The First Tastyworks Trades

The first trade I placed in my fancy new platform was a Put Vertical on FXY (Currency Shares Japanese Yen) short the 86 and long the 84 with 30 days to expiration.  This trade looked appealing because President Trump was to go golfing with PM Abe from Japan and based on Pres. Trump's accusation that Japan was manipulating the money supply for currency devaluation I figured the conversation had potential to turn volatile. The Bank Of Japan had also recently said that their economy still needs 'massive monetary support' citing uncertainty over the Trump presidency. They were also quoted as saying that the current momentum towards the long-term rate price target isn't sufficient. On the 15th, FXY dropped to 84.13 and I was able to close this position for a net credit of 0.27 over 5 days.

Another, still working, trade is an Iron Fly on AAPL (Apple). I sold a 135 Straddle with wings at 142 and 128 with 35 days to expiration.  The assumption here was that AAPL was near their 52 Week High and I didn't believe there would be any new data between making the trade and Expiration.  Warren Buffet had taken a large stake in AAPL the previous week and I didn't want to play contrarian to his call so I went with a neutral approach hoping that this would continue to trade between 130.86 and 139.14 until Expiration so I could max out my profits from the 4.14 credit I collected. The recent rally pushed the stock above my upper break-even, however since the Iron Fly is a Risk Defined trade I can afford to sit tight until closer to Expiration hoping that AAPL moves back closer to 135.

My Approach to Investing

Outside of my passion for fitness, I am an amateur option investor. I placed my first option trade on April 13th 2016. Not really having a great idea of what I was doing I bought a Put on HRB (H&R Block) with a strike of 25.00 before they released their 2015 tax year results. Their stock price had appreciated a bit following their Q2 release and based on some data from the IRS I saw that full service tax prep firms had been losing market share to online companies and self-filing over the previous years so my assumption was that HRB would miss projections and lower guidance. I ended up getting lucky and was able to Sell my Put on April 27th for a net credit of 3.50.  At this point I was hooked and couldn't learn enough, at a fast enough rate!

Fast forward 2 months to when I sold my first covered call on JCP (J.C. Penney) as a method to reduce Cost Basis on the underlying shares that I was long on.  I did this successfully for a few 30 day cycles until one expiration I was $0.01 ITM and my shares got called away - my first slightly unsuccessful trade (albeit I had still locked in an overall profit).

What I love about Options is their ability to create leverage.  You can develop strategies to further diversify your account while limiting your buying power reduction which opens up so many more doors, and in my opinion makes trading that much more fun!

The Start Of My Relationship With The Gym

About 2 years ago, I decided to start going to the gym regularly.  Now, my reasons for going to the gym are probably not what you're initially thinking...I was actually underweight, and was trying to bulk up.  When I started to tell people that I was trying to gain weight and get a bit bigger, I was met with quite a bit of derision. "We can trade if you want" or "Why would you want to do that?!" were some of the most common remarks, and honestly it was demoralizing.  I started asking myself, "why am I doing this?" and, "Am I making the right decision?"  I was starting to let peer pressure get to me...I almost decided to give up but finally a friend reminded me that this was something I needed to do for me. Getting fit isn't for anyone else but yourself, it's a journey to push yourself to achieve new heights and to conquer your goals! 

Through your own journey, don't let others stand in your way, have a goal and set milestones towards achieving those goals it will help keep you accountable and will push you to continue bettering yourself!  I constantly remind myself of a quote from author Jim Watkins:

 "A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence."

You can accomplish anything you set your mind to, and the key to finding that success is persistence.

Here Goes Nothing...

Let me introduce myself, my name is Aaron, a young, fit male living in the US Midwest.  I decided to start this blog somewhat on a whim and to be honest, I'm not the most eloquent writer so this will be a good social experiment if nothing else.

Though my writing, I plan to focus on three distinct areas that are a big part of my life - fitness, investing, and happiness. I am a firm believer that my well being is tied closely to these three realms and I consider fitness and investing to be 2 of my passions which directly impact my happiness. 

If you've made it this far I hope that I've struck your interest on at least one of these topics, stay tuned for more!  And please comment with any of your own fitness or investing blogs - I'd love to follow your journey!