#shortputs KR
Sold April 20, 22 put for .54, big down day after earnings, trying for Oct. fuzzy on the largest grocery store chain
Monthly Archives: March 2018
#earnings #ironcondor OST Closed yesterday’s…
#earnings #ironcondor COST
Closed yesterday’s March 16 earnings IC for about .50, sold for about 1.50,(for 2) the way it is supposed to, and always should work. Thanks Jeff
Taking some more profits/reducing some risk
Bought to close:
$WHR Apr 20 120 puts @ .19. Sold for 1.50 on 10/24.
$WDAY Jun 15 70 put @ .20. Sold for 1.65 on 11/29
$WBA Jun 15 55 puts @ .35. Sold for 1.32 on 10/13.
$UHS Apr 20 80 puts @ .05. Sold for 1.40 and 1.90 on 10/13 and 11/10.
$TAP Apr 20 70 puts @ .20. Sold for 1.65 on 9/29.
$HSIC Apr 20 60 puts @ .49. Sold for 1.70, 1.95 and 2.35 from 11/10-11/20.
Edit:
Bought to close $CELG Apr 20 75 puts @ .25. Sold for 1.55 on 10/26.
WDC–Taking some profits
Bought to close:
$WDC Apr 20 60 put @ .04. Sold for 1.35 on 12/4.
$WDC Apr 20 65 put @ .07. Sold for 1.75 on 11/30.
$WDC Jul 20 55 puts @ .26. Sold for 1.30-1.60 from 11/30-12/4.
JPM
#SyntheticStock – Earlier BTO JPM Jan’19 +115calls/-115puts/+110puts for 6.70. Leaving unhedged for now.
WMT adding
Selling an additional contract at a higher premium to add to my Sep position.
Sold $WMT 9/21 75 put @ 1.60.
$FFIV Apr puts
Big move down today. Sold $FFIV Apr 20 130 puts @ 1.20 with the stock at 144.82. Delta is 14. Earnings not expected until after April expiration.
CI #FallingKnife Sold $CI Oct…
CI #FallingKnife
Sold $CI Oct 19 140 put @ 3.00
XOM
#SyntheticStock – Core is out in Jan 2020…
Bought to Close XOM MAR 9 2018 76.0 Calls @ .03 (sold for .54)
Sold XOM MAR 16 2018 75.5 Calls @ .36
ADSK
#SyntheticStock – As usual I pick a stock that goes to the moon but is hedged with a short weekly. 😦 😦
Trading this similar to the strategy I’ve used with my AMZN position…rolling everything up including the core to set up easier rolling of the front month calls in the future. In this case, I’m rolling the core up to the breakout level which might provide some support on a pullback.
Rolled Jan 2019 115/115/110 synthetic up to 120/120/115 @ 3.50 credit
Rolled MAR 9 2018 115.0 Calls to APR 20 2018 120.0 Calls @ 3.30 debit
Basically moving everything up 5 points for a .20 credit. Hopefully a little pullback of some sort in the next month to allow a decent roll of the weekly next time.
SPX Campaign Closed Early / Short Puts FB / Short Calls DVN
#spxcampaign
Closed Early
BTC 3/16 2375/2400 BUPS at .05 STO at 1.40. Thank you @jeffcp66
#shortputs
$FB STO 4/20 170/175 BUPS at 1.10
#shortcalls
$DVN STO 3/9 31.50 calls at .55 (Covered)
VXX
#BearPutSpreads – Selling against my Jan 2019 50/30 Bear Put Spreads….trying to gradually cover the debit.
Sold VXX MAR 23 2018 38.0/33.0 Bull Put Spreads @ .53
TLT
#SyntheticShort – The weekly hedge against a small synthetic short I’ve been playing with…
Bought to Close TLT MAR 9 2018 117.0 Puts @ .02 (sold for .38)
Sold TLT MAR 23 2018 117.5 Puts @ .49
#pietrades First positive week since…
First positive week since the SVXY melt down Feb 5-6, 2018, so that is a good thing. I think the bleeding finally stopped, only 1 more contract I can be assigned on at any time.
If I can keep making the same amount each week (unlikely) only 33.3 weeks to get back to all time highs but about half that to get to even (cost basis). What I lost was mostly house money but it was enough to buy a real house 😦 ouch!!
LNG rolled this week 54 CC to 2 week 55 for 0.45 credit. Cost basis now 54.2 after being assigned the 55.5 put last week. Next roll down should result in a profit anywhere around 54.
Unless a major move tomorrow I expect to be called out on (hopefully there are no stupid tweets!)
