#Earnings Tough to make a call for earnings. It’s breaking more support this morning. It’s biggest recent drop on earnings is only -5.6%, and it has a positive bias after earnings. Even a good earnings report (which is likely) may just be another excuse to sell. I’m probably staying away, although might sell calls if we get a late day rally.
Monthly Archives: April 2018
SPX puts sold
#SPXcamaign Making a bet that the low is in… change my mind if we get down to 2600…
Sold $SPX May 4th 2625/2600 put spreads for 10.00.
WYNN Earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles – Don’t trust this market so took this off right at the open.
Bought to Close WYNN APR 27 2018 182.5/205.0 Strangles @ 1.89 (sold for 3.20)
WYNN Earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles – Haven’t been in this one in awhile….
Sold WYNN APR 27 2018 182.5/205.0 Strangles @ 3.20
SPX long again
#SPXcampaign Bought $SPX May 18th 2770/2790 call spreads for .90. Got these a little early in today’s drop, but it is the same position I’ve turned around twice by selling on the highs.
URI
#ShortPuts #IRA – This one was pretty stress free on the last dip. Going in again here…
Sold URI JAN 18 2019 110.0 Put @ 3.50
Sold URI JAN 18 2019 100.0 Put @ 2.30
TQQQ
#LongCalls #LEAPS – Forgot I had this order in. When it filled I started looking at booking the nice gain on my short 250 LEAP. Did all that and selling another this week going for the double dip. Will roll the LEAP trade into my long LEAP basis and look to sell it again on the next rally.
Bought to Close TQQQ APR 27 2018 155.0 Calls @ .20 (sold for 3.20)
Sold TQQQ APR 27 2018 144.0 Calls @ 1.25
And the LEAP:
Bought to Close TQQQ JAN 17 2020 250.0 Calls @ 10.80 (sold for 16.10)
Still playing the game
But the rules have changed so I’m sticking with the strategy post-VIXpocalyse in early Feb. I still like selling UVXY calls but they will almost always be hedged now (call spread) which is going to necessitate them being closer to the money. With UVXY’s wings being clipped as well I’m a bit more comfortable with the 22 short strike. If volatility comes in at all over the next couple of weeks I will try to take this off.
Sold $UVXY Jun 15 22/27 bear call spread @ .54.
KMB
STO July 90 puts @1.05
#earnings #ironbutterfly FB Trying to…
Trying to selll a May 18, 155/160/160/165 iron fly (iron condor with the same short strikes) for 4.45. Maybe with all of FB controversy not much happens, if it does, I have a few weeks to stop, drop and roll, risking $55.
XBI
#Fuzzy – BTC XBI Apr27’18 92 calls for 0.06, sold for 0.47. STO XBI May04’18 90 calls for 0.62.
#fallingknife #shortputs SKX SKX finally…
#fallingknife #shortputs SKX
SKX finally has leveled off. Sold July 28 put for 1.73, I still have a May 18, 37 put from earnings strangle that I’m willing to bet will be rolled to July and beyond eventually.
SPX stop and roll
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX May 17th 2535/2510 put spreads for 3.10. Sold Friday for 1.60.
#CondorRoll Increased position size and sold May 18th 2440/2465/2780/2805 condors for 2.20.
The roll leans bullish, with higher premium on the put side, since we are at the bottom of the consolidation range.
#ironcondor ADBE Tastytrade follow, June…
#ironcondor ADBE
Tastytrade follow, June 18, 180/190/240/250 for 2.67
SHW Sep put
Throwing one out there at 15 delta in Sep. I may add if the stock keeps moving down.
Sold $SHW Sep 21 320 put @ 5.10.
TQQQ
I see the neck line around 130 which is also near the 200day MA. If it does not bounce there this market are in trouble.
Closing CAT
I wasn’t hoping to close this for another week or two but I got a bit lucky on this trade I put on this morning. It doesn’t happen like this very often, unfortunately.
Bought to close $CAT May 18 165/175 BeCS for .30. Sold near the open today for 1.35.
