Performance, Position Sizing, and the Role of Risk

How I measure performance, size trades, and control risk in a high-reward strategy.

Performance claims in options trading are often vague or inflated. I try to be direct.

All performance figures in this journal are calculated as: (Closing price – Opening price) ÷ Opening price

This reflects raw return on capital at risk. It doesn’t include commissions (which are minimal given trade frequency), nor position sizing — that’s personal.

That said, backtesting and live trading show annualised returns exceeding 500% using proper sizing — and I size based on the Kelly Criterion. It’s not for everyone, but for me, it reflects the optimal balance between risk and growth.

Each reader must decide how this fits with their broader portfolio — factoring in volatility, drawdown tolerance, and correlation.

To be clear:
None of this is investment advice. This journal is for informational purposes only.