#CoveredCalls – Slow day…
Bought to Close AAOI NOV 24 2017 46.5 Calls @ .05 (sold for 1.35)
Sold AAOI DEC 1 2017 44.0 Calls @ 1.15
Author Archives: fuzzballl
PCLN
#ShortStrangles – Hey @jsd501 ….nice recovery! Sitting exactly halfway between our strikes now.
STMP
#CoveredCalls – Another stubborn one hanging out at the call strike. Still selling aggressively for max downside protection. Not something I’m wanting to be holding long term.
Bought to Close STMP NOV 17 2017 175.0 Calls @ .46 (sold for 3.50)
Sold STMP NOV 24 2017 172.5 Call @ 4.53
VRX
#LongCallDiagonals – Stubborn stock just wouldn’t come back so rolling…
Rolled VRX NOV 17 2017 14.5 Calls to DEC 1 2017 15.0 Calls @ various fills from .10 – .14 credit
Picking up another 60 to 64 cents of upside…
HIMX
#SyntheticStock – It’s either going to roll over and die again here at 12.00 or breakout for a run higher. Either way I’m raising my front month position a little. Really doesn’t matter since I’m in the trade for free as long as it’s above 10…with 61 more weeks to run.
Rolled HIMX NOV 17 2017 10.0 Calls to DEC 29 2017 10.5 Calls @ .22 debit
Originally sold the 10 calls @ .50 so giving a little back but still increasing upside by .78 on a fairly sizable position (hey, go big when it’s free!).
TLT
This was a bonus #ShortStrangles I had on in addition to the #PerpetualRollingStrangles . Not wanting to let a decent winner get away (it was a bonus after all 🙂 ) I’m booking it. Looking to maybe do it again out in Jan.
Bought to Close TLT DEC 15 2017 121.0/129.0 Strangles @ .55 (sold for 1.55)
WYNN
#ShortStrangles – Finally booking the puts and looking to roll the ITM 130 calls. All of the profitable put sales from the last couple months are going towards raising the basis in the short calls. Hoping to turn into a covered call position at some point. WYNN is turning into a #PerpetualRollingStrangles type trade. Been in it over a year now and works great for those.
In spite of the DITM calls it’s still in my top 10 performers for the year… 🙂
Bought to Close WYNN NOV 17 2017 152.5 Puts @ .15 (sold for 8.02 accumulated premium)
TEVA
#CoveredCalls – Small position…
Sold TEVA JAN 19 2018 15.0 Calls @ .55
SPX
#RocketManHedge – A little adjustment on the pullback. Doesn’t look like we’re going to crash so focusing now on collecting more premium than the max loss on the hedge. Should still make some scratch up or down while still helping on the pullbacks.
Bought to Close SPX NOV 20 2017 2565.0 Put @ .95 (sold for 8.00 two days ago)
Sold SPX NOV 24 2017 2575.0 Put @ 4.95
Max loss on the original hedge was 50 points if above 2575. Already cut that down to 22 points in 3 weeks with 8 more weeks to run. Sell a little at a time and still carry some downside help…
ROKU
#ShortStrangles – First time in this one. Following @Bridget over at OMM ( 🙂 🙂 🙂 ). She has an iron condor pretty narrow…30/35/45/50. I’m going regular strangle with more room to the upside. Great premium and low margin in this one.
Sold ROKU DEC 15 2017 35.0/60.0 Strangles @ 3.19
AMZN
#SyntheticStock – Would’ve got a better fill yesterday but got greedy. Sure didn’t expect this move today but I’ll take it. Rolling up the synthetic position. Leaving the disaster put alone until we see some sort of a top.
Rolled AMZN JUN 21 2019 1000.0 Strike Synthetic Stock to JUN 21 2019 1050.0 Strike @ 48.25 credit
TSLA “killer” ?
….Fisker just came out and dropped a bombshell on the electric vehicle (EV) industry: ‘New Fisker Batteries 2.5x Density, 500 Miles Per Charge & Charging in 1 Minute’….
