#VXXGame STO $UVXY Feb 26th 35 puts for 1.05
STO UVXY March 4th 32 puts for 1.05
Author Archives: Jeff
Chicken NUGT
#ContangoETFs Got caught in some ITM $NUGT calls so I’ve been rolling a bit out at a time. Today, BTC $NUGT Feb 19th 35 call for 5.50. Will sell a rolled call on the next pop up. Leaving others for now.
Also, followed @Iceman on some of these:
STO NUGT Feb 12th 30 puts for .30
STO NUGT Feb 12th 30.5 puts for .40
STO NUGT Feb 19th 26 put for .90
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 11th 2020/2045 call spreads for 1.25, with SPX at 1873.
PNRA earnings
#Earnings Filled while driving yesterday: Sold to Open $PNRA Feb 19th 155/165/200/210 iron condors for 1.95. Slightly bearish placement, seeing 200 as resistance near all-time high.
SPX same week calls
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1925/1950 call spreads for 1.40. Expires this Friday.
NOW hedges
#Earnings STO $NOW March 18th 55 call for 1.35 (thanks @Ramie)
STO NOW May 20th 60 call for 2.05
VIX chart
Interesting doji on the VIX chart today. This can often signal a reversal for the VIX, meaning the market goes up. But although we may go up for a day or few, I believe we are trending down for much longer.
Trades while driving….
STO $UVXY March 18th 28 puts for 1.19
STO $DUST March 18th 5 puts for .65
BTC $ZSL Feb 19th 82.5 calls for .05. Sold pre-split for 1.275 effective price.
BTC $SPX Feb 26th 2015/2040 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.20.
BTC $NOW Feb 19th 60 put for 13.80. Backing out 1 at a time, also will keep some and sell calls.
BTC $KOLD Feb 19th 135 call for 25.90. Sold for 18.10 on Nov 19th. Backing out of Feb positions; will be selling new premium at a later time, but keeping margin in reserve for now.
VIX signal fired
My VIX indicator fired a signal today when we rose 25% above Thursday’s close (above 27.30). Next signal level is 32.00. These signals continue to mean more volatility ahead until we see a huge capitulation VIX spike (i.e. dump in the market), or lower and lower days on the VIX. A key level to the downside is 19.20, which we almost touched last week but is acting like support now.
On the road
Since moving to Portland, I’m now 3 for 3 on market corrections syncing with road trips to LA. I’ll be home Tuesday night so look for relief rally on Wednesday.
UVXY added
#VXXGame STO $UVXY Feb 12th 70 calls for .85 and .90, adding to what I sold last week.
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Bought to Close $SPX March 4th 1700/1675 put spreads for 2.90. Sold last week for 1.25.
This happened last week too; stopped out on there 5-week spreads and then make up the loss with several same-week spreads. Not an ideal situation. so I have to reconsider selling the 5-week put spreads at all. However, all call spreads work.
BWLD earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $BWLD Feb 19th 170 calls for .10. Earnings strangle sold last week for 2.40, now closed for .20 total.
Call spread sold
$SPX Sold to Open $SPX March 11th 2000/2025 call spreads for 1.30. Not normal for me to sell calls on such a down day, but every call spread is working and put spreads can be toxic. If this one gets threatened it will mean a significant turnaround for the whole market.
NUGT roll
#ContangoETFs #Rolling Got stuck with a few NUGT calls in the 30’s expiring in Feb. All my other calls are 50 and above. Starting with some rolls,
BTC NUGT Feb 26th 35.5 call for 15.00
STO NUGT March 18th 37 call for 15.30
If we get some pullback I will roll some more, and may add some puts below 25, but that’s usually dangerous.
NOW and DATA
#Earnings For any that followed on these trades, they are obviously busts. Patience is usually a virtue, but in this market and these two tickers, it is hard to say. I peeled off some of DATA on Friday, had a chance to take a small loss on NOW but stayed in and got hit by DATA’s collateral damage. If you are uncomfortable I suggest taking the loss, or at least starting to peel some off. If you want to try Tasty Trade techniques, you can sell calls (even ITM) and just work to bring in more premium as the days go by. When and if these will regain pre-earnings levels is too difficult to predict. Sorry for anyone stuck in these, but this is the peril of selling naked. Going forward, this market has shown that earnings trades must be very cautious with earnings trades.
SPX Put spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 11th 1600/1575 put spreads for 1.25, with SPX at 1843. Interesting, the March 11th SPX put chain skips most 5-point strikes below 1600. I don’t see that in other weeks.
Calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 26th 2025/2050 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.25.