FAS 66, 67, 68 CC
MAR at 138
NSC at 140
GM 42.5 put. Taking stock, can’t roll it anymore for a credit so will take it and sell CC. Missed the dividend, I think it is today.
Have finally finished taxes and full year review. Based on what won and what lost going forward my trading plan is contracting dramatically to only 4-5 trading tactics.
1. #pietrades
2. #spycraft and credit spreads with the new adjustment technique
3. #fuzzy and maybe try a few #atomicfuzzy
4. put ladders with fuzzy adjustments if they go the wrong way
5. VXX put debit spreads after volatility spikes
Everything else worked until it didn’t and either was flat but required lots of trades or worked really well until it blew up. Goal is to recover what I lost, then keep weekly income coming in, and most importantly do not lose any money again!
Hope everyone has a good close to the week, too busy tomorrow to check in.
#longput Sell VXX March 16…
Sell VXX March 16 $45 for $3.85, bought for $2.02 week ago.
UPS
#Fuzzy – Decided to close this short dated Fuzzy down with some green. Not much time left to do damage control with the threat of what could happen with tariff talk, the jobs number, and an upcoming Fed meeting. STC UPS Mar29’18 108/108/106 fuzzy and BTC UPS Mar09’18 109 calls. Figure in the commissions and the trade made 0.82 per contract. Light green is better than red! Thanks to @mortlightman for the idea!
KR July puts
On the big move down after earnings, sold $KR Jul 20 20 puts @ .65 with the stock at 23.50
#spxcampaign I’m taking another round…
#spxcampaign I’m taking another round of Dan Sheridan’s IC class. Opened a Mar 16th Monthly (Should have picked the weeklies) 28o0/2810/2635/2625 for 1.30 credit. Targeting 0.85 credit.
Rolling DVN and EXAS / SPX Campaign
#rollup
$EXAS BTC 3/9 48 call and STO 3/29 50 call for 1.20 additional credit
$DVN BTC 3/9 41 put and STO 3/23 33 call for an overall debit of $2
#spxcampaign
Closed Early
$SPX BTC 3/9 2775/2750 BECS at 2.00 STO yesterday at 4.55 Thank you @jeffcp66
SPX
#RocketManHedge – Hedge is out to May but still gradually paying for it…
Bought to Close SPX MAR 7 2018 2700.0 Put @ .05 (sold for 7.75)
Sold SPX MAR 12 2018 2700.0 Put @ 9.00
SPXL Sold Mar 16th 46…
SPXL Sold Mar 16th 46 Call at 1.15 with SPXL at 45.81
XBI
#Fuzzy – XBI tried to blast off earlier today and it pushed my Fuzzy+hedge into negative delta so I closed it down. BTC XBI Mar09’18 93 calls and STC XBI Jun15’18 91/91/88 fuzzy. Netted 1.96 per contract, trade has been on for 1 month. Looking to reload on a pullback!
XBI
#IRA – Missed one yesterday…
Bought to Close XBI MAR 16 2018 80.00 PUT @ .05 (sold for 1.68)
TSLA put spread
Sold $TSLA Apr 20 290/280 BuPS for 1.70. Short strike at 21 delta to offset my Apr 370/380 BeCS. Strikes are below the early Nov low.
KRE synthetic/Fuzzy
BTO 2020, 64 call @ 8.049
STO 2020, 64 put @ 6.744
BTO 2020, 61 put @ 5.603
STO March 16, 68 calls @ .04
The stock is breaking out and made a new high today. Higher rates should help this one.
UVXY rotation
#VXXGame BTC $UVXY March 16th 15 call for 2.90, to avoid early assignment. Sold for 1.15 on Jan 16th.
#Rolling STO UVXY Sept 30 call for 3.55.
BTC UVXY March 16th 22 calls for .37. Sold for 3.20 and 4.40 in early Feb.
BTO UVXY APRIL 20th 59 calls for .14, as long hedges against short calls. I have 10 long 91 calls rolling off on next week’s expiration, so I need to replace them.
UVXY
#BearCallSpreads – Selling a few more….
Sold UVXY MAY 18 2018 25.0/35.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .96
UVXY call spreads
Selling some more hedged UVXY calls to continue to offset/work down basis on SVXY assignments.
Sold $UVXY Apr 13 (weekly) 20/30 BeCS @ 1.22.
#earnings #fallingknife KR No trade…
#earnings #fallingknife KR
No trade yet but Kroger is down about 4% to 26.31 with earnings tomorrow. This was a falling knife Iceman trade last summer after it tanked down to 20 after earnings in June, was over 30 in January.
