#Earnings Sold to Open $PANW Feb 26th 110/115/144/149 iron condors for 1.55. Over its 11 past earnings reports, PANW’s Biggest UP move: 10.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -10.8%, Average move: 6.0%. These strikes are both 11.2% OTM.
Author Archives: Jeff
BIDU earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $BIDU Feb 26th 135/140/175/180 iron condors for 1.15. Over last 12 earnings, BIDU’s Biggest UP move: 11.0%, Biggest DOWN move: -15.0%, Average move: 7.8%. Short strikes are about 11% OTM.
FB covered puts
#Earnings #ShortStock
BTC $FB Feb 26th 105 put for .50. Sold for 1.60 on 2/3. Clearing puts so I can release this short stock position at lower levels. I think FB will be fine in long run but expect another trip down to 90’s in coming weeks.
5-hour spread closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 26th 1850/1825 put spreads for .20. Sold this morning for 1.30.
NUGT tornado trades
#ContangoETFs STO NUGT March 11th 37 put for 1.20
STO NUGT March 11th 35 puts for 1.05
STO NUGT March 18th 30 puts for .80
SPX call spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Mar 24th 2025/2050 call spreads for 1.60, with SPX at 1910.
Are SPX Dailys next?
#SPXcampaign I have joked for awhile that with the advent of weeklys we would eventually see “Dailys”, where stocks like AAPL and SPY and indices like SPX will have different options series expiring EVERY trading day. Well, it looks like we’re getting closer to that craziness…. (thanks to @alsumde for bringing this to my attention):
Extended Listings For Equity, ETF, ETN And Index Weeklys Options. Check Wednesday rule starting on 2/23/2016
In January 2014 CBOE issued Regulatory Circular RG14-010 re: “Expansion of Number of Expirations Listed in S&P 500 Index Weeklys Options (SPXW).” The circular provides that CBOE will list out and maintain six consecutive SPXW expirations at once, not counting the current expiration.
SPX Weeklys options (part of SPXW) are options that are listed to provide expiration opportunities every week. SPX Weeklys expiring at the end of each week (End of Week – EOW) are typically listed on Thursdays and expire on Fridays. As of February 23, 2016, CBOE began offering Wednesday Weeklys (also part of SPXW), which are typically listed on Tuesdays and expire the following Wednesday. (Note that EOW Weeklys or Wednesday Weeklys are not listed if either would correspond with a currently listed option, i.e. regular 3rd Friday or SPX End of Month – EOM options).
SPX Weeklys are PM-settled on the last trading day, typically a Friday for SPX EOW Weeklys, or a Wednesday for SPX Wednesday Weeklys. As with other PM-settled index options, the exercise-settlement value is calculated using the last (closing) reported sales price in the primary market of each component stock. On the last trading day, trading in expiring SPX Weeklys closes at 3:00 p.m. (Chicago time). All non-expiring SPX Weeklys continue to trade until 3:15 p.m. (Chicago time). For standard PM-settled, S&P 500 options that expire on 3rd Fridays, see ticker SPXPM.
These options are already tradeable at Interactive Brokers. They will be nice to use for rolls or occasional short-term spreads. This morning I sold the 1850/1825 spread for 1.35… got up toward 2.00, now is only .70. With the Wednesday options, there will be more opportunities for short-termers in these volatile markets.
PNRA put
#Earnings STO PNRA March 18th 190 put for 1.50. Partially offsets my 210 calls. Squeezing a bit of premium out of this one after taking a small loss on an earnings play. It seems to be hitting resistance but also has remained resilient through market turmoil.
UVXY nibbles
#VXXGame STO $UVXY Feb 26th 60 call for .30
STO UVXY Feb 26th 58 calls for .35
STO UVXY March 4th 70 calls for .63
SPX same week puts
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 26th 1850/1825 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 1899. These expire Friday.
SPX pre-market close
#SPXcampaign In pre-market fill, bought to close $SPX Feb 26th 1980/2005 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 on Feb 10th.
Like clockwork…
SPX resistance at 1950 and VIX support at 19.20 both held like clockwork and markets start tumbling again. TLT resuming its uptrend, and Gold also spiking again, with NUGT hitting its highest level since July 2015 at the open. Trade safe!
OptionsBistro available on mobile phones or tablets…
Just add the WordPress app to your mobile device! #Welcome
NUGT puts
#ContangoETFs Threw some out there as it has come down off its highs:
STO NUGT March 11th 35 puts for 1.10
STO NUGT March 18th 30 puts for .85
Each put I sell gives me a margin credit since I’m short so many calls. I will add more if premium rises. Need to be ready for a quick drop in NUGT but these are easy to roll or reverse-roll to calls once the inevitable down move begins.
