Went negative on the day. Yeah!
Monthly Archives: March 2016
STO GOOGL Apr5 700/680 2.85…
STO GOOGL Apr5 700/680 2.85 cr.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 17th 2060 calls for .45. Sold in the 2060/2085 spread for 1.19 on March 7th. Can’t risk leaving this open with morning settlement gap risk.
TLT thoughts.
Any ideas on the TLT after the fed yesterday? Overall chart looks down since 2/12, but now running on the 50 day ma. Thinking of an iron condor. Thoughts anyone?
SPX puts closed, calls sold
#SPXcampaign
Bought to close $SPX March 24th 1950/1925 put spreads for .20. Sold on Monday for 2.05.
Sold to Open $SPX April 8th 2110/2140 call spreads for 1.25. (going 30 its wide since no 2135 strike available)
NFLX out
My little NFLX Mar 18 IC that I put on yesterday for 1.15, I closed early today for 0.55. 52% max profit in a day. I’ll take these any day, everyday. Lovin’ the green St. Patrick’s theme and lovin’ collecting some green on these.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!
(refresh this page)
Snickers Bar
#ContangoETFs #Rolling
BTC NUGT March 19th 63 call for 11.00. Sold for 1.12 on Monday. Harrumph.
STO NUGT April 15th 72 call for 12.20.
BTC NUGT March 19th 70 call for 5.00. Sold yesterday for 1.00
STO NUGT April 15th 90 call for 6.10
UVXY rolls
#VXXGame $UVXY puts obviously under pressure… continuing to roll into strangles once they go ITM. This is my first roll of several I’ll need…
BTC UVXY April 15th 24 puts for 3.40.
STO UVXY April 29th 20/33.5 strangles for 3.72
I don’t think both of those April 29th strikes will survive, but I will roll the one that gets ATM.
WSM closed
#Earnings BTC $WSM March 19th 55 puts for .30, sold as a 55/50 condor yesterday for .70. Order in to sell the 50 puts for .05, but doubt it will fill unless we get a spike down.
VIX indicator comes through
At least in the short-term, the VIX Indicator’s Upside Warning is working… albeit pretty late from when the rally started. Many prognosticators saying rally should have been over and we are due for a drop. Could be true, but when the VIX passes below 78.6% Fib line, almost always mean more upside ahead, sometimes violently. I don’t trust this rally, but I respect it for now and can see us getting up to the 2070 or 2080 resistance that Robert posted easily. Above 2100 would be a surprise for me, however. Currently moving any call spreads I can to above 2110. #SPXcampaign
SVXY covered calls
Sold $SVXY Sep 16 60 call @ 2.95.
NUGT calls
Playing it really safe here. Who knows what happens in the next 24 hours. Cleaning up what was a 50/80 strangle position. Got a little over 50 percent and freeing up considerable margin.
Bought to Close NUGT MAR 18 2016 80.0 Calls @ .70 (sold for 1.55)
Could’ve closed it for a dime before FOMC yesterday…remind me not to go for that last nickel again!
UVXY all time low
Just dipped down to 23.76, below the the 23.83 low on 12/2/15
$XME $NUGT
$XME busting a move, looks like that is what is pulling the gold miners higher right now.
BIB…re-post
Just wanted to repeat what Jeff posted the other night in case anyone missed it. I was mistaken…BIB is hurt slightly by an overall downward bias over the long term even though it’s historical performance is pretty nice. Being careful here and will probably get our of my covered stock position while it’s only down a little. This could be a good place to use the old Fitzpatrick 1 percent rule. Get out and wait…if the stock recovers to 1 percent above where you sold it start scaling back in with a tight stop.
Thanks Jeff!
Check out $BIS… inverse of BIB. They are both “Ultra”, 2x levered, so they would be subject to downward pull due to compounding. But Biotech has been generally bullish until recently (see NBI monthly chart) – so the BIB chart had been mostly up.
