#syntheticStock – Selling up into resistance again…
Bought to Close SLB MAR 29 2018 68.0 Calls @ .03 (sold for .27)
Sold SLB APR 6 2018 65.0 Calls @ .90
Author Archives: fuzzballl
CRUS REGN VXX
#SyntheticStock #LongCalls #BearPutSpreads #BullPutSpreads – Selling what I didn’t get a chance to on Friday. Glad I waited on these. Going out another week to take advantage of the entire 3 day weekend…
Sold CRUS APR 6 2018 43.5 Calls @ .50
Sold REGN APR 6 2018 340.0 Calls @ 2.11
Sold VXX APR 6 2018 40.5/37.5 Bull Put Spreads @ .47
AMZN
#SyntheticStock – Big change today….finally deciding on booking this after being in it for quite a few months. It’s a margin hog in the #IRA so I’m hoping for better places to put the cash to work on this pullback. It’s been a struggle working the ITM weekly up but finally got an acceptable profit out of it…(nothing like it could’ve been though).
Sold AMZN JUN 21 2019 1350.0/1350.0/910.0 Synthetic
Bought AMZN APR 27 2018 1350.0 Call
Total gain of 61 points…
TLT
#SyntheticShort – The weekly hedge against a small synthetic short I’ve been playing with…
Bought to Close TLT MAR 23 2018 117.5 Puts @ .01 (sold for .49)
Sold TLT APR 6 2018 118.5 Puts @ .41
LUV
#SyntheticStock – Pretty good week in this ticker in spite of the selloff. Booked 80 cents with the double selling. Not bad when only 14 cents is required. Looking to next week now…
Sold LUV MAR 29 2018 58.0 Calls @ .45
GLD
#SyntheticStock – Been trying to get out of this at even or at least reduce the size a little. Fought the hedge the entire time. Until two days ago I thought I was successful but now on another massive run. Rolling the weekly all the way out to May to give it some room. See how the next week or two goes….keeps running I can probably close the position. If it tanks I’ll have to roll it back in and down. Looks to be at resistance but you never know.
Rolled GLD MAR 23 2018 125.0 Calls to MAY 18 2018 127.0 Calls @ .06 credit
AZO
#BullCallSpreads – Letting this week’s expire so selling next week…cost basis reduction in the Jan Bull Call Spread…
Sold AZO MAR 29 2018 660.0/680.0 Bear Call Spread @ 2.12
AAOI
#ShortStrangles #SyntheticStock – Still a dog and I’m still selling. Getting to the point now where a massive whipsaw is a concern (or a big buyout similar to GMCR back in the day). Letting the leash out a little and selling spreads. Still bringing in the min needed to cover the synthetic side of the repair. It’s a little less than I need for the short strange side but those can always be rolled indefinitely. Also letting this week’s short calls expire…
Sold AAOI APR 20 2018 27.0/31.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .65
SPX
#RocketManhedge – I’m officially retiring this experimental hashtag with good news and bad news. First the bad news…
Was out yesterday and missed my chance to roll out and down my short weekly so the hedge didn’t do any good at all…it was actually down yesterday. So today I closed the whole thing at a loss since it’s not working and is really getting me sidetracked watching other positions.
Did 4 of these in total with 3 winners and one loser but still a net loss of 28 points…
Now, the good news. With my accounts being more heavily weighted in synthetics I’ve found the big overall hedge isn’t really needed since most of these positions have the hedges already built in. It’s really been noticeable during these 2 recent selloffs we’ve had. More good news is the fact Sue mentioned TheoTrade the other day so I’ve been getting his free videos. Came across this one that I really liked and will be putting these on from now on when the market is getting to extremes. I’m also wondering if something similar would work to the long side as well…haven’t even checked and have no idea since that just crossed my mind while typing this…LOL
FB
Whiz’s take on Facebook…
XOM
#SyntheticStock – Late fills…
Bought to Close XOM MAR 23 2018 75.5 Calls @ .03 (sold for .35)
Sold XOM MAR 29 2018 74.5 Calls @ .48
VXX
#BearPutSpreads – One fill today on the short side of BuPS sales to finance BePS
Bought to Close VXX MAR 23 2018 38.0 Puts @ .01 (sold for .53 as part of 38/33 BuPS)
Did I miss anything?
