If I were going to identify one mistake I've been making in recent time, it has been a greater reliance on options when I am trying to get long or short (usually long). As someone who subscribes to the notion that what is inevitable is not always imminent, in using options you can end up being right and still losing everything you invested. While we have not quite reached that point (zeroed out), I would say that my decision to use options to gain some leverage on gold mining stocks was a mistake. Twice over. First, I was greedy, then, my timing was off.
As we discussed last year, I allowed an account transfer to get in the way of capturing doubles and triples on my mining options. I was of the belief that the time was finally right. It wasn't. After a big move that I expected, everything reverted back, and actually now has gone lower than my original basis. I basically have until next January for the rest of the investing universe to catch on to gold again or else my calls will expire worthless. I'm skeptical about my chances. There is a euphoria in the markets again that is absurd, but a reality for the time being. People just don't realize they need gold yet.
In any event, I think I might take some losses and re-invest or just sit with the cash. As Billy Joel once sang, I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes. For the time being, money put there might be better spent.