BABA 2019 Fuzzy
BTC April 27, 215 calls @.01
STO May 4, 192.5 calls @.68 cents
BIIB ladder
Taking advantage of still elevated volatility (IV rank 53) after earnings to sell a put ladder and either take assignment long term or keep the premium. Sold:
$BIIB May 18 240 puts @ 1.60 (delta 14)
$BIIB Jun 15 235 puts @ 2.50 (delta 16)
$BIIB Jul 20 220 puts @ 2.10 (delta 11)
#pietrades Did not have time…
Did not have time to post yesterday, work is cutting into my trading profits 😦 but not ready to go full time trader yet.
Anyway, yesterday FAS CC at 65 strike across several accounts. Cost basis 62.47, 56.84, and 59.06 after several weeks of rolling. Nice profits on all if assigned.
Today STO EXPE 104 puts for 3 DTE at 1.70. Earnings on 4/26 but good support at 104 after last drop. CB 102.3 if assigned.
Sitting on my hands rest of the week to let theta work. Will either have a bunch more on Friday or Monday.
Trade smart!
MU
#Fuzzy – BTC MU Apr27’18 54 calls for 0.03, sold for 0.43. STO MU May04’18 51 calls for 0.51.
EWW
#SyntheticStock – BTC EWW Apr27’18 53 calls for 0.03, sold for 0.15. STO EWW May04’18 52 calls for 0.37.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 25th 2500/2475 put spreads for 1.70.
SPY STO May 11 255/252.50…
SPY STO May 11 255/252.50 BuPS .20 cr
MU close #Fuzzy after a…
MU close #Fuzzy after a few diff moves finally exited with 148.75 profit
OLED
#SyntheticStock – An old “earnings gone bad” repair trade that might actually turn into a nice winner…needs 99 cents per week. This week’s 100s look pretty safe so selling next week now. Earnings on May 3rd so keeping it well out of the money for now. I may adjust this prior to the announcement.
Sold OLED MAY 4 2018 105.0 Calls @ 1.55
Adding to GUSH
In the freshly minted December series, at the highest strike.
Sold $GUSH Dec 21 46 call @ 4.00.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 25th 2795/2820 call spreads for 1.65.
Closed on GTC orders:
Yesterday: May 11th 2825/2850 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.75 on Apr 10th.
Today: May 11th 2400/2375 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.75 on Apr 9th.
TQQQ call sold
#LongLEAPs #SyntheticStock #SyntheticCoveredCall
Sold $TQQQ May 11th 165 call for 1.70. Against my long Jan 2020 150 call.
CAT calls
Fading the post-earnings move. Sold $CAT May 18 165/175 BeCS for 1.35.
TQQQ
I am not the best chart reader in the world but the QQQ and TQQQ look like it is forming a head and shoulder pattern. It that is the case and it breaks the neck line, I see a move down to about 70 on the TQQQ. The stochastics are turning down and the RSI is under 50 so, even though we may rally this morning I would be careful.
#shortputs Afternoon. Sold a few…
#shortputs Afternoon. Sold a few positions earlier today.
QQQ April 27th 165 Call at 0.80 when QQQ was at162.57. Right before the morning spike.
MU April 27th 52 Call at 0.52 when MU was at 50.00
FAS April 27th 65 Put at 1.35 when FAS was at 65.22
OIH April 27th 27 Put at .51 when OIH was at 26.80
MU
STO Calendar May 11 51 call & Apr 27 51 1.47-.55 = .92
NFLX
STO May 11 BePS 300/297.50 2x 1@ .30 & .39 #Bitty
Pivoting on NFLX
Closing the call spread for around 65% of the max profit and flipping it to a put spread to try to catch premium on the other side.
Bought to close $NFLX May 18 365/375 BeCS @ .52 (sold for 1.43 on 4/17)
Sold to open $NFLX May 18 295/285 BuPS @ 1.20 with the stock at 319.82.
Hope I’m not getting too cute here.
Taking off this week’s FB short puts
Closing for a profit while I still can, with earnings on Wednesday.