Picked a good day to exchange, renew, and re-activate all my Comcast stuff down here. Boring day?? 🙂
CELG
#SyntheticStock – I’ll generally leave these closing orders in for a nickel through Wednesday. After that I’ll lower them to about .03 on Thursday and then .02 or .01 on Friday. Figuring I can pay the nickel on Wed and make it up by getting to sell next week’s a few days early.
Bought to Close CELG MAR 23 2018 93.0 Calls @ .05 (sold for .47)
Sold CELG MAR 29 2018 91.0 Calls @ .61
DG
#SyntheticStock – Another sale…
Bought to Close DG MAR 23 2018 97.0 Calls @ .05 (sold for .80)
Sold DG MAR 29 2018 95.5 Calls @ .74
PSA TXN UNP XBI
Freeing up some cash in the #401k. Planning on moving part of it into a longer term hold and re-balance strategy for a longer term time frame similar to this:
https://portfoliocharts.com/portfolio/golden-butterfly/
Bought to Close PSA JUN 15 2018 160.0 PUT @ .45 (sold for 2.50)
Bought to Close TXN APR 20 2018 105.0 PUT @ 1.23 (sold for 3.00)
Bought to Close TXN APR 20 2018 100.0 PUT @ .50 (sold for 1.90)
Bought to Close UNP MAY 18 2018 125.0 PUT @ 1.10 (sold for 3.70)
Bought to Close UNP MAY 18 2018 120.0 PUT @ .70 (sold for 2.45)
Bought to Close XBI JUN 15 2018 75.0 PUT @ .65 (sold for 2.13)
MGM
#SyntheticStock – Looks like it might be running out of gas here (as I’m typing this it’s rallying 🙂 ). Booking a small winner and looking for something with some better upside potential. these were just straight calls instead of synthetic. 37 cents per contract gain…been in and out of this ticker a few times so overall adding up nicely.
Bought to Close MGM APR 6 2018 36.5 Calls
Sold to Close MGM JAN 18 2019 35.0 Calls
LUV
#SyntheticStock – Was seriously considering booking this one yesterday since it was up 2 dollars per spread…so much for that. Looks like the weekly selling will continue.
Bought to Close LUV MAR 23 2018 60.0 Calls @ .05 (sold for .60)
OLED
#SyntheticStock – Partial fill on a 2 lot…LMAO!
Bought to Close OLED MAR 23 2018 133.0 Call @ .05 (sold for 1.50)
AMZN
#SyntheticStock – I normally have to go out a month to roll my short term hedge up 10 bucks (unless volatility is really high) then I can go up 20 sometimes. Today I’m using the volatility pop along with the big pullback to go out just one week and still get most of the 10 point upside. This is more than likely a roll into earnings week also which helps.
Rolled AMZN APR 20 2018 1340.0 Call to APR 27 2018 1350.0 Call @ .75 debit.
Interesting year…might not make much but will learn a lot…
#SyntheticStock – It’s these kind of days that make me glad I hedged a little with weeklies. It’s also tough trusting the process of the weekly sales to cover max loss. Looks like we’re gonna learn how it actually plays out over the long run to end of year. As some of these drop the danger of a whipsaw with the weekly hedge grows. I’m planning on selling very carefully and possibly using spreads when selling much below the core and not getting too greedy…mainly just selling near the min required to cover max loss. I’ll probably run through all my positions this week and update what’s needed each week.
Also, I’m trying not to get caught up in P/L YTD….SVXY already blew that. I’m more concerned about actual realized gains represented by positions that are closed…(helps psychologically for sure) 🙂 🙂
TSLA
#ShortStrangle – Becoming more trouble than it’s worth…LOL
Currently short this week’s 335 straddle @ 16.40
Closing the call and rolling the 335 put into a new inverted strangle (310/300) for next week. Did the whole thing for a .89 credit.
