Our annual performance for 2023 in both SPY and SPX weekly option trading was a bit below our historical annual performance. This was the first year we experienced a drawdown in our SPX Spread Trader. A reminder that there can always be a new best and new worst time period in any trading strategy. However, we continue to have confidence in our forecasts and trading strategy and look forward to better days ahead.
This has been another historic year in the stock market, as we end at all-time highs. Such activity always makes day trading more difficult. We’ve seen this especially over the course of the last month. However, as we use the information provided each day on our website and stay consistent in our trading approach, we are successful.
We ended this past week with -26% ROI in our SPX Daily Outlook trading, -19% ROI in our SPY Daily Outlook trading, -12% ROI in our SPX Aggressive Trader, +8% ROI in our SPY Aggressive Trader and +3% ROM in our SPX Spread Trader. We ended December with -256% ROI in our SPX Daily Outlook trading, -237% ROI in our SPY Daily Outlook trading, -428% ROI in our SPX Aggressive Trader, -398% ROI in our SPY Aggressive Trader and -241% ROM in our SPX Spread Trader.
It was a rough month especially for the Aggressive Trader. As mentioned in previous weekly recaps, we believe this is simply the give and take of the market. This is a highly speculative approach and can go through severe drawdowns, as we have experienced over these past weeks. The potential rewards are great, but so is the risk. As a reminder, this approach is not for everyone. However, we did have a nice gain on Friday in the Aggressive Trader and are looking forward to what January holds.
Trading is a tough way to make a living. It takes not only discipline and a winning strategy, but an emotional strength unlike any other profession. It requires a trader to approach each day fresh, and not let yesterday’s performance impact today’s decisions. It requires a trader to not get over exuberant after huge gains, or despair after a down trade. We stay consistent in our approach and do our best to not let our emotions get out of control. This is so important after a month like this past month.
We do not like drawdowns, no one does. But they happen in trading. While this past month was down, we are not discouraged or upset. We’ve been through periods like this many times over the years and we are confident of seeing better days ahead, and so we stay at it each day. This is a great advantage of being a day trader; each day is new and full of possibility. All it takes is one nice profitable day (as we have had many times) to make up for this past month. It was a profitable year, and it is crucial to keep the larger perspective in trading. We look forward to a great year ahead of us as we continue day trading SPX and SPY weekly options.
There will be no trading activity on Monday, January 1st as the market is closed. Normal trading activity will resume on Tuesday, January 2nd. We wish you and your family a happy new year! We look forward to 2024 expecting to see some great trading days ahead.
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