#VXXGame trade:
Sold $UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ 18.00. Adding to position at the highest strike in January.
Monthly Archives: February 2016
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.
Margin
I wanted to get some insight with those on regular 3 to 1 Margin accounts with under 50k.
When selling naked calls/puts (especially calls right now) on NUGT/UVXY what is the max number of calls you sell?
Also, how did you fare in August with margin requirements when UVXY went from 40s to 90 in 2 days. For example, a 170 Jan 2017 call or March 165 call, even though way otm would triple or quadruple on the next big selloff.
Were you able to maintain those positions with say 25k in the account or should spreads be the call sale of choice.
Any insight as to how best play the #vxxgame with a smaller 3-1 margin account would be great.
#OptionsExpiration for 2/5/16 Expired: $EOG…
#OptionsExpiration for 2/5/16
Expired:
$EOG 02/05/2016 65.00 puts
$LNKD 02/05/2016 230.00 calls (the good side of the nightmare strangle)
$UVXY 02/05/2016 66.00 calls
$UVXY 02/05/2016 85.00 calls
$UVXY 02/05/2016 95.00 calls
No assignments
Have a great Super Bowl weekend everyone!
Added NUGT
#ContangoETFs Sold to Open $NUGT March 18th 50 call for 5.25
#OptionsExpiration #Weeklys #Feb05 – A…
#OptionsExpiration #Weeklys #Feb05 – A pretty good week, with a nice earnings compression trade on $CMG the most fun. A new short position in $NUGT to deal with next week.
— Expirations —
AGNC (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 18 Calls (Covered)
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 397.5 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 400 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 402.5 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 405 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 407.5 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 410 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 412.5 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 415 Puts
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 422.5 Puts (Covered)
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 425 Puts (Covered)
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 427.5 Puts (Covered)
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 575 Calls
CMG (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 580 Calls
FCX (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 6.5 Calls (Covered)
NUGT (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 30 Puts
UVXY (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 20 Puts
UVXY (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 35 Puts
UVXY (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 35.5 Puts
UVXY (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 36 Puts
UVXY (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 66 Calls
UVXY (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 85 Calls
UVXY (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 95 Calls
WYNN (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 64 Calls
WYNN (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 73.5 Calls
WYNN (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 74 Calls
— Assignments —
DUST (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 10 Puts
DUST (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 9.5 Puts
DUST (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 8 Puts
KSU (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 75 Calls (Covered) – Profitable exit and getting a lot of cash back
NUGT (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 32 Calls (Covered)
NUGT (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 32.5 Calls – Going short the stock
NUGT (Weekly) Feb 5 2016 40 Calls (Covered) – Profitable exit after a long holding period
Rolling NUGTs
Didn’t have a chance to post in the end of day craziness but I rolled 3 in the money positions:
Rolled $NUGT Feb 26 37.00 calls up and out to Mar 18 38.00 calls for 1.26 credit
Rolled $NUGT Mar 4 37.50 calls up and out to Mar 24 38.00 calls for 1.32 credit
Rolled $NUGT Mar 11 37.50 calls out to Mar 24 37.50 calls for .90 credit
I’ll keep rolling calls until this trend breaks.
#OptionsExpiration
Had a good number of total contracts expiring this week. If it hadn’t been for $NUGT, this would have been a very profitable week.
$UVXY $55 Calls
$UVXY $66 Calls
$UVXY $74 Calls
$UVXY $80 Calls
$UVXY $85 Calls
FB & DATA management
#Earnings
Bought to close $FB Feb 5th 110 put for 6.40, and covered 100 shares of short FB stock for 103.67. Decided to take advantage of the overdone day and roll the put. I have sold several FB puts and will sell more next week.
Bought to close (1) $DATA Feb 5th 62 put for 20.50. Reducing risk over weekend by taking assignment of fewer shares. Also earlier, I sold (1) March 18th 45 call for 3.00.
Options Expiration 2/5/16
#OptionsExpiration Rough week with DATA earnings trade going south. This will be a tougher one to manage than FB or VLO as the company is newer and has an uncertain future.
