First look at the market this morning, is that really a lower low and lower high on the chart? Looks like someone inverted my charts…………at least on a 5 and 15 minute.

Vix finally starting to tick up with the market at all time highs so someone is starting to at least buy a few spx puts.

I know the market can keep moving longer than I can stay solvent, learned that lesson a long time ago, but the last 2 weeks have been ridiculous!

Everything that is stock related has gone parabolic. Some market guru (oil trader I think) was quoted as saying bull markets die on euphoria. Are we there yet?!

Another close, another record. At some point this is not going to end well for a lot of people but until then I plan to keep a lot of cash handy.

Can make more money in a bear market quicker!

Trade smart and keep some powder dry…………..

WDC rolled this week 87 put down to 86.5 DTE 18 for 0.33 credit. Quicker on this one to take assignment and convert to CC but I have some margin that releases next week and will make taking the shares easier on the account.

XBI rolled 15 DTE 79 put to 43 DTE 80 put for 0.81 credit to keep the ladder rolling 4 weeks at a time.

Now I have the day off, maria passed through, we have sun and wind and 2 other friends have the day off so going kiteboarding!

I rolled most of my trades yesterday so unless something really good comes along I am done trading for the week. Hope everyone has a good expiration tomorrow.

Cheers

Market starting to move a little, 9 points /es after hours. Keep some cash handy, might have some trades tomorrow.

I am looking at /es strangle at 2345 and 2565 but probably wait until the morning to see what the open brings. Plus will have some more cash tomorrow from a transfer and rolling positions will give me some extra cushion.

/NQ/qqq finally rolling over on shorter time frames. Will it drag the rest of the market? Will we get some volatility 🙂 hope so but will know in 20 minutes. I have a feeling that if there is no change from the fed likely going higher again, but I am too chicken at the moment to trade it. Will wait on the news……….

Rolled WDC this week 85 calls to out 2 weeks 86 calls for 0.80 credit. Trying to hold on to my shares through dividend of 0.50 on 9/29 and the time value had dropped below the dividend.

After dividend I will let them be called away and restart put ladders

Anyone trading TQQQ or UPRO? Triple bulls on the qqq and spy.

Good premiums and obviously they whip around a lot but that is the point.

May start another experiment with some of these if no one else trading. Possible ITM CC candidates or sell puts on weeklies then if assigned roll into CC with hope of getting called out.

My only concern is excessive volatility or a sustained down move. I guess then could set up a synthetic short if you were long the stock and buy a few extra puts or buy the inverse SQQQ or SDS.

Thoughts, anyone doing this already?

I tend to not follow any of the Gurus other than tastytrade but this is one chuck hughes is always selling covered calls on. a 4 DTE ATM options holds 1.50 of premium.

11 DTE is going for 2.50 mid point.

SVXY rolled this week 75 call to next week for 0.85 credit. There was only about 0.15 of time decay left when I rolled it.

Part of the SVXY synthetic. Will do full update tomorrow but cost basis on the first group down to 13.90 now or about 13.95 with commissions after 2 weeks.

lunch trades, only time i get to trade most of the week

rolled xbi 9/15 75 put to 10/6 77 put for 0.9 credit. sold for 1.06 off a ladder roll about a month ago. keeping 3-4 weeks of a rolling ladder going.

btc swks this week 101 put for 0.35. sold for 1.06 as part of recovery rolls over a month ago. nice to finally be done with this one. i set up a ladder when it was up around 112. then dropped as low as 94-95 so have been rolling for about 6-8 weeks and finally have the original profit back. this is still a good one for ladders but i am going to leave it alone for a few weeks.

these freed up some cash/margin for the next drop or vol. increase!

svxy synthetic is looking great for this week. will update tomorrow or friday and roll to new positions.

XBI rolled this week 77 puts to 9/22 for 0.8 credit. Originally sold for 1.06.