BIIB
#ShortPuts – Strictly risk management…
Bought to Close BIIB APR 20 2018 250.0, 255.0, and 260.0 Puts
Sold to Close BIIB APR 20 2018 220.0 Puts @ .30
Made about 50 bucks after commissions. Still like the ticker but feel like I’ve got enough biotech going already…
SPX
#RocketManHedge – Rolling my short weekly out and down to Friday. Hedge is out in May so might have to keep easing it down for now…
Rolled SPX MAR 19 2018 2750.0 Put to SPX MAR 23 2018 2740.0 Put @ 2.00 credit
DECK
#ShortStrangles – Sold last week on the dip to the 50ma…slightly bigger position so happy to take the 78 cents.
Bought to Close DECK APR 20 2018 75.0/105.0 Strangles @ .52 (sold for 1.30)
ANET
#ShortStrangles – Originally sold after the big earnings drop…
Bought to Close ANET JUN 15 2018 175.0/400.0 Strangle @ 2.20 (sold for 6.00)
TSLA
#ShortStrangles – It’s a day of taking a little risk off in the tickers that were helped by the pullback. Sold these at different times squeezing the strikes in a little so the wider ones were more profitable…
Bought to Close TSLA JUN 15 2018 170.0/510.0 Strangle @ 2.04 (sold for 6.01)
Bought to Close TSLA JUN 15 2018 180.0/500.0 Strangle @ 2.45 (sold for 4.60)
Bought to Close TSLA JUN 15 2018 190.0/470.0 Strangle @ 3.17 (sold for 3.49)
Whiz WYNN
Whiz is bullish on WYNN figuring a buyout or name change will boost the stock. He actually surprised me today and bought medium length calls (June 190 strike) and is selling weeklies against it. First time I’ve ever seen him try this on something less than the following Jan. Has he been doing stealth flybys here at The Bistro? 🙂 🙂
Anyway…a couple guys in the TGO forum, (The Ready Room), were asking about trade management on these. While I was writing up my response I came across something I found interesting that I hadn’t really considered before. We obviously worry about the issues we have to deal with when the stock drops and what is our max loss. On the other hand when the stock is screaming up it can also start showing losses. Here’s what I noticed and I can’t believe I didn’t see this a long time ago:
Losses to the upside are capped! How can that be? When running the Whiz trade through the TOS Analyze tab I noticed losses to the upside increasing up to a point and then sort of leveling off and the finally stopping at a certain point. I would say the point the losses stop is when the long call (at whatever length of time it’s at) reaches a 1 delta which finally equals the long delta of the short term call sold. It takes a pretty extreme run to get to that point but I found it interesting anyway. Any thoughts on that and am I seeing it correctly?
Here’s the post I made to the TGO forum in regards to his trade of buying June 190 calls and selling next week’s 190 calls:
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Great summary Kevin! I trade these types of trades all the time using various time intervals and tactics. I usually go out a little further in time since I’m a big believer in being able to safely sell enough weeklies to cover the absolute worse case scenario max loss of any of these, whether it’s synthetic or just buying the calls outright.
One obvious risk of these is the stock falling by quite a bit. That would force you to sell weeklies at strikes well below your long position in order to receive enough premium to cover max loss. Some trading platforms actually INCREASE margin requirements in this situation since the weekly call sale is effectively blocking profits on the longer term position. It doesn’t factor in the plan to roll the weeklies up and out if they get run over.
Another not so obvious risk of these types of trades is the stock going up too soon and too much. Due to the gamma risk of the short term call sales the overall position can actually begin losing money as the stock rises if it goes up too quickly. Worse case would be something extreme like waking up Monday morning and finding out WYNN is being bought out for 300 dollars per share (remember the surprise buyout of GMCR a few years ago?). Running Whiz’s new trade through the TOS Analyze tab I show it beginning to lose money at about the 197 level. On the bright side, once the delta of the long term and near term calls both reach max value the upside loss is capped. In this particular trade that happens at about $305 per share and capped at about a $995 loss per contract.
