For 18 weeks ur SPX PCS Strategy performed well while the market was selling off. It was not an easy journey this year. When I started this strategy at the end of 2021 I hoped for a better start and large profits. The market had a different opinion.

Despite heavy selling, we finished up by 0.49% while SPX lost -0.21%. However, I didn’t trade much, rather preserving cash and waiting. I only opened a Friday’s trade based on our plan and used the credit to adjust old trades that got in trouble during the last 18 weeks. Until this market recovers, I will be trading Friday’s trades only as these are the most conservative ones and have the best risk-reward ratio. The market is so depressed and even if it sells more in the upcoming weeks, our Friday’s trade strikes will be so low that it will be unlikely to lose.

Our overall SPX account is up +182.00% since the beginning of this program, and we have $785 in unrealized gains. That is a good sign because the account is set to grow in the near future.

Initial trade set ups

For my SPX strategy, I dedicated a $3,600 initial amount that will be used to trade SPX PCS strategy per week. If this amount is depleted, I will evaluate the strategy to determine whether to continue or change it. If I grow this amount, I will scale up the trading.
 

WHAT WILL WE TRADE?
DAY	DTE	TYPE
MONDAY	7 DTE & 40 delta	10 wide Put Credit Spread
TUESDAY	30 DTE & 40 delta	10 wide Put Credit Spread
WEDNESDAY	7 DTE & 40 delta	10 wide Put Credit Spread
FRIDAY	60 DTE & 14 delta	10 wide Put Credit Spread
EVERY MONTH	120 DTE	Put Debit Spread – HEDGE

Our SPX strategy is designed as a directional options trading. We are selling credit put spreads to collect premiums and hopefully, these spreads expire worthlessly or we buy them back for a small debit.

We use a set of indicators (mostly based on moving averages) and market sentiment that generates bullish signals. The trading is based on a “trend following strategy”. If we have a bullish signal and bullish trend, we open the trade. If we do not have a signal, we stay away.

We set the set of rules and alerts and backtested them. The backtesting software proved that the strategy was viable and returned good gains. We also tried to automate the decision-making as much as possible to have the trading as mechanical as possible. This helps eliminate our emotions. The decision-making was reduced to: “bullish signal present” – open a trade, “not present” – stay away. it worked well.

Then 2022 year came and put this strategy to a hard test in the violent market. The signals worked well, but we had old trades that got busted and didn’t have time to perform. So I had to evaluate the strategy. The original strategy was based on letting the trade expire in the money and take a loss. But I didn’t like it. I tested an option of rolling the trade rather than letting it be and I feel a lot more comfortable with that.

Rolling a trade is still a losing trade because we close the old trade for a loss and open a new trade for a credit that partially offsets the loss. We also add a credit call spread or widen the put spread to get more credit. I believe by managing these trades and offsetting them with an opposite, adjusted, or new trade will result in fewer losses and larger gains. And so far, this strategy works.

Here you can see all our trades:

 

Click on the picture above to see the entire list.
 

We do not trade 0 DTE trades. This strategy is designed to be as passive as possible. You open a trade and let it run. You do not need to be glued to the computer all the time. The strategy takes advantage of the market’s historical behavior of going mostly up. Yes, there will be selloffs and corrections, even bear markets but over time, it goes up. And therefore our strategy is designed for this direction. The premise is, that if we have a bullish trend, we open a bullish spread and let it run. 80% or 90% of the time, it will be a winning trade. And if the trend is strong, we even open more aggressive trades (which is not the case today due to the market’s correction).

How much money you can trade?

As you can see in the table below, the highest amount of cash to trade this strategy is $19,190. That will allow for all adjustments, rolls, and comfortable trading without blowing your account. Can you trade less? Well, yes, I started with a $3,600 initial amount. But you need to be selective. You won’t trade all trades. You just trade the safest trades only (which is the Friday trade), especially in this market and when the market gets out of this mess you can start adding trades. And you do not compound. You must wait for the original trade to end before opening a new trade. This way the growth will be a lot slower and you collect less credit but you do not blow your account, mainly when you need to roll and you do not have money to do that (as the old busted trade will need more buying power which can be reduced by adding an offsetting trade that neutralizes the old trade, but you still will need that initial buying power).

Last week trading

 

Overall, the strategy resulted in a $50.00 gain last week.
 

Initial account value (since inception: 12/07/2021):	$3,600.00
Last week beginning value:	$10,101.95
Last week ending value:	$10,151.95 (+0.49%; total: +182.00%)
The highest capital requirements to trade this strategy:	$19,190
Current capital at risk:	$17,215
Unrealized Gain:	$785 (4.56%)
Realized Gain:	$5,652 (+32.83%)
Total Gain:	$6,437 (+37.39%)
Win Ratio:	68%
Average Winner:	$220
Average Loser:	$299

SPX PCS account value
 
Our SPX net-liq increased slightly last week creating a new all-time high. But the market is volatile too much and our trading activity will be adjusting our existing trades, and opening Friday’s trades, only. We will evaluate case by case which trade to take.
 

SPX PCS account vs SPX index net liq
 
However, it is nice to see that our account is growing while the market is struggling, going sideways or down. Although I must admit, trading in this year’s environment is very frustrating.

SPX PCS account vs SPX index
 

If you want to receive trade alerts whenever we open a new SPX put credit spread or a hedge trade, you can subscribe to our service:

Note, if you wish to subscribe to multiple levels, you can do so by subscribing to one level only and then send us an email that you want to be added to other levels too.

Also, if you like this report, hit the like button so I know there is enough audience wanting to see this type of report. If you have any questions or want to see anything else about my SPX trading, do not hesitate to contact me or write a comment in the comments section. Thank you!

 
 

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