Expiring with 100% of max profit:
$CMI 81.5 puts
$DATA 100 calls
$SPX 1980/2005 call spreads
$UVXY 23, 27 puts
$UVXY 27/25 put spread
$UVXY 55 calls
$VLO 73 call
#Assignment
$DATA 62 puts, long stock assigned, cost basis 60.80
$VLO 63 & 65 puts, covering most of my short stock position, cost basis over 70.00
Expiring Worthless:
$SPX 1675/1650 put debit spread – bought a couple weeks ago, but the down moves did not come soon enough, so never got a profit to take.
NUGT
Seems the shiny stuff has a big reversion to the mean to the upside. RSI OB on daily, but not sure it matters right now.
$NFLX #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$NFLX #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold NFLX Sep 16 2016 45.0 Puts @ 1.93
CMI calls closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $CMI Feb 5th 98 calls for 1.30. Sold as part of earnings strangle for 1.05. Taking the small loss on this one as I don’t need another stock position to manage.
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold…
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold UVXY (Weekly) Mar 24 2016 80.0 Calls @ 4.70. New weekly series has started. Highest available strike price.
UVXY calls
#VXXGame Sold a few UVXY Feb 12th 70 calls for .45. May add a few more if premium increases.
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold…
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold UVXY (Weekly) Mar 11 2016 90 Calls @ 2.29. New higher strike price for this week.
$LNKD #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$LNKD #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 LNKD FEB 12 2016 100.0 Put @ 2.45
OPTION EXPIRATION 1/5/16 Posting Early,…
OPTION EXPIRATION 1/5/16 Posting Early, using Panera’s Wi-Fi, as mine is down.
—-PUTS—-
$KMI 14.0 PUTS
$KMI 14.5 PUTS Thanks to Ramie for this name.
—-CALLS—-
$ETE 9.5 CALLS
$ETE 10.0 CALLS
$VXX 30.0 CALLS
$WLL 7.5 CALLS
STO UVXY FEB4 16 (2/26/2016)…
STO UVXY FEB4 16 (2/26/2016) 100 CALL @.50
#spxcampaign STO SPX MAR2 16…
#spxcampaign STO SPX MAR2 16 (3/11/2016) 1670/1645 BuPS @1.40
$NOW is on my bad…
$NOW is on my bad list, being very uncooperative, looking like first loss of 2016 50/60 BuPS sinking stock at 51.60 arrrggghhh
$KMI Covered my fat finger…
$KMI Covered my fat finger mistake from the other day.
BTC 2/19/2016 16.0 CALLS @.52 SOLD @60.
Rolling LNKD
Extending duration on this trade. With options so deep in the money now, there wasn’t any real premium to be had until after the next earnings cycle so I went out to May.
Rolled $LNKD 2/5 160 put to May for 2.23 credit
Will let today’s 235 call expire and selling a May 180 call for 1.50 to offset the put
KOLD closes
#ContangoETFs Performed some margin management this morning by closing some calls. I will replace the 97 with new ITM calls in the future, but the rest were closed with profit.
BTC KOLD Feb 97 call for 79.00. Sold for 16.10 on Sept 29th
BTC KOLD Feb 250/275 call spreads for .65. Sold for 1.00 on 12/29
BTC KOLD Feb 270 calls for .50. Sold for 16.50 on 12/22
BTC KOLD Feb 240 calls for 1.50. Sold for 14.00 on 12/24
and these BOIL calls closed on GTC orders: (interesting that they finally close on an UP day for BOIL)
BTC BOIL March 35 call for .05. Sold for 2.30 on Nov 6th
BTC BOIL March 30 call for .05. Sold for 3.50 on Nov 5th
$GDX
What a beast this week. Dollar is up nicely today. Gold is flat to down a little. $XME is basically flat (given the overall market a definite out performer). Yet $GDX is strong as death.
NUGT
Trying to work back all the money Inlost in DUST/NUGT
STO June 72 call 4.65
PANW: Throwing one out there
Sold $PANW Jun 17 80 put @ 1.85 with the stock at 128.71
FB puts
#Earnings STO $FB Match 18th 100 put for 2.30 (earlier), and April 15th 87.5 put for 1.60.