UVXY mgt
#VXXGame Closed down some winners so I could start new positions:
BTC UVXY March 18th 110 calls for .47. Sold for 2.90 in early Feb
BTC UVXY March 18th 120 call for .38. Sold for 2.60 on Jan 25th
BTC UVXY March 11th 90 call for .28. Sold for 2.50 on Feb 5th
and starting…
STO UVXY March 11th 75 calls for .55
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign, showing down the gauntlet and selling a put spread, which will probably allow this market to start dropping precipitously. This is the first 5-week put spread I have sold in two weeks.
Sold to Open $SPX March 24th 1750/1725 for 1.35, with SPX at 1931.
FSLR earnings
#Earnings FSLR reports after the bell, but I’m not seeing enough premium for a safe neutral play. It has had fairly decent moves on earnings, meaning an iron butterfly would likely fail, but there isn’t enough premium in adequately far OTM strikes to sell a strangle or condor. Over the last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 17.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -13.8%, Average move: 10.2%. Staying outside its biggest move would mean you assume a Max Proj UP move to: 74.64, and a Max Proj DOWN move to: 52.36. Not enough premium for me so I’ll skip it. Would love to see anyone else’s ideas if they’re out there.
TLT added
#LongCalls Added to the positions started yesterday:
BTO TLT March 18th 130 call for 1.75
BTO TLT April 15th 133 call for 1.48
NUGT near-term
#ContangoETFs While volatility has relaxed, NUGT has replaced UVXY for same-week, far OTM call sales. Added some more:
STO NUGT Feb 26th 70 call for .50 (added)
STO NUGT Feb 26th 68 calls for .65
I’ll add another to each if they go up by a nickel.
VIX levels
As I posted yesterday, VIX has reached support level of 19.20. Yesterday’s close was lowest in 2016 and the 6th straight day lower, which we hadn’t seen since the October rally. Today should be a key day.
UVXY roll
#VXXGame I have a put spread in a smaller account, so before it gets ATM I wanted to roll, since spreads are harder to roll than naked:
BTC $UVXY March 18th 35/33 put spread for 1.05. Sold for .52 on Feb 12th
STO UVXY April 1st 30/28 put spread for .77.
Plan to make it an iron condor once we get some upside.
TLT long calls started
#LongCalls Opened new positions in March & April after doing well with long calls in Jan & Feb. I think this will continue higher and that rates still go lower.
BTO TLT March 18th 130 call for 2.40
BTO TLT April 15th 133 call for 1.95
I will add more, hopefully on pullbacks.
SPX and VIX levels
1950 a key level in SPX… not only a K-node for the Fib lines (Robert’s post below) but also the Feb 1st swing high. Also, VIX coming down to 19.20 level, which is the 100%-mark above Oct 28th low. This was support on Feb 1. If we can break these SPX and VIX levels decisively, it’s quite bullish.
PNRA calls
STO PNRA March 18th 210 calls for 3.20. Making up for some losses on the earnings play last week. Seems to be fairly murky getting through the 200-210 level, but only using half-position thus far. #Earnings
NUGT rolls
#ContangoETFs Slowly adding safer positions to make up for the 30-handle calls that ripped my face off.
STO $NUGT March 11th 75 calls for 1.80
OptionsExpiration 2/19/16
— Expiring w/max profit —
BOIL 22 calls
DUST 21 calls
EQIX 240/260/320/340 iron condors
KOLD 215 call
KOLD 110, 115, 123 puts
NUGT 58 calls
NUGT 28, 33, 34 puts
ZSL 70 & 75 calls
ZSL 45.5 puts
— Assignment —
NOW 60 puts, assigned long stock
— Expiring w/max loss —
HYG 81 long calls, followed a big spec trade on this for .16
FOSL 28/32/36 earnings put fly; I went bearish, stock went bullish
Have a great weekend everyone!
FB and PNRA earnings mgt
#Earnings Since I sold too many puts after being assigned, I’m taking off a couple today to leave my short stock position on:
BTC FB Feb 19th 108 put for 3.50. Sold for 1.10 on 2/2
BTC FB Feb 19th 105 put for .50. Sold for .70 on 2/1
BTC FB March 18th 100 put for 2.10. Sold for 2.30 on 2/5
STO FB April 1st 112 call for 1.50
BTC PNRA Feb 19th 200 calls for 3.45. Sold as part of a condor for 1.95 on Wednesday. Patience didn’t work with this one. May look to sell a roll next week.