NUGT Chart
Look at the daily chart for NUGT. It shows a Squeeze forming that could trigger to the upside. 
$ADBE earnings today after the…
$ADBE earnings today after the close. @jeff, any numbers for us?
NUGT
Dipping my toes in the water with a call spread. Can’t sell naked calls here.
Apr 15 95/105. Mid-point was listed as .95 and I put in limit of 1.00 and got filled at 1.25. Interesting.
NUGT
STO Apr 22 NUGT 105 Call at $3.20
NUGT Resistance
71.46-72.60; 76.81-77.50 and 83.61-85.45
This levels may hold NUGT but not necessarily reverse it.
SPX Resistance
2028-2030; 2056-60; 2068-70; 2081-85 and 2100
There are others above that, but I don’t think we’ll get that high today….
$NUGT
Treading lightly
STO Apr 1 $105 call @ $1.10, adding to position
#Gold $UUP $DXY
Interesting divergence. The dollar is very weak again today, but gold is barely moving. Would have expected a bigger move with that big a move in the dollar. Dollar is much lower than it was just last week, but Gold has (so far) failed to make a higher high. Over the last 10 days gold has seemed hang out in this $1266 +/- area.
NUGT adding
Sold $NUGT Sep 16 105 call @ 17.30. Adding to position at the highest strike.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign In pre-market (3:09a ET), bought to close $SPX April 1st 1850/1825 for .20. Sold for 2.00 on March 3rd.
$SPX resistance?
Thoughts on resistance levels now that we’ve touched 2030?
$NUGT
Made a few trades this afternoon, like most people, I was a bit early. I’m continuing to stay short term with my trades.
STO Mar 25 $95 calls @ $0.55
STO Apr 1 $95 calls @ $1.00
STO Apr 8 $95 calls @ $1.50
STO Apr 8 $105 calls @ $1.30 (will add as premium increases)
STO Apr 15 $105 call @ $2.50 (will add as premium increases)
$UA #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$UA #ShortPuts – Bought to close UA Apr 15 2016 60.0 Puts @ 0.05. Still a month to go and they can’t drop any lower.
$NUGT #ShortCalls – Sold 1…
$NUGT #ShortCalls – Sold 1 NUGT Sep 16 2016 105.0 Call @ 16.20. I may be early on this trade.
VIX confirming
A day after the Upside Warning, VIX is confirming upside bias. This is a new post-correction low, and the lowest VIX reading since Christmas Eve.
WSM earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $WSM March 18th 55/50 put spreads for .70.
Over last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 10.3% , Biggest DOWN move: -12.0% , Average move: 6.0% . This trade is 7.3% OTM.
Geez, were we early on…
Geez, were we early on NUGT calls or what?
$NUGT Since there aren’t comments…
$NUGT Since there aren’t comments on this name, and being up 10 points, I guess we expect it to burn and crash! ;>)
$FB Followed Robyn at TT…
$FB Followed Robyn at TT on an April 15 110/115 BuCS for 2.64, had sworn these off, will try again
$NFLX iron condor
STO Mar 18 107/102/98/93 for 1.15.
A little close and risky, but I think there is some profit in there for 2 days.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Going above 2100 for any further sales.
Sold to Open $SPX April 14th 2110/2135 call spreads for 1.25
Sold to Open $SPX May 19th 2125/2150 call spreads for 3.50 (as a roll)
SLB bearish Diagonal.
BTO SLB Apr 1st 71 Put/ Apr 22 73 Put for $1.74
There is a squeeze and earnings are due in 36 days, Apr 22 is 37 days away…I’m trying to take advantage of the increase in IV due to earnings and the bearish movement.
Adding some NUGT calls
On the post-FOMC spike in gold, added these short calls at the highest strikes
Sold $NUGT Apr 22 (weekly) 105 call @ 1.75
Sold $NUGT Sep 16 105 call @ 11.50
$T put spread close
Closed $T Apr 15 38/35 BuPS for 0.45. Originally STO for 1.00 about 2 weeks ago. 55% max profit.
