Ooops!

Actually, it was more like "damn!!" but you get the picture.

That's what I said on Wednesday when I pulled the trigger on a trade. Why did I curse my trade? Because I'd selected a limit order instead of a stop, and in short order, 1/6th of my holdings of UCO were gone at a price of $10.54 per share.

Let me clear. I'm not upset because I made a profit. It's kind of hard (and stupid) to be mad about that outcome. I am mad because my profit was only $1.99 per share, with an entry of $8.40 for those shares (on margin). So, if we do the math and subtract $14.00 in commissions, my gross profit was 23.67%. Not bad for a position entered on 31 March. Of course, none of this includes tax calculations, but I have enough previous losses to offset the small amount of taxes here. I've also not subtracted margin expenses, and if I can get clarity on that point, I'll update this post or post anew.

Still, my net profit works out to be about 14 - 15% over 7 weeks, or 104 - 111% annualized. Not too shabby. Now to wash, rinse and repeat!

So in the future, I warn everyone to make sure that you set the trade type appropriately with your online brokers! Don't be like me. Don't give up profits early with stupid mistakes.

NOTE: We'll discuss getting stopped out of UGA the following day in a later post.

Happy trading!