Did not take my own advice on friday. Was about to close SWKS 101 puts that had decayed to .033 after several rolls and instead thought no I will let them close this week and avoid the commission. Gapped down 2 points this morning so after 7 weeks of recovering a 16 point drop still have to baby sit this one. Will roll it later in the week once the time value decays out.

TSO has been reborn as ANDV. They bought western sands and for some reason changed the name. Premiums are not quite as good as when it was TSO but will watch how it trades for a few weeks. TSO was a great one for ladders.

Just FYI as I know some of you were trading TSO.

On vacation but at home and market is giving some opportunities.

Rolled WDC this week cc at 84 and 85 to 9/8 for 0.25 credit rolling up to 85 and the others were rolled to 84 at 0.90-0.97. Cost basis now under strike, will probably let assignment happen in 2 weeks if we are still above and then restart put ladder.

Will update the VXX synthetic on Friday, so far so good……….

Recent discovery and follow-up to cover calls versus rolling puts.

With the rebound WDC I am back to break even after 3 weeks after a 17 point drop. However the covered calls have recovered quicker than the put rolls. Bottom line is that is probably more efficient to accept shares and convert to covered calls instead of continuing to roll the puts. It will still take me another 3-4 weeks to break even on the put rolls which is money that remains tied up. The CC will close next week giving me money to trade with again.

Sometimes better to sell an ITM covered call instead of a put on the weeklys especially on stocks that have an upside bias. Looking at a trade on SVXY the other day at the 76 strike, the covered call would have made $1290 on 10 contracts and the put only $1100 on the same number of contacts. The extra money would more than offset the exercise and assignments fees and just as easy to roll the calls. Plus rolling the calls usually gives you more capital gains as well.

BTFD strikes again. Or in our case SOTFD (sell options on the FD). Wish I had not been so busy this morning. Would have sold SVXY puts and some SPY/ES puts this morning at the open but was too busy.

Oh well, will close out positions in next 1-3 weeks then reload. Hopefully people keep buying SPX puts to keep the VIX up.

Rolled WDC 9/17 90 put to Jan. 2018 for 3.57 credit.

Brings cost basis down to 85 and change but allows me to stay in some other positions now. Kind of backed myself into a corner with some margin but now everything can stay open.

Don’t know about the rest of you but TOS has done some weird stuff with margin as soon as vol. picks up, even on cash secured stuff. Will need to speak with them to see what they are doing and why they all of a sudden calculate you need more money when it is clearly covered.

At least now I can leave the XBI and SWKS ladders open to let theta do it’s thing.

Rolled WDC 87.5 call this week out 1 and 2 weeks to 84 and 85 calls for 0.77-0.90 credits. Cost basis now 87 and change on assignment at 90. I suppose I could short the stock because that will make it go back up. 1 up day in 2 weeks…….

BTC SWKS 9/8 100 put for 2.05. Sold for 3.03 on a roll a few weeks ago. Break even trade. Would have let it sit but need so extra margin to take advantage of the sentiment change.

I may roll a 37 DTE WDC 90 put out to Jan 2018 for 3.45 credit just to bring in some cash for some other trades. Have to figure out where I want to move it first.

STO WDC 8/18 84 calls at 0.83 and 85 calls at 0.72 against assigned positions. Will take about 3 weeks of rolling to break even and a few more weeks to make extra cash on it. Already have cost basis into mid 87s, assigned at 90 but currently sitting at 81 and change.

STO XBI 9/15 74 puts at 0.98. Resetting the ladder. Had to close a few early last week to open up some margin so I could take delivery of the wdc puts/stock.

WDC rolled next week 90.5 to 2 weeks out for 0.15 credit. I had no decay and just want another week or 2 to manage before I take more shares and trying to keep some margin open so I can follow some of you on these other trades.

That’s all I have today. Everyone have a good weekend!

SWKS rolled this week 104 put to 9/8 100 for credit of 0.20. 4 points down and still a credit. There was still some time value left but I have been assigned early this week on options that still had time value and not sure I would have time to adjust it tomorrow.