SPX Campaign / Short Calls
#spxcampaign
$SPX STO 3/9 2750/2775 BECS at 2.00
$SPX STO 3/9 2650/2675 BUPS at2.70 Thank you @jeffcp66
#shortcalls
$CBOE STO 3/16 122 call at .85 (Covered)
ADSK Earnings
#Earnings – Big up move so still holding call side of the 100/130 strangles….probably rolling those into new strangles.
Bought to Close ADSK MAR 9 2018 110.0 Puts @ .01
VXX
#BearPutSpreads – Closing the the short side of 38/33 Bull Put Spreads. Originally sold for .62 as basis reduction on Jan 2019 50/30 Bear Put Spreads. Basis is now 11.53 with a goal of reducing it to zero by expiration.
Bought to Close VXX MAR 9 2018 38.0 Puts @ .01 letting 33 strike long side expire.
COST earnings
#Earnings Sold $COST March 9th 180/197.5 strangles for 1.50. Biggest UP move: 3.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.0%, Average move: 2.9%. My strikes are about +/-4.6% OTM.
SPXL Picked up some this…
SPXL Picked up some this morning at 45.32 for a pseudo PIE trade. I plant to cover if this hold up.
X strangle
Borrowed an idea from TastyTrade but tweaked the strikes a bit (their trade was 40/49 when the stock was lower).
Sold $X Apr 20 40/50 strangle @ 2.85. Stock at 47.12 so this has a bit of a bearish bias resistance just above the current level.
#spxcampaign SPY version #shortputspread Sold…
#spxcampaign SPY version #shortputspread #spycraft
Sold 2 March 16 265/267 put spreads for .40 each
XOM #FallingKnife Sold $XOM Sep…
XOM #FallingKnife
Sold $XOM Sep 21 65 puts @ 1.50
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Selling puts on the morning weakness, as the Gary Cohn news is one of those things that panics investors for about an hour. However, I’m on guard… more news or data could bring us lower… or higher. As I said Monday, this feels like a chop market for the short-term.
Sold $SPX March 9th 2675/2650 put spreads for 3.55.
Sold $SPX March 16th 2650/2625 put spreads for 3.10.
Sold $SPX April 6th 2550/2525 put spreads for 1.95.
ADSK
BTC March 16, 90 put @ .05, sold @ 2.15
SPXL Bought to close my…
SPXL Bought to close my 16 Mar 43 Puts @ 0.65 with SPXL 45.50. Took them off at 50% .
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Didn’t place any $SPX trades, but this one closed on GTC order:
SPX March 15th 2500/2475 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.50 on Feb 15th.
SPX Campaign / Short Calls / Closed Early
#spxcampaign
$SPX STO 3/9/2018 2775/2750 BECS at 4.55
#shortcalls
$EXAS STO 3/9 48.50 calls at .50 (covered)
Closed Early
$NTNX BTC 3/16 35 put at .05 STO at 4.40 Thank you @honkhonk81
$SQ STC 3/16 40 call at 9.15 BTO at 2.80
CMG lightening
Bought to close $CMG Sep 21 200 put @ 2.00. Sold for 5.60 on 2/8.
Slow day
Just chop. I made no #SPXcampaign trades. I love the smell of theta decay in the afternoon.
WDC
BTC April 20, 65 put @.10, sold @ 1.70
#vxxgame #shortcalls UVXY Closed March…
#vxxgame #shortcalls UVXY
Closed March 16, 19 call for .62, after rolling from 18, made 1.80, learning from the past, had about $1800 n margin waiting for the last .62 with short and in the money 13 and 15 calls still out there.
Closing some SWKS
Taking one of the May positions off.
Bought to close $SWKS May 18 75 puts @ .20. Sold for 1.50 on 12/1.
Taking profits on ANET
Getting out for over 70% of the profit, 3 1/2 months early.
Bought to close:
$ANET Jun 15 165 put @ .60. Sold for 2.35 on 2/16.
$ANET Jun 15 200 put @ 2.30. Sold for 8.30 on 2/16 (thanks @jsd501).
Today in covered calls
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
BTC $AAPL Mar 9th 170 put for .17. Sold for 1.72 on 2/20, in response to a call being stopped.
STO $BABA Apr 13th 205 call for 2.05.
ADSK Earnings
#Earnings – I’m already in a synthetic that’s working halfway decent. Wouldn’t mind adding to it so if this earnings trade doesn’t work out I’ll roll into the synthetic.