TLT long calls
#LongCalls STC $TLT Feb 19th 123 call for 8.10. Bought for 2.13 avg in December. Got one more left so I will try to top-pick.
JWN earning closed
#Earnings Bought to close $JWN Feb 19th 45 puts for .15. Sold yesterday in a condor for .50. Wanted to let this expire but I don’t trust it or the market, especially with any big drops in retail stocks on earnings lately.
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign Although we barely notched above 1930, I am closing my lowest strikes call spread and #Rolling into an iron condor at the next expiration. This is to exit now rather than risk a push up to 1950, making things hairy.
BTC $SPX Feb 29th (monthly) 1950/1975 call spreads for 5.70. Sold for 1.45 on Feb 11th.
STO $SPX March 4th 1975/2000 call spreads for 4.00.
STO $SPX March 4th 1800/1775 put spreads for 1.45 (double position size)
#VXXGame STO UVXY March 4th…
#VXXGame STO UVXY March 4th 35 put for .87 (adding)
BTC UVXY March 4th 95 calls for .15. Sold for 1.05 on Feb 2nd
DUST and UVXY mgt
BTC $DUST June 23 calls for .30. Sold for 1.75 on Feb 2nd
BTC $UVXY March 18th 105 call for .80. Sold for 4.05 on Feb 9th
#Markets TLT really spiking as…
#Markets TLT really spiking as SPX falls back.
JWN earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $JWN Feb 19th 42.5/45/57.5/60 condors for .50. Max gain .50, max loss 2.00. Biggest UP move: 14.7% , Biggest DOWN move: -15.0% , Average move: 4.6% . Nordstrom’s has had these two large moves, but all other moves over the last 12 were under 6%. So I’m willing to go a bit inside the extremes, as the short strikes are 14% (puts) and 10% (calls) OTM. Stock rallied a bit since I got my fill, so you may want to skip the call side. But in any case, max loss is manageable.
EQIX earnings
#Earnings A bit of a crazy fill I got on this.
Sold to Open $EQIX Feb 19th 240/260/320/340 iron condors for 1.80. The long strikes are illiquid, so the fills were at the ask where there is no current bid, as follows:
240 long put 1.57
260 short put -2.61
320 short call -3.77
340 long call 3.01
If I try to sell the 320 naked, even at 3.20 I get no fill; so the 3.77 is due to the spread only. If you’re interested, might be worth watching during the day. But the short strikes are outside normal earnings moves. I added longs due to market environment and recent slaps from naked earnings plays.
Over the last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 7.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -3.7% , Average move: 2.9%. These strikes are both about 10.3% OTM.
DATA dump
#Earnings STC DATA stock for 41.78. Had a trailing stop from yesterday’s rise. Leaves me with only a small part of my original trade, which was put assignment at 62. This and NOW are ones which I’m taking some losses and not waiting out, due to uncertainty with the companies and the overall market.
$SPX Earlier spike in futures…
$SPX Earlier spike in futures was sold. now opening almost flat
NUGT calls
#ContangoETFs Followed @iceman and @fuzzballl at highest available strikes:
STO NUGT March 4th 75 calls for 1.00
STO NUGT March 18th 80 calls for 1.85
FOMC snore
FOMC minutes a big snore… now what? If we go any higher from here I will look to take my first stop on a call spread, the Feb 26th 1950/1975. Likely will roll one week further out into a far OTM put spread and a slightly higher call spread
FB mgt
#Earnings Still working around a short stock position with numerous short puts and a few short calls.
STO FB June 130 call for 1.23
PCLN earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to close $PCLN 1275/1300 call spread for .90. Sold yesterday as part of condor for 1.35. Taking this off to avoid possible tendency to run higher into week’s end.
#VXXGame BTC $UVXY March 18th…
#VXXGame BTC $UVXY March 18th 165 calls for .26. Sold for 2.70 avg price in January.
#VXXGame BTC $UVXY Feb 26th…
#VXXGame BTC $UVXY Feb 26th 35 puts for .18. Sold for 1.15 on Feb 1
VIX moves unimpressive
The VIX move down has been fairly lackluster during this rally… we are not seeing the falling knife that often forms. This may be because there was no capitulation low last week. This may signal a bear market rally that won’t hold, or it could be a stealth rally that just keeps going up even though no one believes in it. Watching Robert’s resistance levels; I’m bullish for this week into OpEx, cautious after that.
Dumped BePS
#SPXcampaign Sold to close $SPX March 11th 1895/1880 bear put spreads for 5.20. Bought for 8.00 on Friday. If we have more downside coming, my timing was definitely off.
