Downside WARNING fired

#VIXIndicator The Bistro VIX indicator has fired a downside warning. This means there is a high probability of a correction in the coming days or weeks. The VIX has increased 25% within 2 days, hitting 18.30, which is 25% above Thursday’s close. That was the first signal. Then we crossed 18.75, which is 50% above the most recent VIX low (12.50 from April 20th). That was the second signal, and two signals equal a WARNING.

Be leery of the downside, careful with any rolls. Historically, a bigger correction usually occurs after two signals fire; it could be this week, or it could occur weeks from now. To negate this warning, we would need new highs on the S&P (above most recent high of 2120.55, set last week), or the VIX closing three consecutive days below the 78.6% Fib retracement, or 14.32 (based on VIX intraday high of 21.01).

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame – some…

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame – some sales this morning. Maybe a bit early but they are all near term.
SVXY JUN 17 2016 42.0 Puts @ 0.20
SVXY JUN 17 2016 44.5 Puts @ 0.35
SVXY JUN 24 2016 44.5 Puts @ 1.05
SVXY JUL 1 2016 44.5 Puts @ 1.45
SVXY JUL 8 2016 44.5 Puts @ 1.80

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold…

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold UVXY JUL 15 2016 32.0 Calls @ 0.72. Adding on to my position

$UVXY #CoveredCalls #VXXGame – when…

$UVXY #CoveredCalls #VXXGame – when the stock opened at 13 this morning I sold the following –
UVXY JUN 17 2016 19.0 Calls @ 0.19 – these expire Friday
UVXY JUN 24 2016 22.0 Calls @ 0.54
UVXY JUL 1 2016 25.0 Calls @ 0.70 – highest available strike price
UVXY JUL 15 2016 32.0 Calls @ 0.55 – highest available strike price
UVXY JUL 22 2016 22.0 Calls @ 1.42 – highest available strike price

UVXY calls in 7/1

#VXXGame
Sold $UVXY Jul 1 (weekly) 25 calls @ .60

Microsoft to buy LinkedIn for…

Microsoft to buy LinkedIn for $26.2 billion; LNKD shares jump 48%

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/13/microsoft-to-buy-linkedin.html

Anyone sold LNKD calls will be deeeeep ITM.

NUGT Sep

Sold $NUGT Sep 16 185 call @ 14.00
Adding to highest strike.

Jeff, You are doing a…

Jeff, You are doing a good job with this site.
GM

SPX calls sold

#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX July 14th 2175/2200 call spreads for 1.80. Trying something slightly different, selling calls at the bell on a Monday, even with market down. Premium seems to drain quickly from calls as the week progresses, so I think what I get here will be better than what I can get with SPX at 2100 later in the week. We shall see. But in any case, comfortably above all-time highs.

Bistro VIX Indicator for Monday 6/13 (always available in the right-hand column >>> )

Friday’s move in the VIX was the biggest one-day change since January 7th, but fell short of firing a warning signal.

Monday’s signal levels in the VIX that would fire a Downside Warning are 18.30 (25% above 2-day closing low), and 18.75 (50% above Apr 20 low).

Expirations June 10

$NUGT 115 Call
$NUGT 60 Put
$WYNN 93/100 BUPS
$SPX 2170/2140 BECS
$SPX 2160/2135 BECS

Closed early

$TSLA June 17 245/240 BECS @ 89% profit

No assignments this week
What will next week hold?

#OptionsExpiration for Jun 10 Only…

#OptionsExpiration for Jun 10
Only one expiration this week
$NUGT 06/10/2016 115 calls

No assignments.

Have a great weekend!

#OptionsExpiration #Jun10 #Weeklys – wild…

#OptionsExpiration #Jun10 #Weeklys – wild ride this week. No assignments. Next week’s monthly expiration is a big one.

— Expirations —
DUST (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 22 Calls (Covered)

NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 50 Puts
NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 55 Puts
NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 60 Puts
NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 72.5 Puts
NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 73 Puts
NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 74 Puts
NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 75 Puts
NUGT (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 135 Calls

SVXY (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 45 Puts
SVXY (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 65 Calls (Covered)

UVXY (Weekly) Jun 10 2016 30 Calls (Covered)

Fingernails shorter, but antiperspirant working…

Nail-biter day with the AMZN trade, sweating a bit, but breathing calmly now!
AMZN 730/725/715/707.5 IC – Sold today for 1.10 and expired worthless.
SPX 2090/2075 put spread – sold today for 1.15 and expired worthless.

Ready for a calmer weekend! Hope the same for you all.

Expiration

All I have is:

SVXY 55 put

SVXY 53 put

Options Expiration 6/10/16

#OptionsExpiration

— Expiring —
DUST 22 call
SPX 2135/2160 call spreads
SPX 2090/2070 put spreads

Have great weekend!

