I signed my enrollment agreement 1/26/2006. I was a little hesitant at the price at that time. It seemed a lot of money to me. I had been trading stocks but really wanted to learn options. The next week we started and are now into our 10th or 11th week of class. I'm sorry but I just couldn't' handle watching all those green numbers on our paper trading. I had to start on my own. Needless to say, I made some mistakes, and I will learn from them, but the end result was fantastic. I made lots of trades in and out, some of which (7 or 8) I lost on. The best ones were on our IRA accounts though:

I definitely learned to concentrate more on my bid and ask spread prices. I almost got stung there. Instead of making money I'm going to come out even because of the spread. Because you don't lose as much on your losing trades as you make on your good trades I totaled a gain of $137,645.94 from 4/3/2006 to 4/21/2006 and I still have a couple of trades running. And of course I subtracted my cost of the course from that. Thank-you, thank-you, Coach, Dr. Cooper, and Prosper Inc. I can't wait to learn the rest of the course!

-Vicky K.
Sun City, AZ


Tip of the Month

Even thought the early reports from the DOW components are showing good earnings the turmoil in the middle east and the volatility of crude oil prices has made a rally shaky at best. The S&P 500 has hit it's lowest level since 2004 and may go lower. The PPI came in at .2 and we expect a tame CPI. This will tone down the inflation fears and speculation for another interest increase in August is around 50%. This is a good time to use the Delta Neutral trades (Straddle/Strangle) on stocks that have strong moves at earnings time. Also, it is still a good strategy to use contingent orders to trade momentum moves on the OEX and the SPX.

Continue to make trades in the energy sectors as there seems to be no end in sight to the increasing price of oil.

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