Fed’s leave rates Unchanged!
and reduced the number of increases from 4 to 2.
SPX put spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX April 8th 1880/1855 put spreads for 1.30.
roll it NOW
#Earnings #Rolling #CoveredCalls
BTC $NOW March 18th 55 call for 6.10. Sold for 1.35 on 2/9
STO NOW April 15th 55 call for 7.90.
SPX put spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX April 1st 1925/1900 put spreads for 1.60, double position as a #ReverseRoll to stopped call spreads.
SVXY covered calls
In the #IRA – rolled SVXY 40 calls out to April 42’s for even. Going for a couple more bucks of upside.
$CMG put spread closed.
STO 470/465 put spread expiring this week. Sold this morning on the gap down and hold, for 1.00.
BTC now about 2 hours later, for 0.25.
Wish that would happen every time! 🙂
TRADES:
$ETE BTC 3/18/16 7.50 CALLS @.20 STO @.42
$ETE STC STOCK @7.50 BTO 7.58 Small loss, but the stocks been somewhat erratic lately.
$UVXY STO 3/18/16 26.0 PUTS @.94 A speculative trade. If it closes in the middle, great! If not, I will roll out the
$UVXY STO 3/18/16 28.0 CALLS @.87 losing side. Meanwhile I’ve got the 1.81 premium leeway. Only 2.5 days to go.
$UVXY
BTC Jan’18 $80 call @ $12.50, sold for $25
Taking profits at 50% since it is so far out in time. Will resell on next volatility spike.
SPX expirations? Can never remember…
SPX expirations? Can never remember this, but does the monthly expiration occur on Friday morning and the weeklys on Friday afternoon at the close?
EXPE closed
BTC EXPE 105/98 BuPS at $0.65 Sold for $1.35 last week.
I’m using the TT method of getting out with 50% profit or closing the position at a small loss if the price reaches the short strike. So far it is working fine.
CMG put spread
$CMG gapped down this morning and appears to be holding. STO Mar 18 470/465 BuPS for 1.00. Expires this week.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX April 1st 2040/2065 call spreads for 7.50. Sold for 8.00 on March 4th as a roll. Small profit on this one, but since my stop level of 20-points OTM (2020) was hit last week, needed to close this and wait for higher prices to replace the roll.
A TRADE:
$NUGT BTC 3/18/16 80.0 CALLS @.10 Wanted to free up some buying power.
Upside Warning fired
#VIXIndicator UPSIDE WARNING fired. We have just hit 3 consecutive VIX closes below the Fib 78.6% retracement. This historically has meant that volatility has subsided in the near term, and we should be seeing further strength to the rally in the SPX.
This also sets a new VIX low of 16.05 from Friday, 3/4.
Tuesday’s levels that would negate this and switch us to a downside warning are 21.05 and 23.58.
This is the first time a VIX upside warning has fired since I developed the indicator, so it will be interesting to see if SPX pushes higher before any big drops. SPX has risen in the days or weeks following this signal over the majority of times it has fired since 2000.
$GMCR Bot out for cash…
$GMCR Bot out for cash story. That’s a great strategy. I wanna be a Mr. T, when I grow up. ;>)
$GMCR – just a little…
$GMCR – just a little story about what happens when a company that has options gets bought out for CASH –
Last December GMCR announced that they were being acquired. I got crushed on some short calls so I decided to try and make some of that back.
I sold some long term puts for whatever I could get for them, knowing that they would go away once the merger was completed.
I covered the Jan 2018 puts a few weeks ago at 0.02. The ones below I kept –
GMCR Jan 20 2017 70.0 Puts – Sold at an average of 1.50
GMCR Jan 20 2017 75.0 Puts – Sold at an average of 1.50
GMCR Jun 17 2016 70.0 Puts – Sold at an average of 1.00
The expiration dates have all been adjusted so they expire this Friday.
