$UA Jeff-nice call on the UA put!
Monthly Archives: April 2016
$NOW Jeff did you still…
$NOW
Jeff did you still hold NOW? Big bounce this AM following earnings.
$NUGT
STO Apr 22 $80 puts @ $1.00, expires tomorrow.
This is one of those patented @Fuzzball “come and get me” trades.
$SVXY
Morning all. Didn’t get these posted yesterday. Sold May 3rd 50 P @ 1.40 and Sold May 20th 45 P @ 1.20.
Ah, yes, 2100 iron fly…
Ah, yes, 2100 iron fly coming in… come to papa!
Closing a KOLD position
Bought to close $KOLD May 20 320 call @ .50. Sold for 8.90 on 3/24/16.
$NUGT
What a ride today.
#VXXGame
The only interesting thing I can say about today is that VIX, VXX, and UVXY are down, but have moved straight across since the early morning drop. Days like these often lead to a very sharp, steady plummet in UVXY, but not today. VIX reached new lows today, surpassing October’s low, but also has been straight across since morning. All of they while SPX has drawn a perfect 45 degree line UP since about 11am ET.
What does it mean? I don’t know what anything means in this market lately.
$SPX: What do we do…
$SPX: What do we do in a market like this?
Add more short delta!
Sold to open $SPX Jun 3 2195/2220 call spreads @ 1.30. Short strike is just inside 1 standard deviation (=2199).
UVXY: Taking some more January risk off
Without any great opening trade opportunities I thought I’d look for ways to continue reducing my overweight January short call positions in UVXY. The position is now getting more manageable in the event of a huge spike in the VIX/UVXY. I may leave the rest to expire so I don’t take the tax hit until 2017 (and not have to pay the tax bill for 2 more years) but I’ll see how it goes.
Bought to close $UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ .85. Sold for 13.80 on 1/8/16.
Bought to close $UVXY Jan 20 2107 95 call @ 1.75. Sold for 19.00 on 8/21/15.
UA earnings
#Earnings This could be a viable trade if you’re willing to take stock… selling 40 puts for .50, or any other bullish play. That would be a 9.1% down. UA’s biggest recent down move was 7.3%, and it often pops up big, like 22% up last quarter. Chart looks pretty bullish, with a daily squeeze, and entering a weekly squeeze.
Frustrating market
With the VIX this low short premium trades are so hard to find. I keep having to stop myself from forcing things (i.e., putting on trades that deep down I know aren’t paying me enough for the risk). I had hopes that earnings season would provide some opportunities but I can’t really find any earnings trades with any meat on the bone. Maybe it’s a sign that I probably should just pack it in for the day and get back to my day job. 🙂
NUGT roll
Rolled $NUGT Apr 22 90 call up and out to May 6 100 call for 1.52 credit. Depending on the action the rest of the day, I may roll my 95 call up and out as well.
NFLX earnings
#Earnings Bought to close $NFLX Apr 22nd 90 puts for .10. Sold for .60 on Monday. Still holding 90 puts expiring Apr 29th, GTC order in to close for .10.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX May 13th 1890/1865 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.40 on April 11th.
Today $VIX hit its lowest…
Today $VIX hit its lowest level since mid-August (right before the storm)
SPX iron butterfly
#IronButterfly Too Mort’s idea, but trying with options expiring TONIGHT:
Sold to open $SPX Apr 20th 2090/2100/2110 iron butterfly for 5.50.
Breakevens at today’s close are 2094.50 and 2105.50.
Buy (1) 2090 put
Sell (1) 2100 put
Sell (1) 2100 call
Buy (1) 2110 call
Also trying for same spread expiring this Friday for 8.00. And in smaller accounts, trying for 209/210/211 $SPY spread for .80
Thanks, Mort!
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open May 19th 1975/1950 put spreads for 1.25.
Jeff what do you think about an IBF on SPX at 2100?
can get 8.00 on a 10 wide
$NUGT
$NEM reports after the bell tonight. I think they are the first of the gold miners to report. Could move $NUGT big either direction. With as strong as they have been (much stronger than Gold itself) we’ll see just how much good news is already priced in.