I now have more puts than I do short stock, ranging from 87.5 to 110, so now I will have to control which ones I allow to be assigned and which ones I will roll.
DATA mgt
#Earnings BTC (1) $DATA Feb 5th 62 put for 18.75. Covered 1 of 5 in case we drop further from here. Looking to sell a March call if we get more bounce.
SPX puts
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open March 4th 1680/1655 put spreads for 1.25.
DATA bouncing, but now it’s NOW
#Earnings DATA bounced off the 40.00 level and has been trending up, even as markets are dropping. The collateral damage though is against sector sister NOW, down 15% today, for which I am short the Feb 19th 60 puts.
SPX one-week spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1790/1765 put spreads for 1.35. Expire next Friday.
SPX put spread in 3/11
Going out almost 2 standard deviations, and 225 points down.
Sold $SPX Mar 11 1665/1640 BuPS @ 1.30
FB puts
Sold $FB Apr 15 87.50 puts @ 1.26
UVXY puts
Rolled Feb 29 puts up to 33 for .55 credit. Fairly aggressive but short quite a few BeCS in Feb and Mar. Total credit on these now up to 1.66
$SPX
$SPX Closed my Feb 12th 2030/2050 BeCS @ 0.05 on a GTC order.
$STZ
$STZ closed my Feb 135/140 BuPS @ 1.01. Opened yesterday @ .50. Didn’t work. $STZ is breaking below the 50dma.
UVXY BeCS
Adding one more…
Sold UVXY JUN 17 2016 80/90 Bear call spread @ 1.90
LNKD puts
Sold $LNKD Feb 19 95 put @ 1.35
$LNKD #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$LNKD #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 LNKD MAY 20 2016 95.0 Put @ 5.00. I was a bit early. I will wait for lower strike prices to add.
DATA
Cramer slamming it on CNBC and he has a point. Hopefully 40 will hold as 39.57 was overnight low.
TSN is cockadoodledoin’ it!
TSN is up over 11% today after earnings and raising profit forecast. No position here (yet). Any thoughts on some options? Sell some calls?
FB dropping
Surprised that FB is pulling back this much this soon after topping above 117 on Tuesday. I was nervous about being short the stock at 105.00 cost basis, now it don’t seem so bad.
I’ve been wondering; what would…
I’ve been wondering; what would be the easier (less riskier) directional trade strategy; A Vertical spread (debit or credit) or a Diagonal spread?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Earnings slam
DATA down over 40% and LNKD down over 30%… these will be all-time biggest one-day post-earnings in each stock’s history (assuming no massive rally today). I did not trade LNKD but some here did, and I sold a strangle on DATA including 62 puts. With a smaller company like DATA, it is tougher to know how long it will be to recover, or if it ever does. For now, I will take assignment of the stock and sell premium around it. The majority of the time, there’s an eventual return to the mean… but other stocks, like TWTR, can keep dropping. This is, of course, why position size is so important with naked options. I always assume the stock could drop to zero and make sure that I wouldn’t lose half my account. (with DATA, I have 5 puts).
/VX VIX futures
Sold 23.30 and bought back at 23.15 for a quick 15 ticks…still holding another short position at 23.25 with buy to close order at 22.75.
My strategy has failed on…
My strategy has failed on LNKD. I did the 235 call & 160 put. That hurts. The expected move was incorrect this time. Even doubling the expect move did nor work.
DATA and LNKD
LNKD getting slammed, which is why I didn’t trade it… DATA also taking a hit, hope it can stay above my 62 puts…
$STZ
$STZ Sold a Feb 140/135 BuPS @ 0.50 as @Forexpro described. I was supposed to be away until mid March on a gig but the contracts just imploded. Trying to get my head back around the market and this looked like a good place to start.
UVXY BeCS
Added to Jun…
Sold UVXY JUN 17 2016 80/100 Bear call spreads @ 1.85
Options Bistro 