I generally monitor the overall delta of the position and if I see the stock starting to run and my deltas are approaching zero or less I’ll start looking to roll the weekly up and out. If deltas approach zero a second time I start looking to take some profits.
Here’s the first thing I looked at when I received the new trade…
Buying the Jun 190 calls at about 11.00 with 13 weeks to run I would need to sell about 85 cents per week of weeklies to cover that. That gives a good starting point on what weeklies to sell. It’s looking like for now that’s going to be about 7 or 8 dollars out of the money. Is that giving it enough room to run? Who knows? I sure don’t! My preference would be to go a little further out in time on the long calls reducing the weekly sales required to cover them giving the stock a little more breathing room.
These types of trades seem simple on the surface but there are a lot of moving parts to them…
Good luck!
TLT
#PerpetualRollingStrangles – Close but have to roll…
Rolled TLT MAR 16 2018 119.5 Calls to MAR 29 2018 120.5 Calls @ .15 credit (.63 total credit now)
EWW
#SyntheticStock – Happy to finally be out from under this weekly sale. Been rolling for awhile…
Bought to Close EWW MAR 16 2018 51.0 Calls @ .03 (sold for .52)
Sold EWW MAR 29 2018 51.5 Calls @ .40
AZO
#BullCallSpreads – Bought a Jan 2019 Bull Call Spread on the drop. Selling Bear Call Spreads to pay for it (.80 per week covers it)….letting this week’s expire (sold for 2.40) and selling next week.
Sold AZO MAR 23 2018 670.0/700.0 Bear Call Spread @ 2.27
REGN
#SyntheticStock – Not taking any chances with this one and paying the dime to close. Happy that 350 held here but also selling the next batch on the rally.
Bought to Close REGN MAR 16 2018 350.0 Calls @ .10 (sold for 4.65)
Sold REGN MAR 29 2018 355.0 Calls @ 2.10
MGM
#SyntheticStock – (in reality just long LEAP calls) – It’s running and I’m rolling. I’ll close when (if) deltas reach zero.
Rolled MGM MAR 16 2018 35.5 Calls to APR 6 2018 36.5 Calls @ even
CELG
#SyntheticStock – Selling under the core here again. It’s sitting out in July and has moved against me since the very beginning. Should still be able to bring in enough weekly to get an overall profit. Need 37 cents per week going forward to cover max loss.
Bought to Close CELG MAR 16 2018 93.5 Calls @ .05 (sold for .90)
Sold CELG MAR 23 2018 93.0 Calls @ .47
CRUS
#SyntheticStock – These are actually just plain old long LEAP calls but leaving it under the synthetic hashtag. Paid up to close this week…it’s in an IRA and I wanted to get the next sale off on the rally.
Bought to Close CRUS MAR 16 2018 44.5 Calls @ .05 (sold for .65)
Sold CRUS MAR 23 2018 45.5 Calls @ .45
XOM
#SyntheticStock – Trying to build a base…I’m selling at the 20ma resistance.
Bought to Close XOM MAR 16 2018 75.5 Calls @ .02 (sold for .36)
Sold XOM MAR 23 2018 75.5 Calls @ .35
HIMX
#SyntheticStock – Much better week this week. Had to roll nearly everything last week with the big Friday rally. Closing a lot more at min value this week for fresh sales next week.
Bought to Close HIMX MAR 16 2018 9.0 Calls @ .01 (sold for .65)
Selling under the core now so using spreads and only selling half size. Goal is to get out of this one at even. Took investing advice from a pilot (big mistake!) on this one. 🙂 🙂
Sold HIMX MAR 29 2018 7.5/9.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .20
AAOI
#ShortStrangles #SyntheticStock – Still a dog and I’m still selling.
Bought to Close AAOI MAR 16 2018 30.0 Calls @ .05 (sold for .60)
Sold AAOI MAR 23 2018 29.0 Calls @ .35
GLD
#SyntheticStock – Sitting almost at breakeven so selling aggressively to try to get out at even. A little bit of a margin hog and a little too big size wise.