Bought to close:
$FB Apr 27 150 puts @ .60 (sold for 2.40 on 3/21)
$FB APr 27 155 puts @ 1.34 (sold for 1.60 on 3/19)
CELG
#SyntheticStock – I’ve covered the initial debit but not the max loss on this one. Converting to straight long calls which reduces the amount of max loss that’s needed to be recovered by 65 cents. With this thing winding down in July every little bit helps. Got a chance to be profitable in spite of the stock being nearly 16 dollars below the core synthetic.
Bought to Close CELG JUL 20 2018 105.0/100.0 Bull Put Spreads @ 4.35
Market
This is boring. I am going to the gym and I expect the market to be down when I return. Please don’t disappoint me.
Adding some SWKS
Adding November to my ladder (currently short 70 puts in May and Aug).
Sold $SWKS 11/16 60 puts @ 1.25.
DG PYPL
#LongCalls #LEAPS #SyntheticStock -I posted on this subject down below in response to a question and felt it was worth throwing out there again up here at the top. Like to run it by you guys and gals to see if I’m missing anything.
After looking closely over the weekend at my synthetic conversions to just straight long calls or long puts, I’m still happy with those. What I’m having a change of heart on is the selling of the upside of the LEAPS. After looking at the loss of long deltas in the conversion (closing the BuPS to leave just long calls) it just looks like the extra sale against the upside LEAP position gets the entire position way to short. I think there’s plenty to be made with just the basic weekly sales without adding the risk of turning it into a loser on a big rally.
I’m leaving TQQQ as is but closing the others that I had sold that were quite a bit tighter. Just not worth the risk….
Bought to Close DG JAN 18 2019 115.0 Calls @ 2.75 (sold for 2.75)
Bought to Close PYPL JAN 18 2019 100.0 Calls @ 2.08 (sold for 1.93) I’ll take that small loss out of the last weekly sale…
OLED
I was assigned at 97.5 cost basis so sold the May 4, 96.5 covered calls @4.60
CELG
#CoveredCalls #IRA – Assigned some shares at a 95.65 basis. Looking to unload them for any profit.
Sold CELG MAY 18 2018 95.0 Calls @ 1.42
TQQQ
#ShortPuts #IRA – Taking a little off the table…
Bought to Close TQQQ MAY 18 2018 80.0 Put @ .12 (sold for 2.00)
#shortputspread NFLX Sold a couple…
#shortputspread NFLX
Sold a couple May 18, 295/300 spreads at .70.
TQQQ bearish trade
BTO January 2019 150 puts @28.10
STO April 27, 145 puts @3.40
I need .98 cents per week to cover the cost of this trade. I think that with interest rates going up, this should be a good trade to offset my bullish trade on the TQQQ.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX May 14th 2675/2650 put spreads for 9.30. Sold Friday for 10.25. Since we did NOT start the week with a nice bounce, I’m exiting this with plans to enter something similar later, perhaps today. Since this is a trade I’ve rolled three times, each time bleeding more, I’m getting out iwht a small profit this time.
Also, in pre-market, closed on GTC order: SPX Apr 27th 2750/2775 call spreads for .30. Sold for 2.35 on April 6th.
VIX
From DK playbook
BTO/STO Jun 20 19/25 BuCS calls 15/12 BuPS Puts .02 Cr.
