Short-Term Portfolio Update (STP) – Submitted on 2017/10/19 at 3:20 pm: $430,680 is down $56,347 on our hedges in the past month and that neatly negates about 2/3 of the LTP's gains so we're a bit more bearish than we were last time (in our paired portfolios) after making several bearish adjustments that were intended to move us to neutral. So, on the whole, we made about $25,000 despite ourselves, which is the strength of our model for selling premium. The primary purpose of the STP is to protect the LTP – it's not supposed to make money in a bull market but it BETTER make a lot of money when we turn bearish. Of course, it always has – that's why it's up 330% in 4 years despite usually being "wrong". AMZN – They keep going for $1,000 and keep failing. Our intention was to risk earnings but it's too scary so let's take the $13,208 profit in the hand and get out of the bush! FAS – Those financials are like a killer clown, they keep popping back up. Still, the ultra ETF looks toppy and it's counterpart looks bottomy so we'll see what happens. ABX – A bullish offset, not worried. GOGO – Not too worried. SBUX – Who wouldn't love a 20% discount on SBUX? LABU – A real no-brainer when they get cheap! Blasted past our target but earnings are dicey so let's cash our 10 extra long March $50 calls so we end up with a proper spread. SQQQ – 40 uncovered $23 longs is pretty aggressive. Let's keep it that way. At $30 (7% Nas drop), we… Provided courtesy of Phil's Stock World. To read the rest of this article now, along with Phil's live intra-day comments, live trading ideas, Phil's market calls, additional member comments, and other members-only features - Come to the winning side at Phil's Stock World by clicking here. To sign-up for a free trial membership, click here.