Bought to Close GLD MAR 16 2018 126.0 Calls @ .03
Sold GLD MAR 23 2018 125.0 Calls @ .70
DG
#SyntheticStock – Really liking the weekly premium in this thing. Setting up a synthetic out to next Jan.
Bought Jan 2019 95/95/92.5 Synthetic Stock @ 8.90
Max loss of 11.40 with 44 weeks to run so need .26 per week to cover…
So:
Sold DG MAR 23 2018 97.0 Calls @ .80
As for the earnings strangle I’m completely out now for 1.70 (sold for 1.79)
VRX
#SyntheticStock #Tastyworks – Rolled short calls out and up…
Rolled VRX 03/16/18 16.00 Calls to 4/20/18 17.00 Calls @ .15 debit
Originally sold these for .21 so still sitting on a slight credit. Looking to close the whole thing if overall delta reaches zero…
PS…I like Think or Swim better so far…
BIIB
#ShortPuts #SyntheticStock – Looking to back into a #SyntheticStock position. Since it’s in an #IRA also bought some junky puts for margin. All done in the week before earnings…
Sold 1 BIIB APR 20 2018 260.0 Put @ 2.80
Sold 1 BIIB APR 20 2018 255.0 Put @ 2.10
Sold 1 BIIB APR 20 2018 250.0 Put @ 1.60
Bought 3 BIIB APR 20 2018 220.0 Puts @ .40
Net premium received of 5.30 (1.76 average)
DECK
#ShortStrangles – Caught a downgrade and sold off a little. Selling strangles at the 200 ma and above all time highs and only 39 days out. I’d go synthetic at 75. These are also well before next earnings…
Sold DECK APR 20 2018 75.0/105.0 Strangles @ 1.30
/ZC….Corn?
#Futures – And you guys were teasing me when I posted this! I didn’t trade it since I really was just bored…LOL
🙂 🙂 🙂
BABA
#SyntheticStock – It’s either at resistance or getting ready to break higher. Either way, my long deltas are gone and it’s been a good run. Very little weekly premium and mostly a delta gain. Only a couple contracts but still booking here and looking for a re-entry point eventually. Out of BABA, BIDU, and CTRP. China was very good to me!
Sold to Close BABA JAN 17 2020 175.0/175.0/170.0 Synthetic Stock
Bought to Close BABA MAR 16 2018 190.0 Calls
Net gain of 12.20 per contract…
LUV
#SyntheticStock – Another roll…I really wanted a down market today 🙂
Rolled LUV MAR 9 2018 58.5 Calls to MAR 23 2018 60.0 Calls @ .10 debit.
Small debit to pick up another 1.40 of upside.
OLED
#SyntheticStock – Strong recovery here…
Rolled OLED MAR 9 2018 128.0 Calls to MAR 23 2018 133.0 Calls @ .17 credit
PYPL
#SyntheticStock – Going a little further out on this one. Still not sure why it’s going up after the eBay controversy from a few weeks ago..LOL
Rolled PYPL MAR 9 2018 77.0 Calls to APR 6 2018 78.5 Calls @ .15 debit picking up another 1.35 of upside.
CELG
#SyntheticStock – Another roll I was hoping would expire…
Rolled CELG MAR 9 2018 92.0 Calls to MAR 16 2018 93.5 Calls @ .35 credit
BABA
#SyntheticStock – Almost closed the whole thing yesterday. Forced to roll now…
Rolled BABA MAR 9 2018 187.5 Calls to MAR 16 2018 190.0 Calls @ .33 credit
TSLA
#Earnings – Still dealing with an old earnings strangle. Just rolling around collecting premium and it’s starting to add up.
Had a 342.5 Straddle for this week. Closed the call and rolled the ITM put out to a new straddle.
Bought to Close TSLA MAR 9 2018 342.5 Call @ .02
Rolled TSLA MAR 9 2018 342.5 Put to MAR 23 2018 335.0/335.0 Straddle @ 3.20 credit.