Econ Calendar for week of 4/23/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
NOTE: There may be errors…
NOTE: There may be errors and omissions in this list. Please perform your own due diligence and confirm the earnings date BEFORE entering a trade.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Notable Earnings AM Mon:
ALK, FE, HAL, HAS, KMB, ONB, PHG, TCF
Notable Earnings PM Mon:
ABX, ACC, AMP, AMTD, BRO, CBI, CDNS, CNI, GOOG, HLX, OI, SANM, SLM, TVTY, WHR, ZION
Notable Earnings AM Tues:
ATI, BIIB, BPOP, CAT, CIT, CNC, EDU, FCF, FCX, FITB, FNB, GLW, GPK, HBAN, HOG, JBLU, KO, LLY, LMT, LPT, MAS, MDR, MMM, NEE, PCAR, PHM, PII, QSR, R, SAP, SC, SHW, SLCA, SNV, ST, TECK, TRV, UTX, VZ, WAB
Notable Earnings PM Tues:
AMGN, BXMT, BXP, CB, COF, CREE, CSL, EEFT, EQR, EW, FR, HA, HIW, ILMN, IPHI, IRBT, MANH, MKSI, NAVI, PKG, RHI, SIX, SPN, STL, SVU, TER, TSS, TXN, WRI, WYNN
Notable Earnings AM Wed:
ANTM, AOS, APH, AVY, AXTA, BA, BKU, BSX, BTU, CHKP, CMCSA, CVE, DPS, DTE, ETR, EVR, FLIR, GD, GLPI, GRA, GT, HES, IR, LH, MDCO, NDAQ, NOC, NSC, OC, QNST, RES, ROK, ROL, SRE, STM, TEL, TMO, TPH, TROW, TRVG, TUP, TWTR, USG, VIAB, YNDX
Notable Earnings PM Wed:
AFL, ALGN, AMD, AMGP, AR, AVB, AXS, BMRN, CAKE, CDE, CMG, CNO, CTXS, DRE, EBAY, ESRT, ESV, F, FB, FFIV, GG, GGG, KBR, KEX, KNX, KRG, LM, LVS, MEOH, NOW, OII, OIS, ORLY, PSA, PYPL, QCOM, QEP, RJF, ROIC, RRC, SCI, SEIC, T, TRN, UCTT, UDR, UHS, V, VAR, WRE, XLNX
Notable Earnings AM Thurs:
AAL, AAN, ABBV, AEP, ALKS, ALLE, ALLY, ALXN, APD, AVT, BAX, BC, BEN, BLMN, BMS, BMY, BWA, CCE, CDK, CME, CMS, COP, CRI, CSTM, DHI, DNKN, DPZ, ENTG, EQT, FAF, FCAU, GEO, GM, HLT, HP, HSY, IP, IRDM, IRM, ITW, IVZ, KIM, KKR, LAZ, LEA, LKQ, LUV, MDP, MGM, MGP, MMC, MO, NEM, NLSN, NS, NVCR, ODFL, ORI, OSK, PENN, PEP, PH, PTEN, PX, RCL, RDN, RDS.A, RTN, SAVE, SCG, SHPG, SNDR, SPB, SPGI, TAL, TSCO, TWX, UNP, UPS, VLO, VLY, XEL, ZBH
Notable Earnings PM Thurs:
AEM, AMKR, AMZN, BIDU, BOFI, BYD, CHGG, CUBE, CVA, CXP, CY, DFS, DLR, EHC, ELLI, ELY, EMN, EXAS, EXPE, FBHS, FII, FLEX, FSLR, FTV, HIG, INT, INTC, ISBC, KLAC, KN, LEG, MAT, MHK, MSFT, MXIM, NATI, NOV, NR, NUS, OFC, PEB, PFG, PFPT, RMD, SBUX, SGEN, SIVB, STAY, SYK, TCO, TNDM, TS, VRSN, VRTX, WDC, X
Notable Earnings AM Fri:
ALV, BANC, CCJ, CHTR, CL, CNHI, COG, COL, CVX, D, DM, DOV, ERJ, HMC, IPG, LYB, MCO, POR, PSX, SNY, SPG, TEN, TRP, VTR, WETF, WRK, WY, XOM
Notable Earnings PM Fri:
None
Expirations
Only a few.
WBA 60 puts
ALK 55 puts
STZ 200puts
EXAS 40 puts
CELG 97 covered calls
OLED 100 puts assigned
Long Calls URI / SPX Campaign / Short Puts / Rolling / Expiration
#longcalls
$URI BTO 9/21 165/180 BUCS for 7.00
#spxcampaign
$SPX STO 5/18 2510/2535 BUPS at 1.70 Thank you @jeffcp66
$SPX STO 4/25 2665/2690 BUPS at 4.60 Thank you @jeffcp66 Better luck this time.
