$LNKD #ShortPuts – Bought to close 1 LNKD Feb 12 2016 100.0 Put @ 1.00. This went in the money this morning so I’m not going to gamble in this market environment. Still made some money on the trade.
Monthly Archives: February 2016
$DIS
Strong on a weak day. Been working higher since the open.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Bought to close $SPX Feb 26th 2025/2050 call spreads for .20. Originally sold for 1.55.
Stopped out, March 4th 1700/1675 put spreads for 2.90. Originally sold for 1.25.
#ReverseRoll Sold to Open SPX March 4th 1960/1985 call spreads for 1.45.
Selling a call spread on a 2% down day, you ask? Yes! Call spreads are working without fail. I will definitely sell more with any bounce higher today and every day there’s a bounce, but currently I have stopped selling put spreads more than a few days out.
UVXY call spreads
Adding one to an existing position…
Sold UVXY JUN 17 2016 80/100 Bear call spread @ 3.00
TSLA, sold the Junr 200 calls for 7.00
We are now at the…
We are now at the Jan 20th lows.
$UVXY #Roll
Rolled Feb 12 $60 Calls to Feb 26 $85 calls for $.35 credit
BA trades
Rolled Feb 110 put out to Mar for 2.20 credit
Bought to close $BA Feb 19 110 put @ 4.85
Sold to open $BA Mar 18 110 put @ 7.05
Also sold an April put (15 delta)
Sold to open $BA Apr 15 90 put @ 1.95
The stock hasn’t been at 90 since May 2013
SPX one-day trade
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1770/1745 put spreads for 1.40. Expires tomorrow. Also still sitting on 1790/1765 spreads, which are a bit of a nail biter.
$NUGT
STO Feb 12 $45 puts @ $0.85 expire tomorrow
Rolling TZA
Rolled Feb calls out to March 4 weekly for 1.35 credit
Bought to close $TZA Feb 19 70 calls @ 4.84
Sold to open $TZA Mar 18 72.50 calls @ 6.19
Rolling TLT
Rolled Feb calls out to March for .69 credit
Bought to close $TLT Feb 19 129 calls @ 4.96
Sold to open $TLT Mar 18 129 calls @ 5.65
UVXY short-term
#VXXGame This is a trade that has been working for 5 weeks straight. On Thursday or Friday, use any spikes in $UVXY to sell calls expiring the following Friday (7 to 8 days DTE) about 25-30 points above current price. Then continue to add more on Monday or Tuesday if there are more spikes. I have this week’s 70 calls that should expire tomorrow, sold between .50 and 1.10. I usually end up with 7-10 contracts around .70-.80 avg price, so a nice $500-$800 gain each week. There will likely be a week where we get a much bigger volatility spike, and this trade will have to be rolled or closed with a loss. But as long as VIX remains orderly, this is working. This morning…
Sold to Open UVXY Feb 19th 85 calls for 1.07. I missed the highs but will sell more if we go higher, or move to a lower strike if UVXY drops.
$UVXY $VXX
STO $UVXY Mar 4 $105 Calls @ $2.37
STO $UVXY Mar 11 $105 Calls @ $3.81
STO $UVXY Mar 28 $95 Call @ $6.60
STO $VXX Apr 15 $45 calls @ $1.50
UVXY adding at highest strike
Sold $UVXY Mar 24 105 call @ 5.00
#VXXGame
TLT trade
#LongCalls I wish I had purchased more of these; the Jan 123 calls were a nice profit, but these are a home run. Peeling off one now in case this morning was a short-term high.
STC $TLT Feb 19th 123 call for 11.25. Bought in Dec for 2.00.
New low in SVXY
Breaking it’s most recent low of 31.90 on 1/20/15; Lowest since Jan 2013
#VXXGame
Today’s SPX supports: Intermediate Supports…
Today’s SPX supports:
Intermediate Supports at 1820-27 and 1806-10 which are 61.8% extensions from previous moves.
Also at 1820 which is from the low of 10/15/14
and 1812 from the low of 1/20/16
As you can see there is a lot of support around the 1820-1810 area.
There is also a major support is at 1803 which is the 38.1% Fib Retracement from low of Jun 4 2012…to high of May 20 2015….
and 1780 which is the 61.8% extension of the previous down move from Dec 29 15 to Jan 20 16.