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-16/tesla-killer
Whiz response on webinar
Messing around here…can anyone open this file?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i25ehuqnkjy695r/Whiz.3gp?dl=0
EDIT…seems like he should be aware of the max risk in a trade without depending on the software. Especially since he claims they are so unreliable! Not a huge deal…trade will still probably work but something to keep an eye on before a trader loads up on a portfolio of positions that could be open to much more risk than he thinks…
SPX
#RocketManHedge – Extra volatility allowing two sales per week for now. Selling against Jan monthly synthetic short. Looks like I’ll more than cover max loss with any selloff being really nice profit.
Bought to Close SPX NOV 15 2017 2565.0 Put @ .30 (sold for 5.70 last Friday)
Sold SPX (Monday) NOV 20 2017 2565.0 Put @ 8.00 (will roll down if we implode)
AMZN
#SyntheticStock – Using the pullback to get a little better fill on a roll up of the front month position.
Rolled AMZN DEC 15 2017 1000.0 Call to JAN 19 2018 1010.0 Call @ 1.70 debit
Picking up another 8.30 of upside with plenty of downside cushion…poor man’s trailing stop. Reduces front month premium received to 47.45. Trade runs all the way to June 2019 so 19 more roll ups to go. It’s gotta level off at some point (doesn’t it?)…
SVXY
#ShortCalls -Just to offset a little of my long risk in January:
Sold 1 SVXY JAN 19 2018 120.0 Call @ 3.20
Sweet spot in Jan is 105-120…
SVXY
#IRA – Sold 1 SVXY FEB 16 2018 60.0 Put @ 2.88
LTC (Litecoin)
#Litecoin – Still playing in the middle of a busy street. Not sure how safe this is but have added some more Litecoin over the last couple weeks.
Bought to Open Litecoin @ 54.46 (earlier)
Bought to Open Litecoin @ 62.60 (tonight)
IBB split
Was looking at some of our old friends…BIB XBI LABU and IBB for maybe some potential #FallingKnife possibilities when I stumbled on this for IBB:
The Board has approved a 3-for-1 split for this fund for shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 28, 2017, payable after the close of trading on November 30, 2017. The 3-for-1 split will lower the share price and increase the number of outstanding shares. The total value of shares outstanding is not affected by a split.
Could be interesting. Just watching for now but out next year at 220-240 looks like it could get juicy.
Boring day so step right up!
Options question on a Whiz trade from this morning. What is wrong with this? I’ll post my reply to him at the close today…LOL For the record, I DID NOT take the trade for a few reasons. Trade is a #LongCallDiagonals with protective put. He says max loss is around $5500 for 10 contracts…Hmmm
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New XOM long call diagonal w/protective put 10 contracts
Initial trade:
Buy Jan 2020 65 calls & 65 puts @ 20.75 debit
Weekly sale:
Sell Dec 1 2017 83.5 calls
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REGN
#CoveredCalls – Still reducing basis as it drops…
Bought to Close REGN NOV 17 2017 415.0 Call @ .12 (sold for 6.29)
Sold REGN NOV 24 2017 400.0 Call @ 2.60
IBM
#401k #Dividends #ShortPuts – Adding to a few potential divvy stocks in the long term account…
Sold IBM APR 20 2018 140.0 Put @ 4.30
Gets the stock at 135.70 with a 4.4% divvy at that level. Throw in a few covered calls annually and it’s decent return….
REGN
#FallingKnife possibility. I’ve been selling covered calls (cautiously) against it. Looking at a possible long term trade there too. Great weekly premium….
AMD
Possible #SyntheticStock or #LongCallDiagonals out to 2020.
Not a big fan of their products but seems pretty low risk at synthetic 12 with disaster put at 10. After this big drop it might grind around for awhile allowing pretty aggressive weekly sales before it heads back up (or down…LOL)
UVXY 2020
#VXXGame – Highest strike is 26 in the new ones. Already 448 on the volume. Nothing for me yet…
TDA update
#Commissions – Well they were a lot more accommodating this year and gave me what I was asking as far as options go. They are about even with Tastyworks now. I’ll go after the stock commission again next year and the exercise fees. I think they’re seeing the reality of things finally!
Sticker back in the drawer for now…
TSLA
#ShortStrangles – Adding one to the upside…unbalanced now. 170 put against 500 and 510 calls.