Current position now March 23rd 335 Straddle @ 16.40 accumulated credit
SPX
#RocketManHedge – Booking the short put and leaving the long un-hedged over the weekend…
Bought to Close SPX MAR 12 2018 2700.0 Put @ .35 (sold for 9.00)
SLB
#SyntheticStock – In a squeeze and looks ready to run. Rolling the hedge…
Rolled SLB MAR 9 2018 66.5 Calls to MAR 29 2018 68.0 Calls @ .22 debit picking up another 1.28 of upside.
AZO
Leaving this under my #SyntheticStock tag even though it’s slightly modified. Replacing this week’s expiration with another hedge. Reducing basis in Jan 2019 660/760 BuCS by selling bear call spreads.
Sold AZO MAR 16 2018 675.0/700.0 Bear Call Spread @ 2.40
CTRP
#SyntheticStock – Earnings next week. It’s run up to resistance and to a negative delta on my overall position. Gonna book it as a quickie and maybe re-load with an earnings play next week…
Sold to Close CTRP JAN 18 2019 47/47/45 Synthetic
Bought to Close CTRP MAR 9 2018 48.0 Calls
A couple weeks of weekly selling and nice gain on the core for grand total of 1.18 gain per spread. Not risking a blowout on earnings next week.
ADSK
#Earnings #ShortStrangles – Well here we go. Let the rolling begin. I had many weekly hedges that were set to expire but with the strong market today nearly all of them will be rolls now. This one is a roll of the call side of a blown out to the upside earnings strangle.
Rolled ADSK MAR 9 2018 130.0 Calls to MAR 29 2018 142.0/138.0 Inverted Strangles @ 1.92 credit.
Position now is Mar 29th 142/138 inverted @ 4.25
XBI
#ShortPuts #IRA – Out all afternoon…just noticed this one.
Bought to Close XBI MAR 16 2018 83.00 PUT @ .05 (sold for 2.60)
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.
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
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
XBI
#IRA – Missed one yesterday…
Bought to Close XBI MAR 16 2018 80.00 PUT @ .05 (sold for 1.68)
UVXY
#BearCallSpreads – Selling a few more….
Sold UVXY MAY 18 2018 25.0/35.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .96
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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!
AZO
#SyntheticStock – Instead of selling an unlimited risk big wide strangle or going pure synthetic I’m trying a little experiment since it’s such a high dollar stock. Thesis (LOL for what that’s worth!) is that the 200ma will hold and there’s not much of a chance of exceeding the all time high this year. (Citi has 790 target on it).
I’m buying a call spread out in Jan 2019 and then selling against it…selling call spreads against it for now since selling naked calls against it results in an additional margin hit since the platform sees it as blocking potential gains.
Bought to Open AZO JAN 18 2019 660.0/760.0 Bull Call Spread @ 40.60 (that’s my max loss)
40.60 with 46 weeks requires .88 a week to cover. Shouldn’t be a problem with this thing.
So:
Sold AZO MAR 9 2018 675.0/700.0 Bear Call spread @ 3.15
Even if the stock goes nowhere selling 3 bucks a week should be a nice winner…
SLB
#SyntheticStock – Only getting partial fills for closing this week’s at a penny but since it’s not in an IRA I’m selling next week while waiting.
Bought to Close SLB MAR 2 2018 67.0 Calls @ .01 (sold for .38) (filled on 2 out of 10)
Sold SLB MAR 9 2018 66.5 Calls @ .50
Volatility…how’s it going?
Not sure about you guys (gals) but overall I’m fairly happy where most of my positions stand even though account is red today. Fairly big batch of weeklies rolling off the next two weeks. Definitely not getting rewarded for those today. I think the losses today can be attributed more to volatility expansion instead of adverse movement in the stock in a lot of cases.
OLED
#Earnings – I think the easiest (and safest) way to turn this strangle into a winner is roll it into synthetic.
Closed Mar 16th 143/140 Inverted Strangle
Opened Jan 2019 120/120/115 Synthetic in same size.
Rough math after rolling strangle loss into synthetic basis is max loss of 44.60 with 46 weeks to run so .97 per week with pretty good premium in the weeklies. I may add one more synthetic to lower the weekly requirement.
And:
Sold OLED MAR 9 2018 128.0 Calls @ 1.30
Options Bistro 