#OptionsExpiration All I have this…

#OptionsExpiration
All I have this week
$NUGT $155 calls

Taking some NUGT profit

Closing this one for almost full profit.
Bought to close $NUGT Jun 17 57 puts @ .07. Sold for 2.76 on 5/24.

Closing SPY scalp

Closing SPY scalp
Maybe a little piggish but it started to run toward the end of the day and with the decay in hyperdrive I hung on for some more.

Bought to close $SPY Jun 10 209.50 puts @ .02. Sold for .26 earlier.

Interesting there is 10 points…

Interesting there is 10 points difference between /ES (2083) and SPX (2093)

Never use auto-STOPS on spreads

#SPXcampaign Here’s a good example of why you should avoid automated stops on spreads, especially SPX spreads. This is a screen shot from my broker I just took. It’s the spread I sold this morning, 2090/2070. Bid is .15 and ask ia 10.45, so Mid is 5.30! If I had put a 3.00 auto-stop on it, it would have survived the whole day until a few minutes ago. Of course, the bid/ask can get wacky when it’s about to expire in 30 minutes (and also first thing in the morning, and after hours), but this kind of anomaly can happen at any time and slam you out of your spread with a horrible fill.

Screen Shot 2016-06-10 at 12.35.08 PM

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold…

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold UVXY Sep 16 2016 55.0 Calls @ 0.70 with the stock at 12.20.

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold…

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold UVXY Jul 15 2016 32.0 Calls @ 0.51 with the stock at 12.07.
Highest available strike.

SPX puts sold

#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX June 15th 2060/2035 put spreads for 1.70, with SPX at 2093. Expires Wednesday at the close. Thirty points down in three days could easily happen, so if we drop further today and/or don’t bounce Monday I will roll this.

SPX closed a June 24…

SPX closed a June 24 iron condor for 80, sold for 1.64 on May 9. 1900/1890/2160/2170. SPX isn’t going to 1900 next week-probably not but…

SPY scalp

Trying a quick premium scalp trade on the SPY. Sold $SPY 6/10 209.50 puts @ .26. Seeing if can get .10 out of it.

SPX puts

Getting close to having a roll out on today’s spread. This spread will move up in price VERY fast if we keep dropping. Be careful.

#VXXGame Joining the party Sold…

#VXXGame Joining the party
Sold $UVXY Jul 15 32 calls @ .45. Highest strike in July.

VIX soaring

Pretty big VIX increase on the day, going through 2D Bollinger bands. Looks like biggest 1-day percentage increase of the year; but still short of the 25% needed to fire the Bistro VIX Indicator… 17.60 is that level.

If only I had bought the VIX future two days ago when I posted it!

VXX game day

#VXXGame Finally some action to offset my puts that have been underwater and ITM for weeks…
Following @Iceman…
STO UVXY July 1st 25 calls for .43
STO UVXY July 8th 22 calls for .60
STO UVXY July 22nd 22 calls for 1.00

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – I…

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – I continue to add these as volatility rises.
UVXY topped out at 11.70 today (so far)

Sold UVXY JUL 1 2016 25.0 Calls @ 0.40 – highest available strike
Sold UVXY JUL 8 2016 22.0 Calls @ 0.58 – highest available strike
Sold UVXY JUL 15 2016 24.0 Calls @ 0.63
Sold UVXY JUL 22 2016 22.0 Calls @ 0.95 – highest available strike

and finally … Sold UVXY Sep 16 2016 55.0 Calls @ 0.60

$NUGT #ShortStrangle – Sold 1…

$NUGT #ShortStrangles – Sold 1 NUGT Jun 24 2016 70/150 Strangle @ 3.60.
Also covered this week’s 117 calls @ 0.05, just in case.

Fuzzy out…for awhile

Pretty much trimmed my positions back to minimal…some covered calls on a few stocks, a little SPX, and a few NUGT strangles. Gonna be in Nassau all next week (my daughter’s Dean’s list reward…LOL). Not sure how the wifi is there and how much time I’ll have to watch the market. I’m guessing it’ll be a crazy week with the FOMC, Grexit, and triple witching so good luck everyone and stay small!

Now…where is that little umbrella for my drink???

SVXY

STO September 35 puts @1.45 starting small but will add on a big decline.

NUGT

STO June 24, 70 put @1.25

STO July 1, 60 put @0.85

SVXY, BTC June 17, 55 put @.85 sold @1.05 yesterday. Getting to close for comfort. I am getting nervous about this market.