It’s nice to know that it worked the way I expected it would.
NUGT puts this morning, now calls…
#ContangoETFs STO $NUGT March 18th 63 calls for 1.15
$NUGT
STO Mar 25 $40 puts @ $0.85
What to do when an Option Trade goes against you?
This is an interesting article from Dough Trading.
https://www.dough.com/blog/managing-options-trades
Jeff, I believe that this is something to look at when dealing with the SPX trades.
BIB….not VRX
Guessing BIB is down today due to catching shrapnel from the VRX implosion. Is it temporary?
Bought BIB covered stock at 37.70…short this Friday 39 calls. Could make 1.30 quickly or own it at a decent price.
EDIT…thought about selling VRX puts but who knows where this thing goes. Iceman whaddya think? I know we did pretty good on their initial implosion but this seems different….
SBUX on a daily Squeeze
STO Apr 29th SBUX 56/53.5 BuPS at $0.47
$NUGT #ShortPuts – Sold NUGT…
$NUGT #ShortPuts – Sold NUGT Apr 15 2016 30.0 Puts @ 0.95
$KOLD #ShortPuts – Sold KOLD…
$KOLD #ShortPuts – Sold KOLD Mar 18 2016 180 Puts @ 2.20. These expire Friday
SPX iron condor
STO Apr 29 2125/2115/1815/1805 for 1.70. Each short strike with delta of 10 and neutral delta for both legs.
Will look to close at 50% profit.
PG on Squeeze
STO PG Apr 29th 78.5/75 BuPS at $0.66…
I will add Calls when it decides to start expanding….
GOOGL & LNKD Closed
BTC GOOGL 700/682.5 BuPS at $1.29 sold for $2.54
BTC LNKD 115/110 BuPS at $2.08 sold for $1.50 (ouch). I was long and wrong!
SPX calls stopped
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 24th 2025/2050 call spreads for 7.05. Sold for 1.60 on Feb 24th. Using the pullback to kill another threatened spread. This pretty much clears me of problem call spreads, and I will slowly build back positions to recoup losses.
$VRX I hope nobody was…
$VRX I hope nobody was long Valeant Pharma, down 35%, almost $25 after earnings, Canadian company
$UVXY Folllowed Iceman STO June…
$UVXY Folllowed Iceman STO June 17, 20 put for 2,76
NUGT opener
#ContangoETFs STO NUGT March 18th 47 put for 1.20
$SVXY #ShortPuts – Sold SVXY…
$SVXY #ShortPuts – Sold SVXY Mar 18 2016 39.5 Puts @ 0.30. These expire Friday
Fat Fingers
#SPXcampaign While trying to set up a GTC order to close for .20, I mistakenly closed the $SPX March 23rd (Wednesday weekly) 2050/2075 call spread for 2.55. Sold for 1.60 last week. Rather than replace immediately, I will wait for next spike in SPX.
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – adding to…
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – adding to my Sept position and starting a new weekly position
Sold SVXY Sep 16 2016 60.0 Calls @ 2.40
Sold SVXY(Weekly) Apr 01 2016 48.0 Calls @ 0.60
$UVXY #ShortPuts – taking some…
$UVXY #ShortPuts – taking some mid-sized positions with the strike price below the alltime low on the stock
Sold UVXY(Weekly) Mar 24 2016 23.0 Puts @ 0.46 – these expire NEXT Friday
Sold UVXY Apr 15 2016 19.0 Puts @ 0.44
Sold UVXY(Weekly) Apr 22 2016 18.0 Puts @ 0.48
Sold 1 UVXY Jun 17 2016 20.0 Put @ 3.05
On a couple of these you can probably do better tomorrow
AMZN closed
Closed Mar 18 600/595/530/525 for 0.55. Originally sold for 1.40. At 60% max profit I’ll take it and enjoy. Feels good after last week’s SPX debacle.
Options Bistro 