Re <<Did not blow out my account, only 5%>> ... I could easily have executed a buy on USO, was going to perhaps 7-10 days ago, but the broker's platform did not allow me to do so - required a lot of cyber-papering hoops to jump through and I got lazy. 5% is like falling off of a bicycle, scraped knee. Important to get back on the bike, am told, but perhaps only after (mixing metaphors, my daughter would tell me) after recalibrate to the music before dance again. Losses suck. If we are honest w/ ourselves w/ our total balance sheet, we all lost some, for there is no such thing as a paper loss.
Re <<But the reverberations of unexpected events will continue to knock our economy. That’s what we are all on this thread trying to get ahead of.>> ... At this juncture we all might be here to not fall down, or trip and get back up, and try best to only lose the least relative to all others not here.
Re <<Have we reached the point of needing to insure our physical safety? TJ says the other side of the hill needs to worry.>> ... The other side of the hill needs to worry, and they must be stopped should they try to get to this side of the hill. Am supportive of martial-law-esque protocol. The 'hill' in all of our neighbourhoods, are not hilly enough. Armed-response security services companies doing well.
Re <<food source secure?>> ... much more importantly, are friendships and neighbourliness secure. IOW, is the community still around?
Re <<big city I would be thinking about escape routes>> ... yes, important (know how to do what and only have to decide on when); and / but
if in 'out there' I would get lots of serious dogs, guns, ammo, grenades, and two SUVs. Net net I think big cities safer, especially if armed-response can get from 'there' to 'here' in 120 seconds.
I would be much more concerned had we done what we originally considered, living in a house immediately adjacent to the public beach.
Re [futures?] <<it’s not like selling a call with unlimited downside>> ... I shall delve into this a bit to test own thought process ...
(i) shorting a call on a share does involve unlimited downside for a limited upside, but one can trade out of it just as one could with a share, so is more like shorting a stock, but at a price different from the current market price, and only within a defined time, with time-decay working in the seller's favour
the call option accelerates gains and losses, and magnifies same, allowing the seller to zig-zag faster, and not dawdle for profits that never be, and not loiter until harm has a chance to do wet-work
I do occasionally short shares, as opposed to or in addition to options, whereas I do not generally short anything other than puts, and and only puts on shares I am willing to buy. Re TSLA, I like its liquidity and volatility, a rare combo, and its frothiness not recognised by the trading market, thus is wide trading band.
Have done well, net net, by TSLA, shorting calls and puts, at different and same times, but the very recent 10+ days relentless rise, from 450 on April 2 to 768 last week was ... scary ... but I am keeping faith, rotated out of the mistakes of 650 calls into far more sensible 1000+ calls. Akin to using long range artillery and strategic bombing in an otherwise infantry house-to-house battle, to be careful.
My shorted calls are layered, in strike prices, and in expiration, to avoid some mistakes in judgement, hopefully, and facilitate fine-tuning, and to enable plenty of time-decay fodder on the buyer.
Coincidentally I did directly short some TSLA last night. I am in profit at least for now. I am aware that TSLA shall utter some guidance on 29th April post-market closing which could boost its shares. I adore Musk but do think he is having a bit of fun on the market. In any case I have troops deployed in the down & wet & dirty house-to-house / street-by-street, and I have the artilleries banging away.
Last nights trades (the TSLA April 24 Call 1000 was to close a short position for I am not greedy even as there is almost zero danger of TSLA making 1000 in two days time).
and current order of battle of shorted options (I do not buy options except to close positions, and I am not too greedy; just at times moderately aggressive) ... 2022 June 17 Call 1800 seems safe to short, along w/ the rest of its cohort ...
C2 got his capital back and has some house-money position on TSLA. Good.
I suspect that as long as TSLA not broken, the selling on the market on all shares not done, for sincerity is lacking. I am ready to turn tail on a dime. The nice feature about shorting calls is that in an "I do not have to mark to market day-by-day" regime, I do not have to turn-tail because of any temporary bum-rushing.
Can stare down the %$#@!2ams on the other side of the %$#W@58 screen, at least for a few I&^%* days.
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