Selling at the expected move on both sides…
Sold ADSK MAR 9 2018 110.0/130.0 Strangles @ 2.35
NVDA call spread
Sold $NVDA Apr 20 275/285 BeCS for 1.25. Short strike at 18 delta, about 14% higher than where the stock is trading (currently 241.58). Looking at resistance at 250 (highs from a couple of weeks ago).
#shortputs TRTN I had been…
#shortputs TRTN
I had been doing well with TRTN puts, until recently. Rolled March 16, 40 put to October, cost basis is 618. No weeklys and 5 point strikes.
MGM
#LongCalls – Not going synthetic on this one. Requires less margin in an #IRA to just buy the calls. Max loss is quite a bit less but it is slightly more cash up front.
Bought MGM JAN 18 2019 35.0 Calls @ 3.90
45 weeks to run so need 8.5 cents per week to cover. Stock is entering a daily squeeze and looking potentially bullish…(wild guess there…LOL)
Haven’t sold the hedge yet…order in for next week’s 35.5 strike.
KMB #FallingKnife Sold $KMB Oct…
KMB #FallingKnife
Sold $KMB Oct 19 90 puts @ 1.25.
Extending my ladder from Jul 100 puts.
VRX
#SyntheticStock – Only have a tiny bit of buying power in my Tastyworks account. Currently synthetically short UNG and adding a synthetic long on VRX now. Mainly just to get used to the platform…
Bought VRX 01/18/19 15.00/15.00/12.50 Synthetic Stock / Disaster Puts @ 2.06
Max loss 4.56 with 45 weeks to run so need a dime a week to cover.
So:
Sold VRX 03/16/18 16.00 Calls @ 0.21
SPX
BTC Apr 02 2600 short put at 13.30 this morning…sold previously on Mar 02 for 29.30..
STO Apr 02 2600 short put at 13.00, against the existing long side….
LRCX
BTC March 16, 140 put @ .05, sold @ 1.65
I am slowly covering my puts as they get close to expiration. I don’t want to be too bearish but, if interest rates continue higher, this market is vulnerable.
Rolling NFLX–shades of 2015
Not getting sucked into this move to the short side like I did in 2015. My current position is small and continues to be able to rolled for a credit so I’ll do it as long as I can.
Rolled $NFLX Apr 6 300/315 strangle up and out to Apr 13 312.50/325 for .90 credit.
This position started as short 260 calls in the 1/26 expiration. Been rolling since then. A few rolls in, I had to add puts to create a strangle, to keep being able to generate credits. Total credit accumulated on this trade is now 6.42 with my strikes out of the money again. We’ll see–April 13 is a long way off for a stock like this.
SQ
rolled my march 9 48 call #hedge into march 23 50 call for 3 cent credit
#syntheticstock
#coveredcalls MGM New Tradewise covered…
#coveredcalls MGM
New Tradewise covered call yesterday, buy 100 shares and sell the April 35 call (for .88 today), MGM hovering around 34. Other stocks in their portfolio since I started last summer, MET, CAG, INTC, LB, T, JCI, GSK, CIEN , SYMC, EXC and PFE which was called away when I couldn’t get a fill on a roll.
BIDU
#SyntheticStock – Booking this one with the run up to resistance and overall delta approaching zero…
Sold to Close BIDU JAN 17 2020 250.0/250.0/240.0 Synthetic
Bought to Close BIDU MAR 16 2018 252.5 Calls
All said and done including weekly premium sales net gain of 10.45 per spread. Would definitely re-enter on any weakness.
More thoughts on SVXY #vxxgame….
More thoughts on SVXY #vxxgame.
I closed out all the SVXY stock I was assigned on yesterday because with the new structure, I just don’t see it taking off like it used to even when back in contango. With the VIX down exactly 0.96 this morning, SVXY only up 0.07 or so. The big gains we were seeing before Feb were from years of accumulated contango. Looks like we will have some 2 sided markets for a while and that hopefully will keep the VIX higher, good for selling options as @fuzzballl pointed out yesterday.
Still reading the new Sebastain book but have already picked up a few pointers from the market maker side. Only be long volatility for short periods of time. Do not be short unhedged volatility (see SVXY and XIV implosion), buying puts on VXX long term has shown good risk adjusted returns. However, I would take that 1 step further and suggest buying VXX put spreads, especially after spikes. Looking at 17 DTE VXX put spread, buy the 45, sell the 40 costs 2.86 at current prices for 5 dollar max profit or roughly 1:1 profit to loss ratio. I don’t have the cash or margin at the moment, but will be looking to use some of these as we go forward. You could even go ITM for less risk and still come out ahead.
Rest of the week just sitting on my hands letting theta do it’s thing. Have a good week!