JNJ earnings
#Earnings This trade looks to be a bust. It will cost 2.00 to close the ITM call spread; after the 1.50 credit we took in, that’s a 50-cent loss (ignore the puts, they will expire worthless). It may be possible to close it for less than 2.00 if there is any pullback, so keep an eye on it for the rest of the week. Sorry this one didn’t work out!
$NFLX STO June 20 85/75…
$NFLX STO June 20 85/75 BuPS for 1.58
$NUGT
I rolled (1) April 22 $90 call to (2) April 29 $115 calls and (1) April 29 $70 put for even
CMG sold December 250 puts @2.80
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Apr 29th 2025/2000 put spreads for 1.30.
ILMN Short Puts
Sold $ILMN May 20 120 put @ 2.50
$NUGT Dropping a little. Whew!!
$NUGT Dropping a little. Whew!!
TLT adding
#LongCalls Adding to the two positions I started yesterday
BTO $TLT May 20th 130 call for 2.10
BTO $TLT June 17th 132 call for 1.90
$NUGT
STO Apr 29 $120 calls @ $1.00
STO May 6 $120 calls @ $2.00
APA covered call
Sold $APA Jun 17 60 call @ 1.52
NUGT adjustments
Busy most of this week but did a couple NUGT adjustments this morning….
Bought to Close NUGT APR 22 2016 70.0 Puts @ .28 (sold for 3.08)
Split this week’s calls into May monthly 75/85 strangles:
Rolled this week’s 75 call out to May monthly 85 call for .50 credit
Reverse rolled this week’s 75 call out to May monthly 75 puts (x2) for even
This leaves me for May with 65 and 75 puts and 85 and 95 calls. Let’s wait and see where we end up. Could possibly have to roll back to calls with these puts (or not LOL)
An SPX Bearish Debit Spread.
BTO Jun 3rd 2016 SPX 1980/1955 BePS for $2.30
The idea is not to hold it to expiration but to make maybe 50% on a market dip….
The max loss is $230 the max win is $2,270….It is a very long shot, but heck there has to be a dip before expiration with the market being overbought and all.
NFLX sold to open September 65 puts @1.30
$AAPL I closed the short…
$AAPL I closed the short leg of an April 22 107/110 BeCS for a small gain, pretty sure I followed someone here on it a few weeks ago. It was looking really bad last week so I’ll be happy with a small loss if AAPL stays in the 106-107 range the rest of the week.
$KSU #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$KSU #ShortPuts – Bought to close KSU Jun 17 2016 55.0 Puts @ 0.05 (no commission)
Originally sold in January @ 1.95
FB puts
#Earnings #ShortStock #coveredputs
STO $FB April 29th 100 put for 1.20. Slowly building a larger put position as an eventual earnings play. If I have to stay short the stock into earnings, I want to sell a lot of puts to offset possible positive reaction in the stock.
NFLX sold to open June 80 puts @1.17
$NFLX #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$NFLX #ShortPuts – Bought to close NFLX Jun 17 2016 55.0 Puts @ 0.05 (no commission)
Originally sold in January @ 1.41
NFLX earnings
#Earnings BTC $NFLX Apr 22nd 125 calls for .04. Sold for .95 yesterday. Order in to close the 90 puts for .10. May take a few hours or a couple days.
question for Jeff or anyone…
question for Jeff or anyone – I have a May5 2125/2150 call. It is being tested. With that much time left on option, do you get out now or wait for down day? Thanks, Jeff
Another day, another All-Time low…
Another day, another All-Time low in UVXY.
Silver at hew highs, ZSL…
Silver at hew highs, ZSL at new lows, lowest since August 2014. No position as the juice got drained out when they split it last November. I won’t be selling puts either. I think ProShares is now regretting making the split. #ContangoETFs
Earnings trades
#Earnings $NFLX down but bounced off lows and is still nicely centered between 90/125 strangle.
$JNJ up; will watch the rest of the week for a drift back toward 100. May close short puts early if they get cheap enough.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign In pre-market, Bought to close May 6th 1915/1890 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.30 on April 7th. And bought to close May 6th 1925/1900 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.25 on April 4th.
