Lessons of a Lifetime: My 33 Years as an Option Trader

Lessons of a Lifetime:

My 33 Years as an Option Trader

Mark D Wolfinger

Options for Rookies Books, 2010

Lessons of a Lifetime: My 33 Years as an Option Trader

Copyright 2010 by Mark D. Wolfinger

All rights reserved.

Mark D Wolfinger

Published by Mark D Wolfinger at Smashwords

ISBN: 9781310770326

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

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Disclaimer

The information presented in this book is for educational purposes only. I neither make nor suggest any specific recommendations for investment. Examples are for illustrative purposes only, and serve to show what may happen in a particular situation. The possible rewards are stated, as are the possible risks. Covered call writing is a sound, conservative investment strategy, but losses can still occur.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One Reality

Chapter Two Don’t Ignore Risk.

Chapter Three The Importance of Being Comfortable with your Trade

Chapter Four Money Management

Chapter Five Who Wants the Last Nickel?

Chapter Six Profits are in the Future, not in the Past

Chapter Seven Exiting a Trade

Chapter Eight Holding Positions into Expiration

Chapter Nine Strategy Selection vs. Risk Management

Chapter Ten Trading Plan and Record Keeping

Chapter Eleven The Best Decision

Chapter Twelve You Have a Loss?

Chapter Thirteen Getting Even

Chapter Fourteen More on Comfort Zones

Chapter Fifteen Odds and Ends

Afterword

About the Author

Author’s Other Books

Dedication

To Penny who taught me the truly important lessons of a lifetime

Introduction

This book contains a series of commentaries on a variety of topics related to trading options. It’s my attempt to share lessons that were learned along the way. Some lessons came easily, while others had to be repeated before I even considered altering my way of doing things. I’ve also developed some ideas about trading that are not in accordance with mainstream thinking. Those ideas are included in the book.

I began trading options as a professional in 1977. I’m not so egotistical to believe that these ideas are gospel and that if you fail to follow them you are doomed to failure.

Rather, this is my method for sharing important lesson’s that I’ve learned. This book is clearly not comprehensive. It was written with the hope that you can spare yourself some of the anguish that I experienced when learning these truths. Okay; I shouldn’t exaggerate. They are truths to me, and not every lesson will be suitable for you, your investing style, your risk tolerance, comfort zone boundaries, etc. But, they are helpful to me and I hope they will be helpful to you.

Some topics are mentioned more than once. That’s the result of the way this book was compiled. It was not written as a separate book. Instead, it’s a collection of ideas. Most chapters are 100% new. A small number were previously published or discussed in my books or blog. But each was rewritten, updated, or modified in some way. The writing is fresh.

This book is not filled with trading lessons. It is filled with my philosophical ideas, or my way of looking at options related situations that I encounter. I believe this way of looking at the world will help you make those difficult decisions when you are faced with them. I know they guide me through both normal and difficult times. If you gain confidence in your ability to think through a problem, or recognize that something you always thought to be true may be worth further consideration, then this book will have served its purpose.

There are always life lessons to be learned. This book does not contain the definitive way to view the world. Indeed, some readers will strongly disagree with at least one of my tenets. But that’s a good thing. If this book achieves no other purpose than having you reconsider the way you approach decision-making or view the world, then something positive has been accomplished. It’s not necessary that you change your mind. The fact that you take the time to reconsider – regardless of whether you change your way of seeing a specific situation, or continue as before - is valuable all by itself. It gives you increased confidence in your ability to be successful in your trading career. And confidence is an important quality for a trader. Confidence, not overconfidence.

To that end, I wish you good trading.

Evanston, IL

March 2010

Chapter One

Reality

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. - John Kenneth Galbraith

There’s always more than one way in which each of us perceives certain events. Part of the time there is room for interpretation because the ‘facts’ can be considered from different points of view. Sometimes, there is only a single ‘truth.’ Yet that truth can be elusive.

Consider what happens when the police debrief eyewitnesses to a crime. I don’t believe anyone thinks there is more than one version of the truth. It’s possible that people standing in different places may have a view not visible to everyone, but only one event took place. There is one complete and accurate description. The getaway car cannot be blue, green and black at the same time. Some witnesses swearing to those colors do not recall events with accuracy.

Yet, each witness is positive that he/she is accurately describing the truth and accurately reporting a complete and correct description of reality. When those reports are compared, it’s obvious that most witnesses reported details that are inaccurate.

It’s not easy for those of us who were not present at the scene to understand why this happens. This is especially true when each witness is certain