#shortputs
$SKX STO 4/27 31 put at 1.00 Thank you @honkhonk81 Falling Shoe Trade
$URI STO 5/4/2018 160/165 BUPS at 1.40
#rolling
$SCHN BTC 4/20 36 put and STO 5/18 36 put at .30 added credit
$MZOR BTC 4/20 70 put and STO 5/18 70 put for added .70 credit
#optionsexpiration
$NFLX 340/335 BECS
$SPX 2795/2770 BECS Thank you @jeffcp66
$TSLA 305/300 BECS more than offset by
$TSLA 295/300 BUPS Missed the tail on the donkey with pinning! ;-}
$FB 170/175 BUPS Total Loss
$NKTR 90/100 Total Loss
$FB 135/145 BUPS
$NFLX 275/280 BUPS
$NFLX 260/270 BUPS
$SPX 2665/2690 BUPS Big Loss but not Total but still BIG OUCH! Will I ever learn?
$CAT 125/135 BUPS
$AMZN 1360/1390 BUPS
$GOOGL 1030/1035 BUPS
$FB 140/150 BUPS
$ALGN 230/240 BUPS
$WHR 120 put Thank you @ramie77
$SIG 35 put Thank you @optioniceman
$TWTR 31 put
$MSFT 92.5 put
$RIG 10 put
Options Expiration for Apr 20
Expiring:
$AMZN 1450/1400 BuPS
$AMZN 1360/1370/1620/1630 IC
$APA 32.50 puts
$BA 310/320/345/355 IC
$BA 310/300 BuPS
$CAT 140/130 BuPS
$DUST 35 calls
$FB 162.50/152.50 BuPS
$HSIC 62.50 puts
$KOLD 55 calls
$MA 120 puts
$NFLX 260 puts
$OLED 90 puts
$QQQ 155 puts
$QQQ 156 puts
$REGN 300 puts
$SPY 263/251 BuPS
$TSLA 325/335 BeCS
$TSLA 327.50/342.50 BeCS
$UVXY 20/30 BeCS
Expiring for full loss. Will look to re-establish after earnings:
$FB 175/170 BuPS
Last minute roll: $KR Apr 20 25 puts out to May 18 25 puts for .42 credit to avoid assignment.
Assignments:
$QRVO 72.50 puts–going long stock. I meant to roll this but I lost track of it this afternoon. Will sell calls against it next week.
$CYBR 50 covered calls–stock being called away
$X 40/36 inverted strangle–with the stock finishing at 36.65, I’m being assigned on both sides–5.90 credit taken in so a 1.90 overall profit.
Have a great weekend everyone.
KR
Closed #Fuzzy as hedge took me out, small profit.
#pietrade 1 roll today, otherwise…
1 roll today, otherwise letting everything else assign/close/expire worthless and will re-load Monday.
TNA today 69 CC rolled to next week for 0.94 credit. Took advantage of the weakness to load more cash. Cost basis now 66.63.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 17th 2775/2800 call spreads for 1.55.
Sold SPX May 14th 2675/2650 put spreads for 10.25. Another aggressive roll but with a more manageable time frame.
Joining the TQQQ Queue
#LongLEAPs Bought to Open $TQQQ Jan 2020 150 call for 41.00. To break even, underlying only has to reach its all-time high from last month, and I got 21 months to do it. Meanwhile, I’ll be selling calls against it.
FAS/SQ
Rolled Apr20 FAS 66 call to next week 67 call for 84 cent credit
Rolled Apr 20 SQ 51 call to next week 53 call for 16 cent credit
DG PYPL
#SyntheticStock – Converting this one over to Jan 2019 Bull Call Spreads similar to how I did NUGT…closing the short put side of the synthetic and the disaster put (a BuPS). The stock is still above the LEAP position so a good time to do it (yesterday was even better!).
Bought to Close DG JAN 18 2019 95.0/92.5 Bull Put Spreads @ 1.05
Sold DG JAN 18 2019 115.0 Calls @ 2.75
Caps my upside well above the all time high on the stock which I’m ok with. In exchange for that I reduce the max loss and pick up a quick 1.70 towards being risk free in the position.
BTW…also did this with PYPL today but won’t bore you with the details.
FAS roll
BTC April 20, 66 call and STO May 4, 67 call for a net credit of .94 cents. This completes all of my rolls for today. I have more next Friday.
SWK earnings bomb
Sold a put ladder:
$SWK Jul 20 130 puts @ 1.50
$SWK Oct 19 115 puts @ 1.35
I was looking to sell something in June but that series won’t start trading until Monday. Will keep an eye on it and maybe add June if it keeps tanking.