Below those tighten your seat belts.
Watch the 8 period stochastic, if it starts turning up at any one of these levels it is normally a sign that the level might hold for at least today….
#Gold
Is definitely trading as safety trade now. Decoupled from inflation fears (none) or correlation to currency. People are moving to gold and bonds as places to hide.
SWHC Taking cover!
Covered call today on SWHC. Feb 19 call and stock. If called away, 6.3% return in a little over a week.
If not called, will continue to write calls.
TSLA longer term puts
Sold $TSLA Sep 16 60 puts @ 2.20
SPX iron condor
Didn’t have anything for Feb 26, so STO Feb 26 2005/1995/1740/1730 for 1.25
$TSLA #ShortPuts #ScalpingTrade – Sold…
$TSLA #ShortPuts #ScalpingTrade – Sold TSLA FEB 12 2016 82.0 Puts @ 0.17. Did it in enough size to be a nice 2 day gain when these expire on Friday
TSLA earnings trade
Going out about 3 standard deviations to a strike the stock hasn’t seen in over 2 1/2 years. I’ll go long TSLA at 108.35 if it comes to it.
Sold $TSLA Feb 12 110 put @ 1.65.
Starting small. I may add if the premium gets better into the close.
More SPX calls
#SPXcampaign, following @Ramie on this one, Sold to Open $SPX Feb 26th 1980/2005 call spreads for 1.35.
UVXY puts…hedging my hedge
Being short some VIX futures allows an aggressive roll up of next week’s UVXY puts. Rolled next week’s 33 puts up to 38 for .60 credit. Total credit on these is now up to 2.26 on a decent size position. If these get in trouble the short futures will be cranking! Ideally UVXY drops but not all the way to 35.74. Short a bunch of call spreads as well so UVXY…come on down!
A COUPLE:
$WLL STO 2/12/16 6.0 CALLS @.25 Expires Friday.
$UVXY STO 3/18/16 30.0 PUTS @1.64 Followed @fuzzball. Thanks kid.
Maneuvering NOW
Using today’s move up to do some rolling and hedging.
Rolled $NOW Feb 60 puts out to Mar 60 puts for .77 credit
Sold $NOW Mar 60 call @ 1.10
So, with yesterday’s Mar 55 call sale, the complete adjustment to my Feb 60 puts has now become part straddle, part inverted strangle:
Mar 60 puts
Mar 55 calls
Mar 60 calls
SPX call spread
Sold $SPX Feb 26 1980/2005 BeCS @ 1.35. Outside of 1 standard deviation (1965) and over 100 points out of the money.
#SPXCampaign
NOW hedge
#Earnings STO $NOW March 18th 60 call for 1.05. Selling against underwater puts.
STO FEB 12 1940/1960 .40…
STO FEB 12 1940/1960 .40 credit
PNRA earnings
#Earnings Bought to close $PNRA Feb 19th 165/155 put spreads for .10. Sold as part of condor yesterday for 1.95. Will close calls when price pulls back.
$NUGT #ShortPuts #Weeklys – Sold…
$NUGT #ShortPuts #Weeklys – Sold NUGT Feb 12 2016 28.5 Puts @ 0.25. These expire Friday
$UVXY puts
#VXXGame STO $UVXY Feb 26th 35 puts for 1.05
STO UVXY March 4th 32 puts for 1.05
Chicken NUGT
#ContangoETFs Got caught in some ITM $NUGT calls so I’ve been rolling a bit out at a time. Today, BTC $NUGT Feb 19th 35 call for 5.50. Will sell a rolled call on the next pop up. Leaving others for now.
Also, followed @Iceman on some of these:
STO NUGT Feb 12th 30 puts for .30
STO NUGT Feb 12th 30.5 puts for .40
STO NUGT Feb 19th 26 put for .90
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 11th 2020/2045 call spreads for 1.25, with SPX at 1873.
ARMH post-earnings
Gap down after earnings but bouncing off lows.
Sold $ARMH Mar 18 36 puts @ 1.10.