NFLX calls
#Earnings To offset puts sold earlier, STO $NFLX Apr 22nd 125 calls for .95
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX May 19th 2160/2185 call spreads for 1.75.
$NFLX bouncing off the mat
Back into the middle of today’s range. Earnings a little more than an hour away.
$UVXY Taking off some more…
$UVXY Taking off some more #VXXGame trades
Using market strength to close these at more than 90% max profit, continuing to reduce risk and short volatility exposure with the S&P at resistance.
Bought to close:
$UVXY Sep 16 2016 110 call @ .89 (Sold for 11.10 on 2/2/16)
$UVXY Sep 16 2016 90 call @ .95 (Sold for 20.10 on 1/20/16)
$UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ 1.00 (Sold for 13.20 on 1/13/16)
$UVXY Jan 20 2017 115 call @ 1.55 (Sold for 28.23 on 8/27/15)
TLT long
#LongCalls Starting a position in this as bullish consolidation continues.
BTO $TLT May 20th 130 call for 2.43
BTO $TLT June 17th 132 call for 2.20
SOME TRADES:
$STC RLYP STOCK @17.56 A loss.
$BTC RLYP 5/20/16 PUTS @1.30 Small loss
$BTC RLYP 5/20/16 CALLS @1.70 Small gain I was wrong, first loss is the best loss. Was giving me agida.
$CNX BTO STOCK 12.65
$CNX STO 5/20/16 13.0 CALLS @1.04 Had a similar trade assigned away Friday.
$NUGT STO 5/13/16 55.0 PUT @2.30
$NUGT STO 5/13/16 120.0 CAll @2.15
$BOX BTO STOCK @12.82
$CHK BTO STOCK @5.98
$CHK STO 5/20/16 6.0 CALLS @.65
NFLX earnings naked puts
#Earnings Following rknight’s idea…
STO $NFLX Apr 22nd 90 puts for .60
STO $NFLX Apr 29th 90 puts for 1.00
With stock at 106.40 this strike is 15.4% OTM. I will take stock at 90. If we get any significant bounce before close I will consider selling some calls over 120.
NFLX earnings
#Earnings Here are the moves in the 5 days after the last 12 earnings reports for $NFLX:
Tue 01/19/2016 AC -6.64%
Wed 10/14/2015 AC -7.74%
Wed 07/15/2015 AC 12.65%
Wed 04/15/2015 AC 19.33%
Tue 01/20/2015 AC 25.41%
Wed 10/15/2014 AC -19.92%
Mon 07/21/2014 AC -6.65%
Mon 04/21/2014 AC -7.57%
Wed 01/22/2014 AC 14.23%
Mon 10/21/2013 AC -7.59%
Mon 07/22/2013 AC -5.97%
Mon 04/22/2013 AC 23.61%
The AVERAGE move is 13.7%. With the stock at 108.00, just staying inside the average move would equate to a 93/123 strangle, which goes for about 2.00. As I like to stay much further away than the average, I don’t think I will be selling options or condors. May look at butterfly options, but since the moves can be big and erratic, those will be pretty speculative. Any other ideas?
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SPX IC
STO Apr 29 2140/2130/2010/2000 for 1.35
UVXY slammed through its all…
#VXXGame
UVXY slammed through its all time-low of 17.41, dropping all the way below 17 on this surge in the market.
BTC $UVXY May 20th 38 call for .42. Sold for 2.14 on 3/23.
SPX puts closed, calls sold
#SPXcampaign – missed my fill on new put spreads on the drop. Now I’m playing the other side.
Bought to close $SPX Apr 22nd 2000/1975 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.60 last Tuesday.
Sold to Open $SPX May 6th 2140/2165 call spreads for 1.25.
JNJ earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $JNJ Apr 22nd 108/110/112 iron butterfly for 1.47. Max gain, 1.45(ish), max loss, .53. This is based on the fact that JNJ moves very little on earnings, and 110 is with the current uptrend and a nice round number. Open interest not really a factor; it’s slightly bigger at 110 call but not on the puts. Goal is for JNJ to finish the week as close to 110 as possible. On any large swings I may take off parts of it during the week to increase chance of profit, but also increase risk slightly.