Closed Early SQ Calls BIDU Short Puts
Closed Early –
$SQ STC 3/16 46 call at 4.10. BTO at 5.50. Probably should have waited but this quick move up let me get out at a reasonable loss. Cannot predict future or look gift horses …
$BIDU BTC 3/16 210/220 BUPS at 82% profit on a GTC order
#spxcampaign I am curious if…
I am curious if there is a version of #SPXcampaign that does not require watching the monitor all day long?
I reviewed all posts on this site for #SPXcampaign going back to 2016 and noticed that Jeff has to do a lot of rolls and must stay on top of the action.
Going far out and down, does reduce the need to watch SPX every day, but it also produces small results.
Someone recommended going with a fewer contracts, but $50 to $100 wide, because it would be easier to manage a spread this wide.
In 2015 I was actively trading SPX spreads $20 wide and got wiped out in August.
Just trying to find something more consistent and less demanding. 🙂
Edit: I have a regular margin account, no portfolio margin.
Any suggestions?
SPX long condor
#SPXcampaign With today’s 52-point range and a fat ATR, it’s much harder to sell short-term spreads because the swings can just crush you in the last hour of the day. So, when I entered this condor with the intent of selling it, I decided to buy it instead when I saw how cheap it was.
Bought to open $SPX March 7th 2640/2665/2775/2800 #LongCondor (1st use of that hashtag) for 1.55.
#shortputs A quick question. I…
#shortputs
A quick question.
I have puts on MCD ITM – Mar 16 $155 originally sold for 0.83
Is it a good time to roll out, or out and down?
Thanks.
ERX #PIEtrades Elected to get…
ERX #PIEtrades Elected to get in this on with that base formed between 26 / 28. Sold to open Mar 9th 27.50 Put at 0.70 with ERX at 27.69. Thanks hcgdavis for the ticker.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Seems to me we may be in consolidation for awhile, chopping around. The Downside Warning was canceled, then reinstated, but the second one has NOT produced new low. So I’m going to play the swings as best I can until it stops working. Missed my chance to sell one of these at this morning’s low… had an order ready but it took off on me.
Sold $SPX March 9th 2750/2775 call spreads for 3.80.
#shortputs #coveredcalls T sold April…
#shortputs #coveredcalls T
sold April 20, 35 put for .63. I also have a Tradewise advised March, 39 covered call that I expect will be rolled any day now. stock price is 36.63
#pietrades and #vxxgame Looking at…
#pietrades and #vxxgame
Looking at the new structure of SVXY, it will take decades for it to get back to 100 (just my opinion) so rather than sitting on dead money, I closed out all my SVXY stock from 12.34-12.40 at large losses no longer just a paper loss. But that is so I can use what’s left to make some money back. It will take about 2-4 years to get back to where I was if I can avg. 50% returns, slightly less if I can do better. Unfortunately one of the disadvantages of going back to small accounts is you lose the leverage, especially on non-margin accounts so I am having to be more conservative. I still have one contract of SVXY at 50 for Jan 2019 that has not been assigned. Hopefully they will wait…..it was easy money while it lasted but I think we all have a better understanding of the risks in SVXY now!
At least I only trashed 2.5 accounts this time, in 2015 it was my main trading account so at least not as bad as then on a percentage basis. On a dollar basis it was more 😦 though.
With that in mind and some of these orders are still working but should go through.
1. FAS 68 CC this week for 67.15
2 FAS 66 CC for next week at 65.11
3. WDC 87 CC for next week for 86.09
4 LNG CC (assigned over the weekend at 55.02 cost basis) 54 CC at 0.4 cost basis now 54.65
$765 in premium for 12 days, far away from what it used to be but all of these have a little downside protection in them and should not go to zero like SVXY could. Bringing some money in every week is better than a loss or having it just sit there.
Will add some long term #fuzzy in a few weeks as they can have 100% returns on capital over a year.
Zzzzz….
Not doing much today. Enjoying the little drop in volatility and the theta decay. Weeklies rolling off in 14 tickers on Friday. Love to see them all expire! If I can roll or re-sell one more week I’ll be looking at 22 expirations next week. As long as the synthetic isn’t tanking too badly it’s tremendous weekly cash flow into the account.
Almost forgot how nice it was to have VIX up closer to 20!
FB covered call
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $FB April 6th 190 call for 1.85.
MU
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Now the other side of the puts I sold this morning:
Sold to Open $SPX Apr 6th 2840/2865 call spreads for 1.75.
Rolling NFLX again
Rolled $NFLX Mar 23 270/300 strangle up and out 1 week to Apr 6 300/315 strangle for .93 credit
Options Bistro 