Interesting doji on the VIX chart today. This can often signal a reversal for the VIX, meaning the market goes up. But although we may go up for a day or few, I believe we are trending down for much longer.
Daily Archives: Monday, February 8, 2016
Trades while driving….
STO $UVXY March 18th 28 puts for 1.19
STO $DUST March 18th 5 puts for .65
BTC $ZSL Feb 19th 82.5 calls for .05. Sold pre-split for 1.275 effective price.
BTC $SPX Feb 26th 2015/2040 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.20.
BTC $NOW Feb 19th 60 put for 13.80. Backing out 1 at a time, also will keep some and sell calls.
BTC $KOLD Feb 19th 135 call for 25.90. Sold for 18.10 on Nov 19th. Backing out of Feb positions; will be selling new premium at a later time, but keeping margin in reserve for now.
$FCX #CoveredCalls #Weeklys – Sold…
$FCX #CoveredCalls #Weeklys – Sold FCX Feb 12 2016 6.50 Calls @ 0.13. These expire Friday.
/VX VIX futures…
Didn’t post since I really would feel bad if someone followed me and got hurt. Last Friday I ended with a short Feb position at 23.75. Bought it back in at 24 early Sunday evening for a .25 loss. Was happy with that! Set an alert for any spikes up over 25.50 or so…once that triggered in the middle of the night I sold another one at 25.45. Was never profitable all day so bought it back at 25.45 for a scratch late in the day. Still a great month for scalping the volatility swings. Looking out to the March contract now since the heavy rolling of the contracts will take place Thur/Fri this week.
$NUGT #GOLD – Closed near…
$NUGT #GOLD – Closed near the low of the day (but didn’t close the morning gap). Hopefully the bull run is over for a while.
$SVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Bought…
$SVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Bought to close 7 SVXY Jan 20 2017 140.0 Calls @ 0.05.
These options still have 347 days until expiration so no need to wait for the last nickel.
Originally sold in mid-September for 4.10 and again at 5.10. They never traded any higher.
$UVXY
This afternoon when I was away from my computer, I got this fill.
STO $UVXY Feb 26 $100 calls @ $1.50
NOW is moving with the…
NOW is moving with the market. I am waiting for a good day to dump it
NOW hedge
Sold a call hedge against my underwater 60 Feb put which I will be rolling out to March shortly.
STO 1 NOW Mar 18 55 call @ 1.30.
A TRADE:
$UVXY STO 2/12/16 70.0 CALLS @.85 Jeff’s trade. Thank you.
VIX signal fired
My VIX indicator fired a signal today when we rose 25% above Thursday’s close (above 27.30). Next signal level is 32.00. These signals continue to mean more volatility ahead until we see a huge capitulation VIX spike (i.e. dump in the market), or lower and lower days on the VIX. A key level to the downside is 19.20, which we almost touched last week but is acting like support now.
Adding to long term UVXY calls
#VXXGame trade:
Sold $UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ 18.00. Adding to position at the highest strike in January.
On the road
Since moving to Portland, I’m now 3 for 3 on market corrections syncing with road trips to LA. I’ll be home Tuesday night so look for relief rally on Wednesday.
$CMG puts
Sold Mar 18 375 put @ 6.10. Delta 15, about 1 standard deviation down from current price (438.68).
$AAPL and $NFLX
Both holding out pretty nice today in the face of market ugliness, hovering around no change. Perhaps the bottom is in for these two. You’d have to believe they would be overindexing to the upside if the markets were up today.
$LNKD hedge
Sold $LNKD Feb 19 125 call (delta 21) for 1.75, as a hedge against my underwater short 160 puts which I rolled out to May on Friday.
$NOW Closed the NOW 60/50…
$NOW Closed the NOW 60/50 put spreads, can’t win them all. It was either going to be a roughly $1800 loss on the 19th, or about $1400 today. Had I acted on my first two urges the last 2 trading days it would have been much much less. I am nursing $TWTR and $AMBA back to health, didn’t want another patient.
TRADES:
$KMI 2/19/16 13.50 PUTS @ .38
$UVXY 3/11/16 90.0 CALLS @3.45 Thanks @vxxkelly
$VXX 3/4/16 37.0 CALLS @.75
UVXY added
#VXXGame STO $UVXY Feb 12th 70 calls for .85 and .90, adding to what I sold last week.
