It is difficult to admit that you were wrong when you are the king of the world. But at some point the reality will catch up with you and you will be forced to admit you were wrong.

If your trading pattern looks like a roller coaster or constant losing it is time to stop thinking that you are hurt by the market and that the whole world is against you, Your Majesty.

This was my case.

After I effectively ruined my account from $21,000 down to $1,500 it was that “aha” moment to me. So last month I stopped my madness, stopped trading SPX market, closed the last losing trades and decided to move on.

I returned back to the strategy which worked and I did a good thing by doing so. My March 2016 is again a profitable month. Very profitable.

 

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 · March 2016 trading results

In March I was trading options only using dividend growth stocks as underlying. It is a very profitable strategy but that doesn’t mean you can be careless and reckless in trading. The biggest challenge I faced in March was using my limited funds in check with my rules and not over trade.

It was very tempting to take trades when you have so much available margin sitting in your account.

But my rule is to use only 50% of my available buying power and keep the rest sitting in the account in case my positions get assigned. I use margin, not cash secured put trading so it is very important to check your buying power status often so you won’t get caught off guard. I do that check every day. Every evening I look at my available buying power and compare it to my positions to see if I am good to invest more or sit tight.

 

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How to Protect Your Retirement Savings By Derek with Money Ahoy

 
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My March trading was very profitable and hopefully I back on track to make money. In March my account went up by nice 29.55%. I started the year with $1,518.73 and today, at the end of March I am up to $2,292.19. Nice 50% turn around and although my accounts are still down, I am slowly making it up from that hole I dug up for myself last year.

 

Here is my trading result for the month:

 

March 2016 options trading income:	$364.00 (14.33%)
2016 portfolio Net-Liq:	$2,292.19 (29.55%)
2016 portfolio Cash Value:	$3,429.69 (58.28%)
2016 overall trading account result:	-9.75%

 

Here are the results of my options trading:

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Here are the results of my options strategy:

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At first I started with cheaper stocks (although riskier than standard stocks) but later as my account grew I could start adding pricier stocks such as ABBV, PPL, LULU, etc.

The trades performed well, some I was able to close early for 50% profit, some are still on waiting for them to either close or expire.

I have a few trades which are in the money and I expect them to be assigned next month. The stocks which I expect to be assigned are ESV, TRGP and KMI. If it happens I will immediately start selling calls against those stocks.

 
Here are results of the individual trades:

 
PSEC

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ESV

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ABBV

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LULU

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KMI

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TRGP

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PPL

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If you like these trades and want to be informed when I place them and trade them in real time, you can join our closed Facebook Group. The group is a closed group and there are other traders posting their trade ideas too. We learn from each other, eventually ask questions, get answers, but most importantly you can see what we trade and how. You can follow those trades.

 
Here is the entire account value from the beginning of tracking it up to today:

 

 

 

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 · March 2016 dividend investing results

Dividend investing is a steady growing and slow building process. But I have time. I mentioned many times on this blog why I am trading options and invest into dividend stocks. I trade options to create income now, but build my dividend stock portfolio for the future when I will not be able to trade anymore (due to age for example, or death, so my kids will benefit from the portfolio in case they won’t be able or knowledgeable to trade).

Unfortunately, my portfolio is weighted more towards energy stocks as I expected oil recovery to perform better then what we are seeing these days. A few of the stocks recently cut the dividend and I could feel that as my dividend income dropped. Even stocks like COP cut the dividends. But I am optimist here. I have 20 years in front of me. Unless these companies go belly up, I should be OK.

Recent cut hurting my income was by VNR so my income dropped again.

 

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My annual dividend income is down from $894.81 previous month to $887.98.

Dividend stocks added or removed from portfolio:

 

February 2016 dividend stock buys:	none
February 2016 dividend stock sells:	none

 

To purchase stocks I use trailing stock order strategy OTO trade order (one triggers other) and I described this strategy in my post about purchasing stocks in falling markets.

I also invest into dividend paying stocks using Motif investing which allows me to buy all 30 stocks I want in one purchase using fractional investing, similar to a mutual fund.

You can actually build your own mutual fund with Motif investing.

Here is my Motif Investing account you can review:
 
 

 
 

I continue reinvesting my dividends using DRIP program. I love how my holdings grow when reinvesting the dividends and when the stock prices are going lower. As I believe we are heading into a recession I will be able buying more shares for a lot cheaper.

 

Dividend stocks DRIP:

 

February 2016 DRIP:

ConocoPhillips (COP) Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) American Capital Agency Corp. (AGNC) Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Realty Income Corporation (O) Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC (VNR) Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC)

 

Here are my ROTH IRA trading/investing results:

 

March 2016 dividend income:	$70.46
March 2016 options income:	$0.00
2016 portfolio value:	$17,745.03 (6.30%)
2016 overall dividend account result:	17.21%

 

The account grew by 6.30% from last month, overall I am up 17.21%. Dividend income was also up from last month. All dividends were reinvested back to the companies which generated them.

 
Here my dividend income:

 

 
Annual dividends since the beginning:

 

Here is the entire account value from the beginning of tracking it up to today:

 

 

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Below is my dividend income review for the entire year:

My ROTH IRA dividend income breakdown per month and per company.
 
 

 · All accounts

Besides trading and dividend accounts I also have 401k account, emergency savings account, etc., which I do not report in detail. You can review those accounts in my “All Accounts Value” table at the bottom of My Trades & Income page.

My accounts increased from previous month and are making 8.45% (up from previous month) for the year.

Remember, if you like trading options and want to have trade ideas for free, join my Facebook closed group and follow my put selling trade ideas in real time, comment, ask questions, and interact with other members. Other members of the group can also post their trades so you can learn from them too.

 
 

 
 

What do you think?

How about your investing or trading results?

Do you have any question? Need help to start trading or investing? Shoot me an email or let me know below in comments how I can help you.