weekly check in #1

July 6, 2025

Welcome to the first weekly recap of this 18 month plan. Each week I will recap (1) Profit and Loss for the week, (2) Deposits and/or Withdrawals, (3) Current holdings, (4) Progress towards the $200,000 goal and dive into some specifics about trades. 

This was a short week due to the July 4 holiday. Most of this week’s profit came from a few covered call rolls, but before we get started…

First, a little housekeeping

Profit and Loss: Profit and loss in this context is not about the ending balance each week. That balance can fluctuate as much as 5% just moving with the market, it’s the wrong target. 

No, profit and loss is about how much profit (or loss) did I generate from my trades each week. That is what we will be tracking. In particular each week has a target profit in order to serve the larger goal of hitting the $200,000 goal.

Deposits and Withdrawals

Where do deposits and withdrawals fit into the 1% plan? 

The 1% plan begins with the concept that there is a goal profit number each week and that number is 1% of the week’s balance. For week one, beginning at $60,000, that would be $600. The goal is $600 for that week. I can reach that number through profit or through deposits or any combination thereof. Obviously while I am working and while the weekly goal is relatively low, this is pretty easy. I am personally trying to stash as much money into the account while I am working so my weekly contributions are around $500, typically in the form of a Monday $250 deposit and a daily $50 stock purchase of COST. I like this method because it leads to a smooth average price over time. $50 towards a $1000 COST share price may seem small but if you do it enough times, it adds up. 

As an aside, in a later post I will delve into the concept of loss recovery. Basically loss recovery is the idea that if I make a bad trade that violates my system, I am responsible for paying it back. Like I said I will take a deep dive into that topic – and the Liberation Day that spawned it – but let’s leave it there for now. 

But what about withdrawals? Why would you take withdrawals?

I take withdrawals for one primary reason – if I have a successful week, let’s say I generate $1500 instead of $600, there isn’t much satisfaction in just watching the account balance grow like Scrooge McDuck’s coin vault. I used to try this, never taking any money out and it worked – for a while. I built an account up into the $130,000 range from scratch and it was fairly satisfying. But my personality requires some sort of regular gratification, some tangible reward for a job well done.

Now, I keep a running list of ‘extra’ items and ‘luxury’ items.

Extra items may be making an extra car payment or dropping a few hundred into an interest-bearing savings account. They are items outside of the scope of my normal budget in the short-term, but still contribute to my budget in an overall way in the long term.

Luxury items are another thing altogether. That may mean new clothes or a new bike computer. I create a priority list at the beginning of each month and tick them off as I am able to make withdrawals and pick some of these items. 

The instant, short-term gratification helps me maintain discipline psychologically for the long-term. It’s also nice to get a few new shirts or the latest pair of cycling shoes.

But why Deposits and Withdrawals?

We will dive into the psychology of this question in later posts, but the bottom line is this:

Deposits serve dual purposes. First, they push me closer towards the $200,000 while I am working and can afford to do so. The day will come when I cannot make them and will have to rely solely on profits, so may as well as sock away what I can while I can. However, the deposits also tie into the concept of loss recovery, the concept that I am accountable to repay myself any losses I incur when deviating outside of the system. There will be an entire post describing “Liberation Day” this year that cost me around $7,000.

Withdrawals are their own thing with their own purposes.

So, as long as I can afford to make deposits and until I repay my losses, I will continue to make deposits. Some day it will be withdrawals and no deposits, but that day is not today.

Success against Weekly Goals

The 1% plan projects turning the beginning $60,000 into approximately $100,000 by December 31, 2025 (and $200,000 by December 31, 2026). At that pace, I will be generating roughly $600 per week to start and up to $900 per week by end of year. So each week I will begin with a goal profit and log my progress against that goal.

Last Week’s Trades

1. Rolled IWM from July 2 216 to July 7 217: $140 profit,  $180 premium at expiration. Closed it today as IWM hit a blistering 223. Earned $900 on the IWM and took a $500 loss on the Covered Call, but that was going to occur regardless on Monday. 
2. Rolled 2 IONQ from July 3 40 to July 11 41: $280 profit, $516 premium at expiration
3. Tried my hand at day trading the NDX (Nasdaq-100 index) on Monday and Tuesday. Sold a call spread ~200 points out of the money around 10am figuring it would never climb that high. Although it ended out of the money both days ($360 total profit), it was a reminder of why I prefer trading the RUT – lower volatility and price fluctuation. 
4. Began acquiring PLTR at $130. PLTR dropped from $145 last week as low as $129 on Tuesday. I began accumulating shares aiming to build my supply to 100 at an average cost of $134 and on Thursday sold a Covered Call for 7.11 worth $297. 
5. Rolled a CRWV 157.5 Call due to expire on 7.11 out to a 162.5 8.1 Covered Call. Booked $300 profit for the roll and the new premium for the call is $710. 

Next Week’s Trades

The week of July 7 looks strong with 3 x IONQ 41 calls ($774 profit) & the PLTR 136 call ($297 profit). 

I recommend keeping an eye on IONQ & SOFI for more affordable Covered Calls and PLTR & CRWV if you have more to spend. I am personally staying away or treading lightly on the indexes – QQQ, NDX, RUT – where there used to be some level of predictably, all it takes is one social media post to send the markets flying or crashing.