VIX moving
This appears to be the biggest UP-day for the VIX in the last week. Up 11-12% with no immediate pullback. Either a signal of rougher waters ahead, or if it pulls back dramatically today could be a sign of relief rally.
Pre-market calls closed
#SPXcampaign In pre-market, Bought to Close $SPX Feb 18th 2010/2035 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.25. In pre-market I have two SPX put spreads that are threatened, but still below my stops.
Added NUGT
#ContangoETFs Sold to Open $NUGT March 18th 50 call for 5.25
FB & DATA management
#Earnings
Bought to close $FB Feb 5th 110 put for 6.40, and covered 100 shares of short FB stock for 103.67. Decided to take advantage of the overdone day and roll the put. I have sold several FB puts and will sell more next week.
Bought to close (1) $DATA Feb 5th 62 put for 20.50. Reducing risk over weekend by taking assignment of fewer shares. Also earlier, I sold (1) March 18th 45 call for 3.00.
Options Expiration 2/5/16
#OptionsExpiration Rough week with DATA earnings trade going south. This will be a tougher one to manage than FB or VLO as the company is newer and has an uncertain future.
Expiring with 100% of max profit:
$CMI 81.5 puts
$DATA 100 calls
$SPX 1980/2005 call spreads
$UVXY 23, 27 puts
$UVXY 27/25 put spread
$UVXY 55 calls
$VLO 73 call
#Assignment
$DATA 62 puts, long stock assigned, cost basis 60.80
$VLO 63 & 65 puts, covering most of my short stock position, cost basis over 70.00
Expiring Worthless:
$SPX 1675/1650 put debit spread – bought a couple weeks ago, but the down moves did not come soon enough, so never got a profit to take.
CMI calls closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $CMI Feb 5th 98 calls for 1.30. Sold as part of earnings strangle for 1.05. Taking the small loss on this one as I don’t need another stock position to manage.
UVXY calls
#VXXGame Sold a few UVXY Feb 12th 70 calls for .45. May add a few more if premium increases.
KOLD closes
#ContangoETFs Performed some margin management this morning by closing some calls. I will replace the 97 with new ITM calls in the future, but the rest were closed with profit.
BTC KOLD Feb 97 call for 79.00. Sold for 16.10 on Sept 29th
BTC KOLD Feb 250/275 call spreads for .65. Sold for 1.00 on 12/29
BTC KOLD Feb 270 calls for .50. Sold for 16.50 on 12/22
BTC KOLD Feb 240 calls for 1.50. Sold for 14.00 on 12/24
and these BOIL calls closed on GTC orders: (interesting that they finally close on an UP day for BOIL)
BTC BOIL March 35 call for .05. Sold for 2.30 on Nov 6th
BTC BOIL March 30 call for .05. Sold for 3.50 on Nov 5th
FB puts
#Earnings STO $FB Match 18th 100 put for 2.30 (earlier), and April 15th 87.5 put for 1.60.
I now have more puts than I do short stock, ranging from 87.5 to 110, so now I will have to control which ones I allow to be assigned and which ones I will roll.
DATA mgt
#Earnings BTC (1) $DATA Feb 5th 62 put for 18.75. Covered 1 of 5 in case we drop further from here. Looking to sell a March call if we get more bounce.
SPX puts
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open March 4th 1680/1655 put spreads for 1.25.
DATA bouncing, but now it’s NOW
#Earnings DATA bounced off the 40.00 level and has been trending up, even as markets are dropping. The collateral damage though is against sector sister NOW, down 15% today, for which I am short the Feb 19th 60 puts.
SPX one-week spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1790/1765 put spreads for 1.35. Expire next Friday.
DATA
Cramer slamming it on CNBC and he has a point. Hopefully 40 will hold as 39.57 was overnight low.
FB dropping
Surprised that FB is pulling back this much this soon after topping above 117 on Tuesday. I was nervous about being short the stock at 105.00 cost basis, now it don’t seem so bad.
Earnings slam
DATA down over 40% and LNKD down over 30%… these will be all-time biggest one-day post-earnings in each stock’s history (assuming no massive rally today). I did not trade LNKD but some here did, and I sold a strangle on DATA including 62 puts. With a smaller company like DATA, it is tougher to know how long it will be to recover, or if it ever does. For now, I will take assignment of the stock and sell premium around it. The majority of the time, there’s an eventual return to the mean… but other stocks, like TWTR, can keep dropping. This is, of course, why position size is so important with naked options. I always assume the stock could drop to zero and make sure that I wouldn’t lose half my account. (with DATA, I have 5 puts).