$NUGT #ShortCalls – since a…
$NUGT #ShortCalls – since a few short calls rolled off Friday, I’m adding some small positions at the top of the chain –
Sold 2 NUGT Apr 29 2016 120.0 Calls @ 0.75
Sold 1 NUGT May 06 2016 120.0 Call @ 1.60
Sold 1 NUGT May 20 2016 120.0 Call @ 3.55
#Earnings – This week 104…
#Earnings – This week 104 S&P 500 companies report. The highlights are the tech names and we’ll get reports from IBM and Netflix today, Yahoo and Intel tomorrow followed by Alphabet, Microsoft and Verizon on Thursday. Away from the tech names we’ll also hear from Pepsico (today), Morgan Stanley (today), Goldman Sachs (Tuesday), Johnson & Johnson (Tuesday), Coca-Cola (Wednesday), General Motors (Thursday), Schlumberger (Thursday), Caterpillar (Friday), General Electric (Friday) and McDonalds (Friday).
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign In Pre-market, bought to close April 20th (Wednesday) 2110/2135 call spreads for .20. Sold on Apr 6th for 1.30.
Options Expiration 4/15/16
#optionsexpiration
Expiring:
SPX 2000/1975 put spreads
NOW 65 covered call
NUGT 45 put
Assignments:
NOW 55 covered call, stock called away
DAL 47 (long) call, assigned stock
Have a great weekend, all!
#OptionsExpiration for 4/15 Expiring: $AAPL…
#OptionsExpiration for 4/15
Expiring:
$AAPL 04/15/2016 90 puts
$APA 04/15/2016 57.50 calls (covered)
$CRI 04/15/2016 95.00 puts
$EOG 04/15/2016 55.00 puts
$KOLD 04/15/2016 300.00 calls
$LNKD 04/15/2016 125.00 calls
$NFLX 04/15/2016 115.00 calls
$NUGT 04/15/2016 90.00 calls
$NUGT 04/15/2016 38.00 puts
$SHAK 04/15/2016 32.50 puts
$TSLA 04/15/2016 227.50 puts
$WYNN 04/15/2016 87.50 puts
$X 04/15/2016 9.00 puts
No assignments this week.
#OptionExpiration #Monthys #Apr15 – a…
#OptionsExpiration #Monthys #Apr15 – a big expiration today
— Expirations —
APC April 15 2016 52.5 Calls
APC Apr 15 2016 53 Calls
BOIL Apr 15 2016 12 Calls (Covered)
CHK Apr 15 2016 6 Puts
CHK Apr 15 2016 7 Calls (Covered)
CMG Apr 15 2016 395 Puts
CNX Apr 15 2016 14 Calls (Covered)
CNX April 15 2016 15 Calls (Covered)
CNX April 15 2016 7 Puts
DUST Apr 15 2016 8 Calls (Covered)
ESV April 15 2016 13 Calls (Covered)
HAL Apr 15 2016 30 Puts
KMX Apr 15 2016 42.5 Puts
NUGT Apr 15 2016 30 Puts
NUGT Apr 15 2016 40 Puts
NUGT Apr 15 2016 85 Calls
NUGT Apr 15 2016 88 Calls
RRC Apr 15 2016 38 Calls
SDRL Apr 15 2016 6 Puts
SVXY Apr 15 2016 38 Puts
SVXY Apr 15 2016 39 Puts
SVXY Apr 15 2016 40 Puts
SVXY Apr 15 2016 53 Calls (Covered)
SVXY Apr 15 2016 54 Calls (Covered)
SVXY Apr 15 2016 55 Calls (Covered)
UA(ns) Apr 15 2016 65 Puts
UVXY Apr 15 2016 21.5 Calls (Covered)
UVXY Apr 15 2016 28 Calls (Covered)
UVXY Apr 15 2016 30 Calls
X Apr 15 2016 8 Puts
XOP Apr 15 2016 33 Calls (Covered)
— Assignments —
DUST Apr 15 2016 3 Puts
UVXY Apr 15 2016 19 Puts
UVXY Apr 15 2016 20 Puts
VALE Apr 15 2016 5 Calls (Covered)
WDC Apr 15 2016 50 Puts
WDC Apr 15 2016 55 Puts
OptionsExpiration
$SVXY $42.5 puts
$UVXY $40 calls
$NUGT $40 puts
$NUGT $62 puts
$NUGT $100 calls
$NUGT $105 calls
Not a big list, but a lot of buying power being freed up this week. Had quite a few $NUGT $100 and $105 calls.