Sold 1 TSLA JUN 15 2018 500.0 Call @ 2.65
NVDA
#ShortStrangles – One of my top performers for the year…just doesn’t feel right without something going.
Sold NVDA DEC 15 2017 200.0/240.0 Strangle @ 4.32
2020 LEAPS…when?
Get the rest of them tomorrow including UVXY, VXX, and SVXY!
https://www.optionseducation.org/tools/faq/leaps_cycles.html
Wow….two expired!
SPX 2560 Put (sold for 5.20)
STMP 182.5 Call (sold for 3.63)
EWZ
#ShortStrangles – Small roll down for some extra credit (again).
Rolled EWZ DEC 15 2017 42.5 Calls down to DEC 15 2017 40.0 Calls @ .65 credit…
Position is now Dec monthly 40 straddle @ 2.73
FB earnings
Covered Stock remnants from an #Earnings trade. No interest in holding this beyond today so bailing out at even.
Sold stock and bought 177.50 call @ 177.47 giving up 3 cents to avoid exercise fees…
PBYI
Another one to add to the #FallingKnife watch list…
DIS earnings
#Earnings – Took a shot and the dealer pulled a 6 card “21” on me. Closed the ITM sides paying an extra penny to avoid exercise fees.
Bought to Close call portion of DIS 102/103/104 iron flies @ 1.01 (sold for .90). Puts should expire…
AAOI
#ShortStrangles – She’s actually perking up a little bit. Gonna let out the leash and give it some room…selling against DITM puts so treating it like a covered call.
Rolled AAOI NOV 10 2017 44.0 Calls to NOV 24 2017 46.5 Calls @ .25 credit
Current position is an “inverted calendar”…short Dec 80.0 puts and short Nov 17 44.0 calls.
These are 36 points inverted with 19.90 premium received. To get back to even I need to squeeze the inversion in to narrower than the premium received. Stock gets in between and the entire thing goes away…still some work to do but getting there.
STMP
#CoveredCalls – Replacing this week’s…selling aggressively while she (hopefully) consolidates for awhile.
Sold STMP NOV 17 2017 175.0 Call @ 3.50
SPX hedge
#RocketManHedge – Synthetic short out in January. Gradually covering the cost (and a little more) while carrying a little downside protection. Going out to next Wed here since the Friday monthlies only trade until Thur at the close.
This week’s 2560 looks safe so:
Sold SPX NOV 15 2017 2565.0 Put @ 5.70
HIMX
#SyntheticStock – So so earnings so looking weak. I may regret this but very aggressive sale slightly in the money…
Bought to Close HIMX NOV 10 2017 10.5 Calls @ .05 (sold for .35)
Sold HIMX NOV 17 2017 10.0 Calls @ .50
EWZ
#SyntheticStock – Weak stock so staying aggressive with the front month sales…
Bought to Close EWZ NOV 10 2017 40.0 Calls @ .02 (sold for .46)
Sold EWZ NOV 24 2017 40.0 Calls @ .45
DIS
#SyntheticStock – The mouse is running…rolling front month up a strike for slight credit picking up another 1.05 of upside.
Rolled DIS NOV 10 2017 99.0 Calls to DEC 29 2017 100.0 Calls @ .05 credit
NVDA earnings
DIS earnings
#Earnings – Just for fun planning on hardly any movement. This is obviously separate from my #SyntheticStock position…
Sold DIS 102/103/104 iron flies @ .90 risking .10 to make .90 with a 3.15 expected move.
PCLN
Guess they’re not going out of business after all? 🙂
NVDA earnings
FFIV
#ShortStrangles – Was just killing time with some post earnings strangles. Trading these in for my NVDA earnings position…
Bought to Close FFIV NOV 17 2017 115.0/127.0 Strangles @ .50 (sold for 1.45)
AAOI
#ShortStrangles – Not taking stock since these are trading just like stock this DITM. Going for max premium selling weekly calls against. Out at even is my goal…
Rolled AAOI NOV 17 2017 80.0 Puts to DEC 15 2017 80.0 Puts @ 1.00 credit
Still sitting on short 44 calls for tomorrow. All included since the beginning of this ordeal I’ve reduced basis in the puts to 60.25 so gradually getting there!
