emerald grass
each blade
a gem
—Terry Chitwood
What could be more ordinary than a blade of grass? And yet, in the poem, each blade is a gem. This refers to a blade’s internal essence (otherwise lawnmowers everywhere would have a field day shattering gems). Sorry lawnmowers, a blade’s internal essence is indestructible, and yet—unique.
Grass
Hey Terry! Grass is grass. No, grass isn’t grass. There are a variety of grasses and they come in different shades of green—even Kentucky bluegrass—and in other colors and textures like bamboo. So there.
Basho
Talking about grass brings the following poem to mind:
“Sitting quietly,
Doing nothing,
Spring comes,
And the grass
grows by itself.“
–Basho
Spiritual Growth
Certainly, this poem implies that spiritual growth happens naturally and organically without forcing it like the seasons change and the grass grows by itself. However, this reminds me of corn growing (it’s a rambling post) and corn trading.
A Corny Tale
A few years ago, my shadow (alter ego) sold some 350 corn puts (front month) when corn was trading at 420 and was in a gradual uptrend (it wasn’t a stupid trade). Naturally, as soon as he placed his trade, corn plummeted, threatening his position which was now an unrealized loss. He asked me what to do. I said, “Do nothing, corn grows by itself” (I only wished I had said that). What I really said was, “Do you want me to show you how to save the trade?” He said, “Yes.”
Delta is the Key
The first thing I did (don’t do this at home kids, you may get hurt) was sell some calls decreasing the delta against his position. Then using futures and other options, I played with the delta, taking profits off the calls and futures which balanced his losses with the puts and my shadow (I) even ended up with a profit. These trades took place over a two-week period.
Saved
I was going to write an article about the anatomy of the trades but never got around to it. The article would have been called, “Strangle Corn before It Strangles You.” I really like this title. In fact, I may have discussed this trade just to be able to share this title. So it goes.
Gems
Basho didn’t trade corn, but he wrote some brilliant haikus. I guess he really did do something while the grass grew. Remember, each of you is a gem—irreproducible, one-of-a-kind.
Photo Credit: Stock Photo by Elena Elisseeva.