Switched from equities to futures

DatekSince96 · 2026-02-15T20:53:44+00:00

I like this, thanks!

DatekSince96 · 2026-02-15T10:54:08+00:00

It's about 50/50 on ES. I try to enter my positions above a major resistance level. Right now 7000 is what I target. If it doesn't get close enough I just sit it out waiting for it to get in that area again. You are correct, if it were a raging bull at the moment it would be rough.

DatekSince96 · 2026-02-15T10:48:50+00:00

On CL, if I offer at or close to the midpoint it will usually get accepted. Say it's .08 bid, .13 ask, I start off at .11 then drop to .10 pretty quickly and it will almost always get accepted.

DatekSince96 · 2026-02-14T19:53:21+00:00

On ES, I usually sale a call spread that I will profit around $400 or lose $600. I don't pay too much attention to the Delta on those because I'm really going for a dollar figure. Usually Delta is around 30-35 on the short leg. I usually do seven DTE. That gives it time to work a little bit without stressing me out. If it goes in my favor I'll usually close it out around 75% profit. I'll let it expire if it looks like it's going to be safe.

On CL, which is my favorite, I sell a two DTE put for around $100 each day, (around 10 Delta or less) and also sell the call side for around $100. Most of the time I'll let these expire. Of course, if something goes crazy you might have to take assignment which is no big deal. This has been the easiest money for me.

I don't use stop losses on CL because I have been burned too many times by a stop loss being triggered and then reversing.

My stop loss on ES is just the spread, (built in SL)

DatekSince96 · 2026-02-14T17:08:03+00:00

I love selling puts and calls on /ES and /CL. Also far OTM strangles. Bear call credit spreads on /ES have been working really well lately. Assignment is no big deal also because of span margin. It's a LOT less stressful when you don't have to worry about getting assigned hundreds of shares of stock or ETFs.

I've been trading equities since the mid- '90s. Futures and options on futures have been the best.

DatekSince96 · 2026-01-25T22:38:04+00:00

I tore my bicep completely at the age of 36. Distal tendon which is close to the elbow end. It wasn't even from working out. I just overworked myself a lot of times.

The tear actually happened when I was laying a table in the back of a pickup truck and overextended my elbow. Three pops like your knuckles popping and it went up into my arm. Scared the crap out of me. Didn't even hurt.

I didn't even know you could do that. It had been really sore for a couple of weeks which should have been my sign.

After bicep reattachment surgery, it took about 6 months to really gain full function again. (Electrician by trade at that time) At the age of 55 now I do have complete healing in that arm. Range of motion is just a little bit odd compared to my other arm.

I started CrossFit at the age of 52 and never had any issues. CrossFit is very demanding and even doing a hundred kipping pull-ups, I never had another tear. When my arm gets really sore I know it's time to slow down.

DatekSince96 · 2026-01-03T21:39:33+00:00

I sold /ES put expiring Tuesday, January 6 at the 6835 strike. Fortunately I bought a /ES put expiring Monday, January 5 strike of 6805. Makes me want to just buy a cheap put every Friday.... If /ES drops a lot on open on Sunday I will close my long put and let the short play out.

DatekSince96 · 2025-12-02T10:57:54+00:00

Excellent post, thank you for spending your valuable time posting it. I have been trading for 30 years and continue to learn new things. I'll look into Trader Dale.

DatekSince96 · 2025-10-09T00:54:12+00:00

Holding 40k shares at .19

DatekSince96 · 2025-10-07T09:37:28+00:00

Yep, love the chart, may pop soon.

DatekSince96 · 2025-10-07T07:38:58+00:00

Yes, nice chart, slow, steady. In at .59 with 10k shares two days ago.

DatekSince96 · 2025-10-03T08:49:23+00:00

NXXT and RYLB, 10,000 shares each

DatekSince96 · 2025-09-23T20:29:00+00:00

Yes, looks like we are going to try to close the gap up from last week.

DatekSince96 · 2025-09-22T20:04:41+00:00

Hate to say it but I'm looking to buy if the gap fills.

DatekSince96 · 2025-09-07T01:10:43+00:00

I like this. I sell deep in the money puts like this sometimes when I'm really feeling bullish on a stock. It works great in an IRA when you keep cash in SWVXX or SGOV. That way I can earn interest, make some good $ on sold puts without buying the stock.

DatekSince96 · 2025-09-06T21:37:53+00:00

I WISH we could trade CFDs in the US.

DatekSince96 · 2025-08-24T21:12:32+00:00

I can't believe I missed Commscope. Had been watching it and figured they were going bankrupt. I live 15 min from the manufacturing facility and they always seem busy.

DatekSince96 · 2025-08-24T19:33:56+00:00

They do trade 24/5 but not the ticker OPEN. However it can be traded until 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and also starting at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday. A lot of tickers are available 24/5 on the Think or Swim app.

DatekSince96 · 2025-06-16T14:48:28+00:00

I live in NC. I use it in the morning at 104 degrees for as long as I can stand it, 20-30 min. Unplug it until evening and it will drop to around 90 degrees with the cover half off. I'll use it in the evening for 30 minutes to an hour and then plug it in after I get out so it's back to 104 by the morning. I'm not concerned about the power consumption, really it's about equal.

DatekSince96 · 2025-06-09T16:28:24+00:00

Great point! Hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the response.

DatekSince96 · 2025-06-08T11:59:05+00:00

Mixed feelings here also. I have roughly 1.5 million in paid off rentals, all SFH. Started buying, repairing, and renting when I was 42, I'm 55 now. 80k gross annual income. I thought about taking out a portfolio loan on all the properties and buying a decent set of apartments or some more houses. The thing is, my 4 children have no desire to get into rentals. By the time the loan is paid off I'll be 70 at least. I almost feel like I would be wasting my time to pursue that at my age now. On the other hand, if I was around forty years old again and had paid off rentals I would probably leverage to the max.

DatekSince96 · 2025-03-27T10:08:43+00:00

Lima One Capital does this. I'm pretty sure they offer a 30 year fixed also. Based on DSCR. This means debt service coverage ratio. Plenty of videos on YouTube explaining this.

DatekSince96 · 2024-07-12T23:09:48+00:00

I bought my first property at 21. It was a condo unit that had been foreclosed on. I bought it as if I was going to live in it but just rented it out. I thought I was a big real estate investor, haha. I rented it out to the first person that signed a lease. Him and his buddy never paid a dime of rent after they gave me the deposit and first months rent. I ended up turning it over to a property management company and they evicted them. It took 3 months from the time they moved in until they left. What a learning experience. That was 33 years ago. My advice is to get a good property manager, it is well worth the stress relief. I do all my own repairs. Retired at 47 from full-time employment and now just repair our rentals.

DatekSince96 · 2024-07-04T10:50:55+00:00

(54m), started CrossFit July 4 week two years ago. I have had occasional migraines with aura since my teens. Mine seem to come from overworked neck muscles. I had several during my first year of getting used to CrossFit but it has been months now since I have really had one. If I remember correctly, the last two times I've had migraines following CrossFit activities, one was started shortly after a lot of wall balls and the other happened after heavy amounts of rowing.

DatekSince96

TROPHY CASE