Lessons learnt from itchy fingers

As you may know i sell options as a means of generating some income, and i made just another mistake in the month of November.

I had a WETF open put position expiring in Dec with strike at 14.75, which is sitting for me a nice profit.

Since we are in the month of November, i thought it would be a good time to close off the position as it was way out of the money (WETF was at 20.75), and i can sell another put option nearer to the underlying's price to expire in the same month, and earn more.

Unfortunately, i closed off my position at USD 265.19, and i subsequently sold options for USD 209.83 (at strike of 16.75)

Now, this is a lose-lose situation for me - i lost USD54 on this trade simply by having itchy fingers. If i didn't do anything, the option would have just expired in December (presumably) and i would be better off by that 54 bucks.

Also, with my new position, the strike is actually higher at 16.75 (compared to 14.75). I run a higher risk of being exercised should the underlying drop in terms of price.

What can i learn from this?

Put in a limit order when closing off a position (i closed at market thinking that the price shouldn't fluctuate that much), or if the potential gains are not too much, don't have itchy fingers!

Adding positions

Just added another 10 lots of STI ETF 2 days ago (really having a hard time adjusting from the concept of 100 shares = 1 lot!). I think i have added 40 lots of STI ETF since July this year. Not sure whether this will be the right decision, but with so much fear in the market that it will drop further, i have taken the opportunity to add to my positions.

I have to confess, i am stressed and jittery over the past few months when i added. I wonder if i am just being foolhardy but i believe that in the long run, markets will go up, and time in the market is more important than timing the market.

The volatile situation allowed me to add more positions than in normal circumstances, and i shall look back to see if i will curse or thank myself in the future!