CME
STO May 4, 177.5 calls @ .35 cents and the April 20 175 calls will expire today at zero. This is my 2020 Fuzzy, 160,160,155. I put this on 10 weeks ago and have covered 18% of the cost of the trade so far.
EWW
#SyntheticStock – Mr. King of timing here again. I waited yesterday to sell calls for next week on this one, hoping to see the 200sma was gonna hold. She didn’t hold, I shoulda sold… yesterday. STO EWW Apr27’18 53 calls for 0.16. Oh well, I only need 0.08 a week to cover a total loss on my 2020 52/52/50 synthetic position.
MU
#Fuzzy – STO MU Apr27’18 54 calls for 0.44
#earnings SKX I sold a…
#earnings SKX
I sold a 37/47 strangle yesterday, stock hovering at 30, down 12. Anyone need new shoes?
Volatility not kicking up
#Market Today we are down less than 1%, which in 2018 is notable. VIX not up much, and UVXY and VXX could barely be considered to be spiking, given the huge drop they saw in the last week. UVXY had been at 20 for a couple weeks, then a quick drop to 15, and barely up today.
Meantime, SPX could barely get above 2700. Is this the new normal? Consolidating indices all year and volatility drifts downward as we get used to it?
FB
#LongPuts #LongCalls #LongLEAPStraddles – Gonna be an interesting earnings announcement. Tons of premium so still selling aggressively. Rolling the call side today. Didn’t quite get the needed pullback.
Rolled FB APR 20 2018 165.0 Calls to APR 27 2018 167.5 Calls @ 2.30 credit
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order: $SPX May 4th 2810/2835 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.45 on Apr 5th.
Closed Apr 25th 2680/2655 put spreads for 9.70. Sold for 5.65 yesterday. I had to step away for a few, and that’s when the plunge happened, just before I failed to get a fill on a break-even order. Now I may have gotten out on the lows. My ability to trade these short-term near-the-money spreads has totally sucked since early March. I was killing it with them in February and it got my confidence up, so the market had to affirm who’s daddy.
FAS
#LongCalls #LEAPS – Banks aren’t running away so rolling but staying aggressive with the sales…
Rolled FAS APR 20 2018 63.5 Calls to MAY 4 2018 65.0 Calls @ .95 credit
TQQQ
#LongCalls #LEAPS – Staying aggressive and selling at the 50ma. Hopefully they’ll be easy to roll.
Bought to Close TQQQ APR 20 2018 155.0 Calls @ .10 (sold for 3.30)
Sold TQQQ APR 27 2018 155.0 Calls @ 3.20
NUGT
#SyntheticShortStock – Using the weakness today in this thing to close my upside protection leaving just long 32 strike puts.
Bought to Close NUGT JAN 18 2019 32.0/34.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .46
This adds .46 to the cost of the long puts but reduces max loss by 1.54 and makes the trade much easier to manage and cleaner when closing.
TQQQ
STO May 4, 170 calls @ .90 cents. I have 175 and 180 calls that expire today. This is a Fuzzy 180,180,175 for 2020.
TLT
#PerpetualRollingStrangles – Another one in the books…
Bought to Close TLT APR 27 2018 121.5 Calls @ .06 (sold for .60)
Sold TLT MAY 4 2018 120.0 Calls @ .42
EDIT….
For some additional downside help:
Bought TLT SEP 21 2018 100.0 Puts @ .12
ROKU
#ShortStrangles – Rolling short calls down to straddles. Earnings the week after this…
Rolled ROKU MAY 4 2018 37.0 Calls to MAY 4 2018 34.0 Calls @ .55 credit
#shortstrangles EWZ closed May 18,…
#shortstrangles EWZ
closed May 18, 42/47 strangle for .96, sold for 1.78 on April 3.
RH trade closed
#Earnings #ShortStrangle #StrangleRoll
Closed $RH Apr 20th 87.5 puts for .60. Sold as the 87.5/100 #StrangleRoll from breached short calls for 4.535 on Mar 29th. Letting the calls expire. Total profit in trade, 2.11.
Options Bistro 