MGM
#SyntheticStock #LongCallDiagonals – Rolling up and out to the monthly picking up another .61 of upside.
Rolled MGM NOV 10 2017 31.5 Calls to MGM DEC 15 2017 32.0 Calls @ .11 credit
REGN
#CoveredCalls – More basis reduction…kind of an odd fill doing this in a single trade. Closed this week well above the mid and sold next week well above the mid. Still got the 5 bucks I was asking.
Bought to Close REGN NOV 10 2017 425.0 Call @ 1.29 (sold for 6.50)
Sold REGN NOV 17 2017 415.0 Call @ 6.29
SVXY
#ShortPuts #IRA – Bought to Close SVXY NOV 17 2017 80.0 Put @ .25 (sold for 2.50)
OPHT…blast from the past
Looks like they’re still alive and kicking. Anybody that’s still at OMM…has @scottto mentioned it lately? These guys and REGN both had good earnings today.
SVXY stock
#CoveredCalls – Received this stock from reverse rolling some threatened calls quite awhile back. Lot’s of things I could do with it to squeeze a little extra out of it but I’m not gonna look a gift chicken…errr….horse in the mouth. Breakeven was my original goal and with plenty of Jan risk I’m booking and raising the cash.
Sold to Close SVXY covered stock @ 91.25 (basis 83.22)
Sold to Close SVXY covered stock @ 93.25 (basis 84.07)
WDC
#ShortPuts – For some reason today (maybe it’s the chicken) I’m feeling like trimming some risk. Also, clearing out a little to take a slightly bigger position than normal in NVDA earnings tomorrow.
Bought to Close WDC NOV 17 2017 85.0 Puts @ 1.00 (sold for 1.55)
NVDA
#Earnings tomorrow so I’m going flat until then. Taking a buck here for now.
Bought to Close NVDA NOV 10 2017 210.0/200.0 Bull Put Spread @ 4.25 (sold for 5.25)
AAOI and REGN earnings
#Earnings – Positions in both so not adding to either one…
TDA commish…here we go again :)
Nearing the end of year so it’s time for me to evaluate my volume of trading and related fees. I’ve increased my volume of contracts enough to where I really need to address this. I’ve found some competitors that are considerably less with similar trading platforms. I’m looking at moving to a place that starts at 50 cents per contract. I like it here at TDA and would prefer to stay even if slightly higher. If we could get me down to 75 cents per contract (no ticket charge) that would help a lot.
Thanks for your consideration.
UVXY risk reduction
#BearCallSpreads #VXXGame #IRA – Taking a little off here in case tax reform dies and we get a debt ceiling battle towards end of year…
Bought to Close UVXY JAN 19 2018 30.0/40.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .50 (sold for 2.20)
VRX
#LongCallDiagonals #SyntheticStock #IRA -Been waiting for this thing to show some signs of life to get in (again) with a long term Whiz style. 2020’s out so going in with a full position.
Bought to Open VRX JAN 17 2020 15.0 Calls @ 4.20
Sold to Open VRX JAN 17 2020 15.0 Puts @ 4.66
Taking the 46 cent credit from synthetic position applying it to the disaster put…
Bought to Open VRX JAN 17 2020 12.0 Puts @ 2.96
This gives a net debit of only 2.50 for the Jan 2020 position. Add the 3 point max downside and get a max loss possibility of 5.50. Based on that, and the 114 weeks remaining in the trade I only need to average 5.0 cents per week in sales to cover the absolute worst case scenario.
So:
Sold VRX NOV 17 2017 14.5 Calls @ .23
PCLN
#ShortStrangles – Taking a small shot….
Sold PCLN DEC 15 2017 1550.0/1950.0 Strangle @ 5.50
AAPL
#ShortPuts – Not sitting on these for months for a few dollars. Freeing up a lot of margin in the #IRA ….