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Bought to Close $SPX March 4th 1700/1675 put spreads for 2.90. Sold last week for 1.25.
This happened last week too; stopped out on there 5-week spreads and then make up the loss with several same-week spreads. Not an ideal situation. so I have to reconsider selling the 5-week put spreads at all. However, all call spreads work.
BWLD earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $BWLD Feb 19th 170 calls for .10. Earnings strangle sold last week for 2.40, now closed for .20 total.
$CMG #CoveredPuts – Sold these…
$CMG #CoveredPuts – Sold these this morning against my short stock position
Sold 1 CMG Feb 12 2016 402.5 Put @ 1.10
Sold 1 CMG Feb 12 2016 407.5 Put @ 1.35
Sold 1 CMG Feb 12 2016 410.0 Put @ 1.45
UVXY puts
Taking some profits and looking out to March…
Bought to Close UVXY FEB 26 2016 30.0 Puts @ .30 (sold for 1.03)
And to give Mr. Market some incentive:
Sold UVXY MAR 18 2016 30.0 Puts @ 1.75 (starter)
Closing a position in KOLD
Bought to close $KOLD May 20 320 call @ 3.50. Sold for 19.00 on 12/22.
I wanted to post the…
I wanted to post the following two charts which in my estimation are pointing to more downside. 
Call spread sold
$SPX Sold to Open $SPX March 11th 2000/2025 call spreads for 1.30. Not normal for me to sell calls on such a down day, but every call spread is working and put spreads can be toxic. If this one gets threatened it will mean a significant turnaround for the whole market.
NUGT roll
#ContangoETFs #Rolling Got stuck with a few NUGT calls in the 30’s expiring in Feb. All my other calls are 50 and above. Starting with some rolls,
BTC NUGT Feb 26th 35.5 call for 15.00
STO NUGT March 18th 37 call for 15.30
If we get some pullback I will roll some more, and may add some puts below 25, but that’s usually dangerous.
$NUGT #DelayedRoll
Opened much higher again today, pulled back for a few minutes then resumed going higher. Over the weekend, I made the decision that if it continued to rise on Monday, that I would close positions and step out of the way and look for the right time to re-enter. In keeping with that plan, I closed out my ITM short $NUGT calls and will just wait for the fever to break. Prepare for today to be the top since I closed my positions. Just crazy momentum in that trade right now.
NOW and DATA
#Earnings For any that followed on these trades, they are obviously busts. Patience is usually a virtue, but in this market and these two tickers, it is hard to say. I peeled off some of DATA on Friday, had a chance to take a small loss on NOW but stayed in and got hit by DATA’s collateral damage. If you are uncomfortable I suggest taking the loss, or at least starting to peel some off. If you want to try Tasty Trade techniques, you can sell calls (even ITM) and just work to bring in more premium as the days go by. When and if these will regain pre-earnings levels is too difficult to predict. Sorry for anyone stuck in these, but this is the peril of selling naked. Going forward, this market has shown that earnings trades must be very cautious with earnings trades.
Hands Numb
Sitting on my hands, probably a good thing, as I await my funds to move over from TradeKing to TDAmeritrade. Should be by Wednesday, so I’m just watchin’ and waitin’. Learning a lot here from everyone as I wait. Thanks, @Jeff for putting this together.
UVXY: Adding to highest strike in June
Sold $UVXY Jun 17 110 call @ 10.20
A little more NUGT
Sold $NUGT Mar 18 75 call @ 2.75. Highest strike.
SPX Put spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 11th 1600/1575 put spreads for 1.25, with SPX at 1843. Interesting, the March 11th SPX put chain skips most 5-point strikes below 1600. I don’t see that in other weeks.
$UVXY
Had a couple of GTC orders fill near the open.
STO Jun $100 call @ $11.00
STO Jun $110 call @ $10.00
STO Mar 11 $90 call @ $3.50
STO Feb 19 $80 calls @ $1.19
Calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 26th 2025/2050 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.25.
VIX moving
This appears to be the biggest UP-day for the VIX in the last week. Up 11-12% with no immediate pullback. Either a signal of rougher waters ahead, or if it pulls back dramatically today could be a sign of relief rally.
GM
GM
Pre-market calls closed
#SPXcampaign In pre-market, Bought to Close $SPX Feb 18th 2010/2035 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.25. In pre-market I have two SPX put spreads that are threatened, but still below my stops.
Options Bistro 