Have a great weekend.
$SVXY #CoveredCalls #Rollup #OptionLadder -…
$SVXY #CoveredCalls #Rollup #OptionLadder – rolled some really large positions up because of the typical Friday rally in SVXY
Rolled Apr 15 2016 48.5 Calls to next weeks 49.0 Calls for a 0.40 Credit
Rolled Apr 15 2016 50 Calls to Apr 29 2016 52.0 Calls for an 0.82 Credit
Rolled Apr 15 2016 50 Calls to May 06 2016 53.0 Calls for an 0.89 Credit
Rolled Apr 15 2016 50 Calls to May 13 2016 54.0 Calls for an 0.95 Credit
DAL earnings
#Earnings Well, a bummer of an ending for this one… sold half of my position with decent profits, but the last half will be about breakeven since we collapsed today rather than the hoped for pin at 49.00. About a 70% gain on the overall trade.
Sold to close remaining 47 calls for .55. Bought as apart of the butterfly for .70.
TRADES:
$RLYP BTO STOCK 18.61
$RLYP STO 5/20/16 20.0 CALLS @2.30
$RLYP STO 5/20/16 15.0 PUTS @1.15
Have a great weekend everyone.
$SVXY CoveredCalls #Rollup – did…
$SVXY CoveredCalls #Rollup – did these to avoid assignment this week –
Bought to close SVXY Apr 15 2016 51.0 Calls @ 0.31 – originally sold for 2.17 on another roll
Sold SVXY May 06 2016 54.0 Calls @ 1.70 for half the position
Sold SVXY May 20 2016 55.0 Calls @ 2.19 for the other half
$SVXY
Rolled my April 15th 51 covered calls out and up to April 29th 53 for a 1.30 credit.
Closing CMG
Bought to close $CMG Apr 22 420 put @ .30, taking 90% of the available profit and not risking another swoon next week. Sold for 3.00 on 4/6.
I’m now out of this stock for the first time in a while. It’s been fun (and a bit a nerve-rattling) selling premium throughout all the volatility. The worst of it may be behind Chipotle but we’ll see what earnings brings in a couple of weeks.
NUGT rolls
#ContangoETFs #StrangleRoll
BTC NUGT Apr 15th 75 calls for 2.975 and 75 call for 6.00
STO NUGT May 13th 55 puts for 2.50, 45 put for .95, and 120 calls for 2.05 (enough quantity to gain a small credit for the rolls)
$AAPL #CoveredCalls #Rollup – Bought…
$AAPL #CoveredCalls #Rollup – Bought to close Apr 15 2016 112 Calls @ 0.01
Replaced them with AAPL Apr 22 2016 113 Calls @ 0.37.
These expire in a week with the strike price above the recent peak in the stock.
$MRO #ShortCalls #Rollup – Bought…
$MRO #ShortCalls #Rollup – Bought to close MRO Apr 15 2016 13 Calls @ 0.05 (no commission)
Replaced them with MRO Apr 22 2016 14 Calls @ 0.18. These expire in a week with the strike price above the recent peak in the stock.
Closing position in NOW
I’ve decided to close my rolled/adjusted position in $NOW instead of doing another roll. My adjustments brought me to a pairing of Apr 15 55 calls and Apr 22 55 puts. When I did the roll the estimated earnings date was 4/27. Since then, it has gotten confirmed as 4/20. My plan to let the premium bleed into expiration won’t happen that way so instead of trying to get cute and do another roll I’ve decided to just take the loss that’s left (around 2.00/contract) and move on. The risk isn’t worth it (I’ll consider a separate earnings trade next week if the premiums are enticing enough).
The original trade was an earnings trade from January when I booked an 8.28 loss. So I’m happy to recover more than 75% of it.
SPX IC closed
BTC Apr 22 2130/2120/1960/1950 IC for 0.50. Originally sold for 1.10.
Staying with my discipline of closing these at around 50% max profit.
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