Bought to Close AAPL JAN 19 2018 140.0 Put @ .30 (sold for 3.83)
Bought to Close AAPL FEB 16 2018 135.0 Put @ .52 (sold for 3.70)
Bought to Close AAPL APR 20 2018 130.0 Put @ .78 (sold for 3.56)
FB earnings
#Earnings – Original trade was super bullish NOV 3 2017 190.0/185.0 Bull Put Spread @ 3.50
Stock dropped so booking the long put and applying it to the stock basis when I receive stock this weekend.
Sold to Close FB NOV 3 2017 185.0 Put @ 6.50
So…10.00 premium received so far. Stock basis will be 180. Aggressively covering it next week slightly in the money at breakeven premium. Would still have the option to roll that up and out if she rallies next week.
#CoveredCalls – Sold FB NOV 10 2017 177.5 Call @ 2.50 (stock basis now 177.50 covered at 177.50)
NVDA
Taking this off prior to #Earnings after this big run…
Bought to Close NVDA NOV 10 2017 180.0 Put @ .75 (sold for 2.30)
MGM
#SyntheticStock #LongCallDiagonals – Setting up next week. Had to do this as a roll since it’s in an #IRA . Thought I would get filled at .01/.51 but got .04/.54 instead.
Bought to Close MGM NOV 3 2017 31.0 Calls @ .04
Sold MGM NOV 10 2017 31.5 Calls @ .54
STMP earnings
#Earnings – Original trade was NOV 3 2017 190.0/250.0 Strangle @ 5.50
Bought to Close STMP NOV 3 2017 250.0 Call @ .05
Still deciding on the put…she’s getting spanked for now.
MELI earnings
#Earnings – Original trade was NOV 17 2017 200.0/280.0 Strangle @ 3.70
On the massive spike up this morning:
Bought to Close MELI NOV 17 2017 200.0 Put @ .10
Pulling back now so watching the 280 call side….
AAPL
#SyntheticStock #LongCallDiagonals – AAPL only has 2.5 wide strikes right now so kinda limited on roll up. Best I can do is a small debit on front month roll.
Rolled AAPL NOV 3 2017 160.0 Calls to DEC 22 2017 162.5 Calls @ .95 debit
Synthetic stock working great and this debit reduces front month premium received to 2.65
AAPL
#Earnings -Not waiting on a pullback. Taking minimal loss now instead of max later.
Bought to Close Nov 3rd 162.5/167.5/172.5 iron fly @ 4.30 (sold for 4.05)
Crypto stuff
What to do with some of this quarter’s earnings profits? I’ve always been willing to gamble a little…(I’m still holding a half million Iraqi Dinar from Gulf War 2)…worth about a hundred bucks. LOL Already holding a little Ethereum (no Bitcoin…grrr)
Bought to Open Litecoin @ 55.15
https://www.coinbase.com/
From a newsletter I get from a volatility guy that also dabbles in crypto:
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Litecoin
Just shoveled some money into Litecoin at $50 (it is down from $80 earlier in the year). I put in double my original investment from 2013. I now have in Litecoin 10x the number of bitcoins I used to have. (I used to have 3x but now is up to 10x). Litecoin used to be $4 last year and was around $20-25 in 2013 when I first purchased. This investment here is a fraction of the money I made in bitcoin. I can see Litecoin hit $500-$1000 on the back of problems in Bitcoin quickly. It is already widely accepted by the same merchants, it is on Coinbase. It is the same exact technology, with a well-known founder and more democratic hashing algo. A payment interface can be ported from bitcoin to litecoin quickly. If at some point there are problems with bitcoin, the processing will switch over to litecoin. You can think of Litecoin as a better backup to bitcoin. In fact many think, litecoin is the better technology because mining is always bound to be more distributed than bitcoin. The biggest risk to bitcoin is a 50%+1 attack. 99% bitcoin in the world is held by a 1000 Chinese. Miners located in Chinese jurisdictions continue to have more than 50% of the mining capacity. The risk of 50%+1 attack in bitcoin becomes greater every day the more Xi Jinping consolidates power. If you end up with futures and options exchanges based on bitcoin, the Chinese will have a huge lever to pull in their relations with the US because they can trigger a financial crisis by pulling the rug under bitcoin. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if that is the long term game Jinping is playing.