$NUGT

STO Jul 1 $65/$160 Strangle @ $4.70

$NUGT need to react to…

$NUGT need to react to falling price ($115 to $105). Roll Jun 10 115 c to Jun 17 $110 for $7cr. Considering selling put to free stock for sale in IRA. Care to share your opinion?

$SVXY

Sold 1 June 24th 50 Put @ 1.05 when $SVXY was at 60.21.  Wary of this market.  Time for lunch and back to sitting on my hands.  Helps the diet too.  Ha!

$PANW I sold an iron…

$PANW I sold an iron condor for earnings that included a 170/175 BeCS. After earnings I closed the short 170, kept the 175, and have been selling long calls as PANW has dropped, closing them along the way. Today I sold a June 17, 140 for .35, PANW is at 132. I should have kept the 145 I sold on the 7th and bought yesterday, but I’m trying to be disciplined and close at 50-60% gain.

$NUGT #ShortPuts – Sold NUGT…

$NUGT #ShortPuts – Sold NUGT JUN 17 2016 82.0 Puts @ 1.05 replacing similar positions expiring today.
One week until expiration

$NUGT #ShortCalls – Bought to…

$NUGT #ShortCalls – Bought to close NUGT JUN 10 2016 110.0 Calls @ 1.10 to make a small profit.
A bit of patience today paid off.

Finally able to sell some NUGT puts

Sold $NUGT Jul 1 70 puts @ 2.00. Offsets many short call positions so no margin requirement.

Closing GS BePS

STC GS 150/160 BePS for $6.10 Bought it for $4.15 on Tue. 🙂
STC MA Calls for $0.88; had bought it for $1.90 yesterday….:-(

$AMZN same day IC

STO AMZN Jun 10 730/725/715/707.5 unbalanced iron condor for 1.10.
AMZN seems to be stabilizing around 717-718. I’ll be watching closely, but seems profitable for the day

SPX Chart…

For those of you trading the SPX. Jun 10 2016 SPX

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame #OptionLadder -…

$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame #OptionLadder – sold a whole bunch of calls against existing long stock
UVXY JUN 24 2016 22.0 Calls @ 0.28
UVXY JUL 8 2016 22.0 Calls @ 0.39
UVXY JUL 15 2016 24.0 Calls @ 0.49
UVXY JUL 22 2016 22.0 CallS @ 0.66
UVXY SEP 16 2016 45.0 Calls @ 0.69
UVXY SEP 16 2016 50.0 Calls @ 0.61

$NUGT

Wish there were higher strikes in the $NUGT calls in the coming weeks.

$SVXY

STO Jul 1 $45 puts @ $0.80
STO Jul 8 $45 puts @ $1.05

SVXY

STO September 36 put @1.55

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame – selling…

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame – selling puts at strike prices up to 25% below the current price
Sold 1 SVXY Sep 16 2016 39.0 Put @ 2.05
Sold 1 SVXY Sep 16 2016 40.0 Put @ 2.20
Initial positions at these strikes.

Same day put spread

#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX June 10th 2090/2070 put spreads for 1.35, with SPX at 2098

$ETE

Bought stock @ 13.62
STO 6/17 13.50 Puts @ .45
STO 7/15 12.50 Puts @ 1.00

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame #OptionLadder –…

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame #OptionLadder – adding to my positions
No margin cost because of a excess of short calls on this stock.
SVXY JUL 1 2016 45.0 Puts @ 0.60
SVXY JUL 15 2016 46.0 Puts @ 1.10

TRADES:

$ETE STO 6/17/16 13.50 PUTS @.45
$ETE STO 6/24/16 13.0 PUTS @60

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame #OptionLadder -…

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame #OptionLadder – another account with an #OptionLadder in SVXY.

No margin cost because of a excess of short calls on this stock.

SVXY JUN 17 2016 53.0 Puts @ 0.40
SVXY JUN 24 2016 48.0 Puts @ 0.50
SVXY JUL 1 2016 45.0 Puts @ 0.50
SVXY JUL 15 2016 46.0 Puts @ 1.05

$UVXY #CoveredCalls #ShortCalls #VXXGame #OptionLadder…

$UVXY #CoveredCalls #ShortCalls #VXXGame #OptionLadder – setting up some short calls for the next 5 weeks with strike prices over 100% out of the money.

As the near week options expire, the later week options become covered. Very inexpensive short positions to carry on margin.

UVXY JUN 17 2016 20.0 Calls @ 0.07
UVXY JUN 24 2016 21.0 Calls @ 0.16
UVXY JUL 1 2016 21.0 Calls @ 0.29
UVXY JUL 8 2016 22.0 Calls @ 0.32
UVXY JUL 15 2016 23.0 Calls @ 0.42

SPX calls stopped

#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX June 16th 2135/2160 call spreads for 2.40. Sold as part of an iron condor for 3.30 on May 25th.

