My name is Jason Haas and I've been actively trading options and managing my own capital as my only source of income since the summer of 2008. Though I have sold covered calls going back as far as 2000, at that time I only sold calls to derive a secondary income and didn't consider myself to be trading. At that stage of my life I was your typical buy-and-hold long-term investor. Over the subsequent years my interest and education of investing with options went from producing extra income, planning for retirement, to a hobby, a passion, and now I'm transitioning in to making it a career.
Though I didn't initially set out to trade my account for a living, somewhere pretty early on it was obvious to me that I would always be able to at least supplement a primary income with option revenue (however sporadic that might be). With the confidence of my track record in hand, more than adequate savings, and a general desire as an individual to always follow my dreams and passions in life, in mid 2008 I left a formal salaried employment job in the financial regulation industry behind in exchange for an attempt to enter the financial services industry. I spent the next 24 months obtaining and MBA, passing Level I of the CFA exam, and furthering my education of trading with options.
Now a few months in to my journey a funny little thing happened called the Financial Crisis of 2008. At first I was numb as the events unfolded daily and my covered call portfolio crumbled in value. Panic set in as I no longer believed I would be able to derive monthly income selling covered calls, which up until that point was the only thing I knew. The career gamble of leaving behind a stable income was feeling like a big mistake. But then something interesting happened. As I slowly watched the world change, future employment opportunities disappear, my capital levels diminish, and realizing I was now on my own to forge an income, my fight to survive kicked in and a trader was born!!
Whether it was profiting from long puts as the market crashed in late 2008, calling bottom too early in Feb 09 and losing big, or getting lucky going for broke in Mar 09 via long call spreads, a trial by fire was at hand and I was slowly becoming a trader. In the summer of 2009 I met what is now a fellow trading colleague and this blog was born. All trading activity since that time is documented within this forum.
Below I have posted my historical trading records. I update them at equity options expiration on the third Friday of each month. Detailed results for all months are available on the blog by searching "OPEX Results" in the upper left hand side of the site. I invite you to comment on any blog post, email me directly at JasonAndrewHaas@aol.com, or follow my trades on the Twitter feed below. I welcome any questions, comments, or constructive criticism. So welcome to our blog, thank you for visiting, and we invite you to come back any time to collaborate with us as we help each other become better traders.