NUGT opener
NUGT opener
#ContangoETFs STO NUGT Sep 80 call for 11.20 (highest strike). First of several rolls I owe myself from closed underwater positions.
Earnings update
#Earnings – PCLN’s move up is highest on earnings since Aug 2012. I will look to close the call spread today, at breakeven or small loss if necessary, as this one could definitely be a runner.
FOSL also broke its downward trend to pop on earnings… I have the rest of this week to see if it can drift below 35, which is breakeven area on my put butterfly.
FOSL earnings
#Earnings Trying a low cost speculative play on this. FOSL usually goes down on earnings, so…
Sold to Open bearish butterfly: Feb 19th 28/32/36 put fly for .83. Volatility should plummet tomorrow; breakevens on Friday are 28.85 (16% down) and 35.18 (2% up). Look to make a double or more if we spend any time in 32.00 area for rest of the week.
Earnings timing
#Earnings — Just a quick note to share an observation. While volatility typically keeps rising in the weeks and days before earnings, the same is not always true in the hours before the close… If selling naked options or credit spreads, it is often much better to sell in the morning before the release, whether than waiting until afternoon. The problem with selling early is if the stock makes a big intraday move, which can throw off your trade dynamics before the close. But often, an intraday move won’t matter; the drop in IV will overpower a move in the stock.
Take my PCLN trade from this morning, STO Feb 19th 875/900/1275/1300 iron condor for 1.35. Since I traded it, PCLN has moved UP 35 points, or 3%. However, the condor has already bled out. The call side alone was sold for .75 and now is trading for about the same, even though we’ve had a 3% move against the calls. The put side has dropped from .75 to .25.
Just something to keep in mind. I’ve heard some say they that last half-hour before earnings is highest IV. This is normally not true (although it is sometimes). Best IV is most usually in the first half-hour, even on earnings days.
NUGT & DUST
#ContangoETFs
BTC DUST June 25 call for .40. Sold for 2.15 on Jan 11th
BTC NUGT Feb 26th 37 call for 9.00. Sold for 1.35. I have been scaling down my underwater positions without rolling yet. If we get another surge higher I will look to sell longer dated, higher positions.
SPX put closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 26th 1675/1650 put spreads for .20 Sold for 1.25 on Jan 25th. This is my last put credit spread, leaving me 100% short on the SPX strategy…. maybe just in time for a full market recovery? That’s the tough element in this strategy, but it is fully manageable if you follow the rules. My lowest short strike is the 1950 calls. I will look to roll out positions based on what Fib levels get cleared and if the VIX falls below 16.93. I believe we can rally even above 2000 before bears take back the reigns, but we need to be ready in case the correction has ended.
PCLN earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $PCLN Feb 19th 875/900/1275/1300 iron condors for 1.35. Over last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 8.5% , Biggest DOWN move: -9.6% , Average move: 4.8% . Short strikes are each over 17% OTM.
FB tanking
FB tanking
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign In pre-market, Bought to close $SPX March 11th 1600/1575 put spreads for .50. Sold for 1.25. Stop was set higher than usual to avoid longer exposure.
UVXY trimming
#VXXGame Booked several near-term positions, all at 90% max profit or higher:
BTC UVXY Feb 19th 29 puts for .03
BTC UVXY Feb 26th 28 puts for .03
BTC UVXY Feb 19th 85 calls for .05
BTC UVXY Feb 26th 85 calls for .43
BTC UVXY Feb 26th 95 calls for .23
BTC UVXY Feb 26th 110 calls for .09
SPX call spread, March monthly
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 17th 2025/2050 call spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 1886.
UVXY moving up steadily despite…
UVXY moving up steadily despite decent strength in SPX
Options Expiration 2/12/16
#OptionsExpiration Quite a tough week, with a bullish feeling at the end… rally into next week or more downside ahead?
— Expiring with 100% of max profit:
NUGT 30 and 30.5 puts
UVXY 70 calls
UVXY 29 puts
SPX 1770/1745 put spreads
SPX 1790/1765 put spreads
SPX 1925/1950 call spreads
SPX 1990/2015 call spreads
— Assignment —
VLO 66 put, short stock position closed
SPX put DEBIT spread
#SPXcampaign Putting money where my bearish mouth is… half-sized position,
Bought to Open $SPX March 11th 1650/1625 put spreads for 1.40. Idea is to double money next week if we push back down toward 1800. This is in addition to Robert’s ITM put spread I bought below.
SPX call spread
#SPXcampaign, I guess I am 5 points more patient than @Ramie…
Sold to Open $SPX March 4th 1980/2005 call spreads for 1.25, with SPX at 1857.