DATA and LNKD
LNKD getting slammed, which is why I didn’t trade it… DATA also taking a hit, hope it can stay above my 62 puts…
SPX day trade
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 5th 1850/1825 put spreads for .25. Sold for 1.50 this morning.
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NUGT again
#ContangoETFs STO $NUGT Jan 2017 75 call for 7.70. GTC order in to sell the next one for 8.70.
NUGT call
#ContangoETFs STO NUGT June 72 call for 3.70. Highest strike. GTC order placed to sell the next one for 4.70.
DATA earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $DATA Feb 5th 62/100 strangles for 1.20. The largest moves over the last 12 earnings reports: Biggest UP move: 21.4% , Biggest DOWN move: -10.7% , Average move: 10.5% . These strikes are both 23.5% OTM.
SPX two-day spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 5th 1850/1825 put spreads for 1.50. After being stopped on the 1860/1835 spread yesterday, replacing with a slightly lower one. Remember we have nonfarm payrolls on Friday morning
Earnings results
#Earnings Two trades from yesterday worked perfectly, with BWLD and CMI both with minimal movement this morning. BTC BWLD Feb 19th 100 puts for .10. Bidding to close the 170 call for .10, and both CMI options for .02, or they’ll expire tomorrow.
one of those days…
..where you get stopped at the bottom when SPX is down 1.5%, then it rips back up to end positive before I could throw on any rolls. Oh well. I’m sure more chances are coming. As for the call side, just Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1990/2015 call spreads for 1.25. #SPXcampaign
a few trades…
CMI earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $CMI Feb 5th 81.5/98 strangles for 1.05. These are the largest 1-day moves after last 12 reports: Biggest UP move: 6.8% , Biggest DOWN move: -8.7% , Average move: 4.2% . These strikes are 8.9% (puts) and 9.5% (calls) OTM.
BWLD earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $BWLD Feb 19th 110/170 strangles for 2.40. These are the 21-day moves over the last 12 reports: Biggest UP move: 19.4% , Biggest DOWN move: -15.9% , Average move: 10.2% . These strikes are both about 21% OTM. IV should also drop by 50% tomorrow.
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 12th 1800/1775 put spreads for 2.90. Sold for 1.25 on Tuesday.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to Close $SPX Feb 18th 2025/2050 call spreads for .20. Originally sold for 1.40.
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 5th 1860/1835 put spreads for 2.45. My guess is this would have made it, but it went over my 3.00 stop yesterday and I let it go because we were extended for the day and I felt we would get a bounce around 1900 level. We did, but today’s action is not promising. This was sold as part of a same-week iron condor on Monday for 2.65… so for the full trade I’m getting out with a small profit. Thanks Addy, for the idea on Monday.
SPX call spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 4th 2025/2050 call spreads for 1.55.
Good morning…
My sense remains that we are going lower. I’m trying to sell call spreads that I should have sold on Monday afternoon. This is only one guy’s opinion… there are others who think it’s time to buy equities at these cheaper prices. Make your own decisions!
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 12th 2015/2040 call spreads for .20. Originally sold for 1.25.
UVXY mgt
#VXXGame BTC $UVXY Feb 19th 74 call for .75. Sold for 6.75 on Jan 11th, when it was the highest strike.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 1990/2015 call spreads for .15. Sold for 1.25. Closing one of two call spreads; will let the 1980/2005 expire Friday.
FB covered puts
STO $FB Feb 12th 110 put for .55
STO $FB March 18th 105 put for 1.35
CMG earnings
#Earnings, I am skipping this one due to the recent news-driven volatility. But if you want to try, over the last 12 reports, Biggest UP move: 18.4% , Biggest DOWN move: -9.2% , Average move: 9.2% . Based on current price of 473.00 and its largest move of 18.4%, its Max Proj UP move is to: 560.17 , and Max Proj DOWN move is to: 385.83. That is only based on past earnings. This is the first report after all of the e-coli news.
ETF circus
#ContangoETFs
STO $DUST June 123 calls for 1.75
STO $TZA July 85 call for 5.90
STO $KOLD Feb 19th 270 calls for 1.40
STO KOLD May 310 call for 7.20
BTC KOLD Feb 120 puts for .40. Sold for 1.30 on 1/7
SPX more puts
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 4th 1700/1675 put spreads for 1.25. First sale in this expiration.
Short Stock, covered puts
#Earnings – now I have two short stock positions from earnings trades. VLO has been working nicely, assigned in 4th quarter at 65 and now cost basis above 70. FB, not so pretty yet, with cost basis just above 105. The danger on that one is it will start flying very high. So I will just sell puts against these as often as I can.
