2024 option trading was a great year to capture those big gains in the stock market! Here’s just a quick review of some of my option trades to see how I ended the year. Here we go!
The Basics
Nvidia
My workhorse company for 2024 was Nvidia. I bought 10 contracts for the year for a total cost of $103,000. My big quarter of purchases was during 2024Q1. My sales amounted to $116,000 which is $13,000 of gains or about 13% gains on those day trades.
Meta
Meta was my biggest gainer for 2024. I gained 20% on 5 contracts for the year. The cost for those purchases was $39,700 and I sold at $47,900 for $8,200 in gains! Not bad Meta!
Netflix
Netflix was slow and steady for me this year. I had $83,000 of purchases and sold at $88,000 for a 6% gain. It did keep me guessing a few months but I eventually eked out some gains on the media company.
Microsoft, Vertiv, and Google
The remaining contracts I bought for the year were Microsoft, Vertiv, and Google. These three contracts cost me $48,300 and I was able to get $50,500 out of those three companies. Those combined gains was a 4.5% gain so not bad but they didn’t blow up my profits that much for the year.
Overall Performance
I put into play $274,500 of option leverage in 2024. I came back with $303,400! That is $28,900 for 10% of day-trading gains. Although compared to the S&P 500 it’s below average, but I can’t complain for some quick gains!
2024 Analysis
The big surprise for me is how much META really gained last year. I figured NVDA would be the big star of the portfolio but it wasn’t! The S&P 500 gained 23% in 2024 so I didn’t actually match that which some would say is “low performance” but this was all “fun money” and my guesses on earnings and other headline events.
The entire portfolio gained 10.7% on all purchases for the year. I did lose $9,900 on 8 individual contracts so not all the purchases were gains. You have to take the good with the bad!
2025 Goals
Here are a few goals I plan on taking forward for 2025 with my day trading.
- I may delay some purchases until a month or two after the Trump inauguration to see where the tariff debate falls.
- I want to sell a call option to see how that strategy can be included into a yearly plan of taking fees instead of timing for big jumps up or down.
- I want to get out of the “magnificent 7” circle of stocks. They’re great for those big headline moves but I’d like to get into slow burning companies.
Here’s to a great year and the continued efforts to remain patient! I’m planning on taking a few other strategies to see how options can be a strategic option for my day trades and I’m also going to try to capture some of those big headline moves.