Also I am noticing my ladder trades do better than selling weekly options. Easier to adjust and more space between the current price and the strike price. As i unload stock now will re-establish some ladders in a few names. Right now only have ladders in SWKS and XBI.

This is not an ad, just something I find ironic at this time. Don Fishback has released a new service based on VIX trading. It is either long the XIV/VXX depending on volatility. From what I can tell most of the time it is long XIV which is similar to SVXY or the VXX or UVXY when vol spikes. Some of you have been doing this for years with the SVXY/UVXY trades. I think they are charging $1495 for it for a year.

Full disclosure, I took some of Don’s classes when I was learning and they were legit. Even priced fairly when they were on special/sale and has shaped my trading since and he predominantly sells options. But no need to spend money on something we have been doing for years. Maybe we should package our trades and sell them? Ha ha…….

VXX has options but XIV does not. Probably better to stick with our SVXY/UVXY trades so we can sell options and play both sides in both directions. Plus the contago effect of the SVXY/UVXY makes buying options on these an up hill battle or gives the sellers a tail wind. Even with VIX up slightly today SVXY is up and UVXY is down. Nice headwind!

In the long run the house always wins! To take a quote from one of their services, always be the house.

Rolled WDC 90.5 puts from this week to next for 0.21 credit. There was only 7 cents of decay left.

Will hold the 90s until later in the week, they still have some time value left.

STO 5 9/8 75 puts at 1.06.

No trades until expiration Friday but had some thoughts and observations. Sorry about the long post but most of you probably have the similar thoughts.

Don’t know about the rest of you but it seems my adjusted trades are the ones that pay the most once they finally become profitable. Especially true with rolled puts.
Sometimes an ITM covered call has better returns than a naked put and if the put is deep ITM sometimes quicker to get back to even by accepting shares and converting to covered calls.

I tend to do better in the long term with hard assets. Stocks, ETFs, because if assigned you have a hard asset. Futures can be hedged but once ITM they respond differently and harder to offset with the stock or other options. Also the margin requirements get funky once ITM.

Trading as a group has given me some ideas that I would not have realized otherwise. That has increased the returns dramtically and good to be here and part of the group. Keep the ideas flowing and THANKS!

Underlyings with weekly options are much easier to adjust and roll and I don’t think I will be trading anything that does not have weekly options in the future. No more /CL or /GC futures but may restart /ES strangles once VIX back above 12.

Compounding is hyperactive with weekly options. I am making more hitting singles and doubles by trading every week than by having the occasional home run. Trading every week except when on vacation is like pumping nitrous into the turbo on my car, rocket fuel on speed for your account balances.

I no longer look at trades as a single transaction. Now I look at trades as a series of positions with the ultimate goal of being profitable and can roll options into eternity or I stop breathing.

Thanks and hope I am giving everyone else some ideas as all of you have given me new trade ideas and underlyings I had not considered. Love the SVXY/UVXY trades on volatility spikes!

More trades Fri. or Mon. depending on how expiration and earnings work out and hope everyone has a good and profitable week.

Cheers, Chris

BTC SWKS 8/18 92.5 put for 0.25. Sold for 1.15.

Freeing up margin for later in the week and next week, hopefully we get a pull back and some volatility.

WDC reports tomorrow and should be able to roll or close those positions. In limbo until then but enjoying some crazy theta decay levels.

Snapped off a bunch of trades at lunch but did not have time to post until now.

BTC
SVXY 7/28 50, 62.5, and 55 puts at 0.03, 0.03, and 0.05. All sold for 1.10 or higher pre split
SVXY 8/4 57.5, 62.5 puts at 0.1, 0.11, and 0.12. All sold for 1.10 or higher pre split
SVXY 8/11 52.5 puts at 0.35 and sold for 1.25 pre split. This was to release a little margin.