UVXY
BTC $UVXY Feb 19th 70 calls for 1.20. Sold for 2.75. Good enough profit to close this; it was my lowest strike and don’t want to risk what could be a volatile week. Replaced them with…
STO UVXY March 11th 35 puts for 1.35
Smaller account: STO UVXY March 18th 35/33 put spreads for .52
Trimming
In addition to the ETFs I mentioned below, I am also scaling back on some troubled long positions, as I feel we will be going lower overall in the coming weeks. PLEASE do not take that as gospel… there are some who think we may have made a sufficient base at support around the Oct 2014 lows and will now grind or fly higher. Could be. But my opinion has formed since November’s slide down and only gotten stronger. Perhaps my posting of this will signal the bottom! But until that is clear, I remain bearish.
STC $DATA stock for 40.67. This was earnings assignment from 62 puts. Closed half the position before stock was assigned, now reducing more. I have sold one covered call (March 45)
BTC $NOW Feb 19th 60 puts at 12.00, avg price. Still holding on to some, offset with short calls
If these were stocks like DIS or MSFT going underwater, holding through pain will eventually pay off. But these companies are less liquid and could bleed off and never recover.
NUGT and KOLD
I’ve come under some margin pressure for over-sized call positions in both these names. I have been scaling back, closing my only remaining ITM KOLD call and a few NUGT ITM calls. I am refraining from new positions now. As I don’t want to limit my margin power in the future, I will hold off on selling multiple calls on these ETF’s until they are in a very strong uptrend. The spikes seem to happen often enough, but during the boring parts in between I sell too many that then go underwater. I am not rolling now as that wouldn’t help the margin issue, so I will look to profit from these #ContangoETFs in the coming weeks. I still have multiple OTM calls that should be safe in both KOLD and NUGT.
SPX calls
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 29th (monthlys) 1950/1975 call spreads for 1.45.
OPEC reportedly ready to cut…
OPEC reportedly ready to cut output = bounce
FB mgt
#Earnings #ShortStock Sold to Open $FB March 4th 110 calls for 1.00 and April 1st 112 call for 1.75. Also, BTC Feb 12th 110 put for 9.20. This is management against my short stock position… sold too many puts when it was above 110, so backing out of some to hold the short stock for lower prices.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Bought to close $SPX Feb 26th 2025/2050 call spreads for .20. Originally sold for 1.55.
Stopped out, March 4th 1700/1675 put spreads for 2.90. Originally sold for 1.25.
#ReverseRoll Sold to Open SPX March 4th 1960/1985 call spreads for 1.45.
Selling a call spread on a 2% down day, you ask? Yes! Call spreads are working without fail. I will definitely sell more with any bounce higher today and every day there’s a bounce, but currently I have stopped selling put spreads more than a few days out.
We are now at the…
We are now at the Jan 20th lows.
SPX one-day trade
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1770/1745 put spreads for 1.40. Expires tomorrow. Also still sitting on 1790/1765 spreads, which are a bit of a nail biter.
UVXY short-term
#VXXGame This is a trade that has been working for 5 weeks straight. On Thursday or Friday, use any spikes in $UVXY to sell calls expiring the following Friday (7 to 8 days DTE) about 25-30 points above current price. Then continue to add more on Monday or Tuesday if there are more spikes. I have this week’s 70 calls that should expire tomorrow, sold between .50 and 1.10. I usually end up with 7-10 contracts around .70-.80 avg price, so a nice $500-$800 gain each week. There will likely be a week where we get a much bigger volatility spike, and this trade will have to be rolled or closed with a loss. But as long as VIX remains orderly, this is working. This morning…
Sold to Open UVXY Feb 19th 85 calls for 1.07. I missed the highs but will sell more if we go higher, or move to a lower strike if UVXY drops.
TLT trade
#LongCalls I wish I had purchased more of these; the Jan 123 calls were a nice profit, but these are a home run. Peeling off one now in case this morning was a short-term high.
STC $TLT Feb 19th 123 call for 11.25. Bought in Dec for 2.00.
New low in SVXY
Breaking it’s most recent low of 31.90 on 1/20/15; Lowest since Jan 2013
#VXXGame
More SPX calls
#SPXcampaign, following @Ramie on this one, Sold to Open $SPX Feb 26th 1980/2005 call spreads for 1.35.
NOW hedge
#Earnings STO $NOW March 18th 60 call for 1.05. Selling against underwater puts.
PNRA earnings
#Earnings Bought to close $PNRA Feb 19th 165/155 put spreads for .10. Sold as part of condor yesterday for 1.95. Will close calls when price pulls back.