STO $VLO Feb 12th 66 put for 1.95
Yesterday: STO $FB Feb 5th 110 put for .75, and Feb 19th 105 put for .70
SPX puts
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 12th 1800/1775 put spreads for 1.25. Expire next week.
UVXY puts
#VXXGame It’s looking more and more like this could be a bull run for many days, but I will still play for a reversal to the downside until key VIX levels start breaking
STO $UVXY Feb 26th 28 puts for 1.15
KOLD calls
#ContangoETFs STO KOLD Feb 19th 215 call for 1.80 (thanks @Ramie)
STO KOLD May 20th 300 call for 4.40
SPX same-week spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 5th 1860/1835 puts for 1.25. Adding a 1980/2005 call side on the next swing up. Following Addy on this trade. This can get into trouble fast if we have strong moves this week, so have to watch closely.
Good morning…
Looking to cautiously sell some SPX put spreads. I won’t get aggressive with them unless we start to drop much lower.
Options Expiration 1/29/16
Expiring with max profit:
$AMZN 515/710 strangles
$DUST 20 calls
$NUGT 35 calls
$FB 89/84 put spreads
$SPX 1955/1980 call spreads
$UVXY 60 calls
$VLO 64 puts
$VLO 74 call
#Assignments
$FB 102 calls, going short stock, cost basis 105 (did not play that one very well)
$VLO 67 puts, part of short stock position being covered
Have a great weekend everyone… I’ll be trading from Los Angeles next week!
AAPL earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $AAPL Jan 29th 100/95 put spread for 4.10. Sold as part of iron butterfly on Tuesday for 3.85, plus calls closed for .13 on Wednesday, so loss was only .38 + commission. Decent recovery saved us .75 today!
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KOLD trades
#ContangoETFs BTC $KOLD Feb 270 calls for .50. Sold for 16.50 on Dec 22nd
STO KOLD May 85 puts for 2.20
STO KOLD aug 70 put for 2.00
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 26th 2025/2050 call spreads for 1.25
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 5th 1750/1725 put spreads for .20. Sold on Monday for 1.50.
AAPL iron butterfly management
I plan to do a webinar on the placement, management, and closing of iron butterflys… look for it later this quarter.
For those of you who followed on the AAPL butterfly this week, the trade didn’t work out. However, the good thing about these trades is the risk/reward, so losses are minimal. You brought in a 3.85 credit when you sold the butterfly, so whatever you pay today to close will count against that.
First, realize that you sold two credit spreads: a 100/105 call spread, and a 100/95 put spread. Assuming we stay below 100, the call spread will expire worthless and requires no action (regardless of whether you closed the short calls on Wednesday). The put spread MAY require action.
If AAPL closes the day at or above 95.00, you WILL be assigned stock at 100.00 if you do not act. This is because the long 95 puts will expire worthless, but your short 100 puts will expire in-the-money. To avoid this assignment, buy-to-close the 100 calls. You can try to get the cheapest price to close by waiting later in the day and/or for AAPL to move higher intraday.
If AAPL closes below 95.00, your whole put spread will expire ITM. You can do nothing if you wish, and your broker will execute the options and you will be debited $500 per spread (buy the stock at 100, then sell it at 95). My broker charges nothing for this execution, so I often let these expire. But if your broker charges for it, you may want to close manually during the day, as commission charges are probably cheaper. Put in the order to close the spread for 5.00. You might be able to get a lucky fill for 4.90 or something.
The goal today is to try to get out for less than 5.00. You can do this with a lucky fill on the spread, or legging out based on the intraday swings. If it’s a bullish day, waiting until right before the close might be beneficial as all extrinsic value will drain out, and hopefully the stock will be near high of the day.
Feel free to ask further, I am here until about 10:30 PT, 1:30 ET.
#Earnings
Heading south…
Today my wife and I start the drive to Los Angeles to prepare our North Hollywood house for sale.
The last two times we drove to LA were October 2014, and late Jan/early Feb 2014. For those with fuzzy memories, a quick look at the charts shows what happened to the markets. I know there are so many traders who claim their travels cause the markets to dive…. I won’t claim that, but felt obliged to warn you.
I will still be trading next week and managing Bistro, although may not be as quick to respond.
FB update
#Earnings I have now sold all of my $FB long 107 calls, leaving me short the 102 calls. If I am assigned short stock tomorrow, cost basis will be 105.00.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign I wanted to let this expire, but I was messing around with an order earlier today and forgot to take it off. So..
Bought to close $SPX Jan 29th 1830/1805 put spreads for .40. Sold yesterday for 1.30.
AMZN earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $AMZN Jan 29th 710 calls for 1.20. Waiting for some pullback to sell 515 puts.