SPX got within 20 points, so need to stick to my rules and close this. Escaping with profit (assuming 1940/1915 puts will expire), so good for now, although I will likely replace it if we push back toward 2120.

Closing PANW

I’m closing the Jun 133/140 strangle I rolled to from the May 27 135 puts (earnings trade) gone bad.
Bought to close Jun 17 133/140 strangles @ 2.70. Sold for 7.10 on 5/27.
Overall profit (including rollout): 1.29

SVXY

STO June 24, 50 puts @0.65

STO July 15, 47 puts @1.15

DIS July 2016 93.50 Put…

DIS July 22 93.50 P 93.50 Put sold for $1.10 when Disney @97.25

Our old friend KOLD

Has gotten hammered in the rebound in nat gas, now at 125. I still have some in the money call positions that have been rolled several times (now in August) at 120, 115 and 110. Considering the carrying cost and the time left, if I can close any of them at an overall profit I’ll be doing that. Have some bids in but it’s a crapshoot with the wide spreads.

SVXY

STO July 15, 50 put @1.55

More SPX puts sold

#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX July 1st 1990/1965 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2109.

Two Squeeze Plays; FB and MA

FB is on a squeeze on almost every time frame chart. It seems to want to come down, so I bought a BW Put BF for next week expiration 113/115/119 for $1.16; that is my max risk $116 pp. This trade will make money as long as FB finishes below the 117.87 BEP. Mort gave me the idea and I went with it.
Now MA looks like it wants to move higher since the squeezes in the 39 min and 78 min charts have all fire to the long side. So I bought some Calls; BTO Jun/24 MA 96.5 Call for $1.90.

SVXY

Getting back into the game. STO:

June 24, 52 puts @0.80

July 1, 51 puts @1.05

July 8, 50 puts @1.15

$SVXY #ShortPuts #OptionLadder – I…

$SVXY #ShortPuts #OptionLadder – I sold the following this morning
SVXY JUN 24 2016 52.0 Puts @ 0.75
SVXY JUL 1 2016 51.0 Puts @ 1.05
SVXY JUL 8 2016 50.0 Puts @ 1.10

SPX puts sold

#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX July 8th 1975/1950 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2109.

$NUGT

Drag. Yesterday, $GDX went above the 5/2 high. $NUGT topped out $10 below it’s 5/2 high.

$NUGT

I was at an all day offsite yesterday so away from the market. Had a GTC order get filled.

STO $NUGT Jun 24 $160 call @ $2.10

$CF #CoveredCalls – Sold CF…

$CF #CoveredCalls – Sold CF Jun 24 2016 35.0 Calls @ 0.26. I’m long some stock plus short some long term puts.

SPX Wednesday expiration.

SPX Jun 8 2130/2125/2090/2085 IC that I sold on Monday for 1.00, expired worthless. 100% profit.

$DUST #ShortCalls – covered a…

$DUST #ShortCalls – covered a couple of positions early at minimum value –
Bought to close DUST Jun 24 2016 22.0 Calls @ 0.05
Bought to close DUST Jul 15 2016 33.0 Calls @ 0.05
No commission on either trade.

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame – Sold…

$SVXY #ShortPuts #VXXGame – Sold SVXY Jul 15 2016 49.0 Puts @ 1.15

$SVXY #CoveredCalls #VXXGame #Rollup –…

$SVXY #CoveredCalls #VXXGame #Rollup – More rolls for this week’s #ITM positions.

Bought to close SVXY June 10 2016 60.0 Calls / Sold to Open SVXY Jul 15 2016 64.0 Calls at a 0.70 Credit
Bought to close SVXY June 10 2016 62.0 Calls / Sold to Open SVXY Jul 01 2016 66.0 Calls at a 0.40 Credit

I only have this week’s strike 65 calls left to cover but I may take assignment if the stock ends up above 65 on Friday.

NUGT ITM rolls

I was assigned early on these so I’m buying them in and sold calls to replace the assigned contracts. I sold the options first, before buying the stock back (when NUGT was 109), and then got a bit of a lucky break as NUGT started to weaken. I waited as the stock went down and got out at 106.78. But I’ll take whatever good news I can get when rolling ITM losses like this.

Assigned on June 45 and 48 calls.
Bought the stock to cover at 106.78.

To recapture from assignment of 45 call: 61.78 (106.78-45.00)
Sold $NUGT Aug 19 45 call @ 65.00
Credit: 3.22

To recapture from assignment of 48 calls: 58.75 (106.78-48.00)
Sold $NUGT Sep 16 48 calls @ 63.70
Credit: 4.95