SatoshiLite tweeted today: If Segwit2x miners manages to kill original chain with a 51% attack, Bitcoin will eventually lose the crypto throne. My bet is on Litecoin.
SatoshiLite is the biggest name in crypto after Satoshi. He is the creator of Litecoin and Director of Engineering of Coinbase. Real name is Charles Lee. In the pantheon of crypto greats, first you had Charlie Lee and then you had Vitalik Buterin. Litecoin is $50, it is following the same path of adoption that bitcoin has, it is barely $2 billion in market cap. I think the future of this crypto currency as an eventual backup to bitcoin operations is very bright. God forbid we have an actual problem with the bitcoin network, litecoin will spike like you have never seen anything else spike.
If litecoin goes down more, I will be shoveling more money into it.
If you have a crypto portfolio, my suggestion here would be to take 50% of your bitcoin which is at a pretty steep price here $7,000 and re-allocate the entire amount to Litecoin. Then as bitcoin goes higher and higher, sell and buy litecoin. If Bitcoin goes to 25K, you will triple your money. If Litecoin, goes to a meager $500 per coin, you will make 10x your money. This should be viewed as a long term investment with a horizon of 5 years. Within 5 years, I would not be surprised to see Litcoin see the same level of network and industry adoption as Bitcoin has today and as such it’s price can easily be 10x from current levels. The litecoin mining rules and limitation of supply are just as stringent as bitcoin’s. After Bitcoin futures and options succeed, you will have Ethereum futures and options and after that Litecoin. Bitcoin is the trailblazer, but the next big pot of money in crypto is in litecoin in my humble opinion. At some point the bitcoin players will look to diversity and litecoin will be option #2 after ethereum (and for many #1 due to the more constrained supply)
2020 LEAPS…when?
Looks like we get the rest of them in a couple weeks…
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https://www.optionseducation.org/tools/faq/leaps_cycles.html
When are the exchanges going to list 2020 LEAPS®?
2020 LEAPS will be rolled out over a three month period.
Cycle 1: Monday, September 11th, 2017: January 2020 LEAPS® listed
Cycle 2: Monday, October 16th, 2017: January 2020 LEAPS® listed
Cycle 3: Monday, November 13th, 2017: January 2020 LEAPS® listed
TradersExpo livestream
From Vegas tonight. Sosnoff and a lot of the tastytrade team will be there. Free!
https://www.moneyshow.com/events/conferences/tradersexpo/tradersexpo-las-vegas/live-stream/login/?scode=
AAPL earnings
#Earnings – enough risk in other places so going limited here.
Sold Nov 3rd 162.5/167.5/172.5 iron fly @ 4.05
Five wide with 6.80 expected move. Skewing slightly bearish.
SBUX
#Earnings today. Also looks like a prime entry for #SyntheticStock . No position here…
HRB
That’s gonna be a #FallingKnife you may not want to get under. I can’t wait to file taxes on a post card!
EWZ
#LongCallDiagonals #SyntheticStock -Been waiting for some sort of a pullback to get in this long term Whiz style (again). This is a half position that I’d like to add to when the 2020’s come out.
Bought to Open EWZ JAN 18 2019 40.0 Calls @ 5.02
Sold to Open EWZ JAN 18 2019 40.0 Puts @ 5.92
Taking the 90 cent credit from synthetic position applying it to the disaster put…
Bought to Open EWZ JAN 18 2019 35.0 Puts @ 3.87
This gives a net debit of only 2.97 for the Jan 2019 position. Add the 5 point max downside and get a max loss possibility of 7.97. Based on that, and the 63 weeks remaining in the trade I only need to average 12.5 cents per week in sales to cover the absolute worst case scenario.
So:
Sold EWZ NOV 10 2017 40.0 Calls @ .46
STMP earnings
#Earnings – Not much liquidity but taking a shot outside the expected move…this thing could go anywhere.
Sold STMP NOV 3 2017 190.0/250.0 Strangle @ 5.50
Stock at 218 with expected move of +/- 25.75
EWZ
Getting closer to a Whiz ( #SyntheticStock ) entry. Thinking about half now and half later. Wish the 2020’s would get here.
