August & The Dogs Days of Summer

Earnings season is over for AAPL, AMZN, and a host of others.

I was soooo hoping that my AAPL LEAP I was holding as an example for all of you would turn into a +45% return, but alas, it did not. The AAPL earnings got derailed by the downgrade in the US credit rating.

The final results of my AAPL LEAP are below:

I bought a call for AAPL with a $185 strike price and expiration date of 1/17/25 for $2,628.00. I purchased this leap on June 5th, intending to see it on earnings day.

I sold the LEAP before the end of the day on earnings. I sold it for $3,355.00

I made $727 in profit on this LEAPS trade. That’s around 28% profit in less than two months. I’ll take it!

I was hoping for over $1,000 in profit, and it did cross that threshold a few times while it was hanging out in my account.

AAPL has surprised many of us by going down as it approached earnings. Nothing is for sure on the stock market!

(I am not surprised how AAPL has gone down after earnings. The stock usually dumps after earnings and then rises back up again.)

We are now going into August, which is a slow time for the stock market, traditionally speaking. This is because “BIG MONEY”, as I like to call them, or the Institutional Traders, go on vacation. The stock market stays relatively flat or even pulls back during this time.

The market stays this way until Sept 11th, to recognize our national day or mourning, and volatility kicks back in after that date.

Don’t be surprised or alarmed if there is a pullback or if your options trading income is lackluster during this time. This is all perfectly normal and is simply the natural cycle of the stock market.

And do not fall victim to the bears claiming victory laps. Those bear victory Tweets always make me chuckle because they prove these bears don’t comprehend basic stock market cycles. They sure like drama though, that’s clear.

August is the perfect time to brush up on your skillset for the last quarter of the year.  We can do great things in the last quarter and stack up profits. Good things come to those who wait!