STO
WDC 7/28 puts 90 at 1, 0.97, 0.92, and 0.91. (each drop was the time it took to change between accounts) That is some fierce time decay!

The WDC trades are earnings play but will probably roll back into ladders next week and if they go ITM easy to roll this one down a point or 2 each week. Strong support at 86 if it breaches so could also convert to covered calls.

For those interested you can get better return this week on WDC with ITM covered calls. At lunch the 90 CC was trading for 88.21 so good return if called out. I was in a hurry so just hit the put button but could get better return with ITM cc and so skewing to upside despite the drop this morning.

After a week on vacation, had some trades that needed to be cleared out.
Because of trading I look forward to Mondays. At least I didn’t have any trading withdrawal symptoms while on vacation.
Your posts kept me updated on the market, thanks.
BTC SWKS July 28 95 puts at 0.05, originally sold for 1.25
BTC XBI July 28 76.5 puts at 0.12, originally sold for 1.02
Also the August 4, August 11, and August 18 XBI 76, 73, and 72 puts for 0.19, 0.17, and 0.21 and had all been sold for over 1.00. Did this mostly to free up some margin so I could go big on the WDC trade as somewhat of an earnings play, report on July 27.
Sold to open the July 28 WDC 90.5 puts at 1.04. I probably will not set up another ladder, the premiums seem to be high enough to sell weekly’s for a while. Once the premiums drop would reestablish a ladder.
Also sold to open XBI September 1, 77 puts at 1.10.
Because the market was up last week and I had a lot of theta decay I made more money on vacation that I would have made at work, that is always fun!
Looking at some other names that still have good premium despite the low volatility and will post those later in the week.

Thurs trades. My day off so usually trade then.

Rolls
SVXY 7/14 115 puts to 8/11 puts for 1.2 credit. Initially sold for 1.25
SVXY 7/14 115 puts to 8/4 for 0.79 credit. Sold for 1.25
SVXY 7/14 125 to 8/4 for 1.29 credit. Sold for 0.99
Trying to roll SVXY 7/28 110 put but tradestation seems to be having some connectivity issues at the moment. Will try after bike ride.

I now have nothing expiring next week for vacation but still have a ton of theta decay so will make money while kiting, boating, and generally hanging out on a beach, nice! Selling options is a good skill to have.

Hope everyone has a good week, Chris

Rolled SWKS Jul 21 95 puts to aug 18 92.5 puts for .50 credit. Sold for 1.2 and there is still a lot of time value left but with the market up taking advantage of the roll today. On vacation next week and now nothing expiring next week so if the market does something stupid I have another week before have to adjust anything.

A few more rolls tomorrow then will take a week away from trading but the theta decay will still be working!

STO XBI Aug 25 72.5 puts at 1.09. Had more margin left over so added another week to the ladder. Now have 5 weeks running and just waiting on theta decay.

For some reason I am getting free alerts. If anyone is interested they just posted a put protected Goldman sachs long call diagonal whiz style.
BTO jan 19 170 call
STO July 17 230 call
BTO Jan 19 180 put at 72.60 debit

I have not looked at the trade, just FYI.

XRT, XLE popped up on tasty trade IV rank radar today.

My weekly screen with some of the tools I have showed good premiums in EXPE (don’t know when earnings) and /ES just triggered a 4 hour sell signal this morning. The 4 hour signal is usually good for the next week and about 80% accurate.

Light trading week for me, vacation next week so most of my trades will be to re-position so I don’t have anything expiring next week.

STO 8/18 XBI 72 puts at 1.07. Ladder complete. now just need time decay to work it’s magic.

BTC Jul 28 WDC put at 1.01. Sold for 1.4

TOS doing some weird stuff with my margin account so closing profitable positions to clear up the margin issues. Easier than trying to call them at the moment or trying to sort it out on line. They seem to be handling margin accounts like an IRA at the moment. Could not get an answer yesterday as to why.