The tariff pause coming from Liberation Day expires this Wednesday, July 9 and the word is that Trump will be sending letters to “dozens of countries” this week informing them of the good news that they – and I quote here – are allowed to trade with the United States of America. And also, that they will pay between 10-70% for the privilege.

The last time this happened the markets spent a week spiraling out of control, only to skyrocket to new heights when he implemented that 90 day pause. Watch and see what happens this time. The market feels prepared for some pain but also banking on a TACO Tuesday, as they say.

If I do trade, it will be later in the day and it will be conservative. My first rule of the 1% plan is don’t risk anything I wouldn’t be comfortable losing. 

I am targeting 3 Buy/Writes to complete my roster for each Friday between now & August 15:

1. IONQ 44 Call 7.18 ($300)
2. SOFI 20 Call 8.8 ($105 x 2)
3. VSAT 18 Call 8.15 ($105 x 3)

My updated roster of Covered Calls:

EXPIRATION DATE	CALLS	PREMIUM
7.11	PLTR 136	$297
7.11	IONQ 41	$258 (* 3)
7.18	F 10	$43 (* 6)
7.18	VSAT 10	$61 (* 3)
7.18	IONQ 36	$385
7.18	IONQ 44	$300
7.25	XOM 111	$217
7.25	IONQ 42	$363
8.1	CRWV 162.5	$710
8.1	WMT 100	$140
8.8	SOFI 20	$111 (* 2)
8.8	SOFI 20	$111
8.15	QCOM 155	$546
8.15	VSAT 18 (*3)	$315

I also suspect that there is a correction coming to the market in the next few weeks. I predict some tariff news will burst the bubble or perhaps an announcement of President Trump forcing Fed Reserve Chair Powell out prior to his term expiry in May 2026. I am going to begin to pare some of my holdings and book profits, especially as Covered Calls expire in the money. 

Additionally when the market feels overbought like this on tech stocks and other high fliers, I look to 2 categories of stock to move some money into: (1) Dividend producers such as AGNC, LTC & O to name a few as well as (2) Consumer Staples/Oil which tend to be recession-proof while also providing good Covered Call & Options opportunities, such as COST, WMT, XOM. 

Current Holdings: Each week I will update my roster of current holdings.

SYMBOL	COMPANY	QUANTITY	PURCHASE PRICE	CURRENT PRICE (APPROX)	OPTIONS	CATEGORY
AGNC	AGNC INVESTMENT	205	9.10	9.40	12/19 10 CALL	MONTHLY DIVIDEND OF $.12
COST	COSTCO	.05	980	985	N/A	BUYING TO HEDGE AGAINST MARKET DROP. GREAT COVERED CALL MONEY WHEN I CAN AFFORD 100 SHARES.
CRWV	COREWEAVE	100	40	150	7/11 157.5	INCREDIBLE COVERED CALL RETURNS; BUT CAN ALSO GET STUCK IF THE STOCK DROPS.
F	FORD	813	10.11	11.73	7/18 10 CALL, 9/19 10.85 CALL	DECENT COVERED CALL PREMIUM AS WELL AS DIVIDEND
IONQ	IONQ	500	39.40	43.99	7/11 41, 7/18 36, 7/25 42	GOOD COVERED CALL VALUE, BUT HIGHLY VOLATILE
IWM	ISHARES RUSSELL 2000 ETF	2	213	221		GOOD INDEX TO OWN FOR DAILY COVERED CALLS
LTC	LTC PROPERTIES	36	35.50	35.20	N/A	MONTHLY DIVIDEND OF $.19
O	REALTY INCOME	101	56	58	12/19 60 CALL	MONTHLY DIVIDEND OF $.26
PLTR	PALANTIR	100	133	133	7.11 136	INCREDIBLE COVERED CALL RETURNS; BUT CAN GET STUCK IF STOCK DROPS.
QCOM	QUALCOMM	100	150	162	8/15 155 CALL	GREAT COVERED CALL STOCK, DECENT DIVIDEND
QQQ	INVESCO QQQ	4	524	550	N/A	SLOWLY ACCUMULATING WITH GOAL TO OWN 100 SHARES BY END OF YEAR
SOFI	SOFI	200	17.50	18.13	8/8 20 CALL, 8/8 16.5 PUT	GREAT COVERED CALL AT DECENT PRICE.
VSAT	VIASAT	309	9.20	15.30	7/18 10 CALL	HIGH COVERED CALL RETURN FOR A LOW PRICE
WGHW	WEIGHT WATCHERS	10	33.5	33.7	N/A	TOOK A FLIER ON THIS STOCK AT .09. STOCK REVERSE SPLIT AND I SOLD SOME; HOLDING ONTO THIS IN CASE OF GOOD NEWS.
WMT	WALMART	100	96.60	97.70	8/1 100	COVERED CALL/GOOD STOCK TO OWN IN MARKET DOWNTURN
XOM	EXXON	100	109	111	7/25 111 CALL	STEADY STOCK TO OWN

DATE	BALANCE (BEG)	BALANCE (END)	BALANCE (GOAL)	DEPOSITS	WITHD.	PROFIT (ACT)	PROFIT (GOAL)
7/3	$60,000	$62,500	$60,600	$740	$1,470	$920	$600
7/11	$62,500		$63,125	$400			$625