$NFLX #ShortCalls #Weeklys #ScalpTrade -…
$NFLX #ShortCalls #Weeklys #ScalpTrade – Sold NFLX Feb 12 2016 100.0 Calls @ 0.15. These expire Friday
$NUGT #ShortPuts #Weeklys – Sold…
$NUGT #ShortPuts #Weeklys – Sold NUGT Feb 12 2016 29.0 Puts @ 0.30. These expire Friday
$DUST #CoveredCalls – Sold DUST…
$DUST #CoveredCalls – Sold DUST Feb 12 2016 8.5 Calls @ 0.25.
Stock was acquired at 8.0 via Put assignment last Friday.
These expire Friday
$NUGT #ShortPuts #Weeklys – sold…
$NUGT #ShortPuts #Weeklys – sold these on the opening this morning. These expire Friday
Sold NUGT Feb 12 2016 30.5 Puts @ 0.40
Sold NUGT Feb 12 2016 30.0 Puts @ 0.40
SPX iron condor
Finished this week’s (Feb 12) iron condor that started yesterday. STO 1780/1770 BuPS 0.45
GM
GM
UVXY puts
Sold UVXY MAR 18 2016 30.0 Puts @ 1.58 ading to a starter position
$DUST #CoveredCalls – Sold DUST…
$DUST #CoveredCalls – Sold DUST Feb 12 2016 8.0 Calls @ 0.30. Stock was acquired at 8.0 via Put assignment last Friday
#Gold $GDX
Interesting divergence where Gold is actually hanging in pretty tough around the $1190 area but the miners have really started to pull back. We’ll see what today brings.
/VX VIX Futures
Shorted a March contract yesterday at 24.40…bought back in this morning at 23.90. Nice little 50 tick winner to start the day. Looking to re-load around 24.50.
🙂
PNRA earnings
#Earnings Filled while driving yesterday: Sold to Open $PNRA Feb 19th 155/165/200/210 iron condors for 1.95. Slightly bearish placement, seeing 200 as resistance near all-time high.
Nice segment today on TT…
Nice segment today on TT about rolling vs not rolling….quite interesting results.
https://www.tastytrade.com/tt/daily_recaps/2016-02-09/episodes/rolling-puts-02-09-2016
TRADES, right before the bell.
$TRXC STOCK @4.36
$ETE STO 2/26/16 3.50 PUTS @.35
$NUGT #ShortCalls – Sold 1…
$NUGT #ShortCalls – Sold 1 NUGT Jan 20 2017 75.0 Call @ $14.00. Couldn’t resist.
$NUGT #CoveredPuts – Sold NUGT(Weekly)…
$NUGT #CoveredPuts – Sold NUGT(Weekly) Feb 12 2016 31 Puts @ 0.30
UVXY crashing
Now down on the day. Big red candle forming on the daily chart.
#Market
Whole market today (indexes, volatility, gold, etc…) just feels like it is a flag flopping around aimlessly in the breeze.
UVXY STO Calls 155 MAR3…
UVXY STO Calls 155 MAR3 2016 (3/24/2016) @1.50
UVXY STO Calls 160 MAR3…
UVXY STO Calls 160 MAR3 2016 (3/24/2016) @1.45
$SPY #ironcondor STO March 18…
$SPY #ironcondor STO March 18 173/170/194/197 for $1.29 from Robyn at Tasty
UVXY: Adding a small position to 3/24 weekly
Looks like new highest strikes in March are 95. My previous sale in 3/24 was at the 80 strike. Adding at the the highest:
Sold $UVXY Mar 24 95 call @ 5.30
SPX same week calls
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1925/1950 call spreads for 1.40. Expires this Friday.
$TWTR #CoveredCalls – Sold TWTR…
$TWTR #CoveredCalls – Sold TWTR FEB 12 2016 20.0 Calls @ 0.23. These expire Friday
#FANG
$FB, $GOOGL, $NFLX all bouncing nicely even with weak market
NOW hedges
#Earnings STO $NOW March 18th 55 call for 1.35 (thanks @Ramie)
STO NOW May 20th 60 call for 2.05
$UVXY
STO Feb 26 $110 Calls @ $1.10
It seems that yesterday’s bounce…
It seems that yesterday’s bounce was just that; a profit taking bounce at the end of the day. IMHO, the entire world’s economy is in shambles….it seems that the monetary polices of the ECB and the Feds are not only not working, but sinking the world economy into chaos.
We need a bounce badly….
VIX chart
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.
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.
Options Bistro 