#Earnings Closed $COST June 1st 195 puts for .16. Sold yesterday for 1.583 (avg price)
Author Archives: Jeff
Pie, CC, & Leap trades
#PieTrade BTC $AMAT June 1st 51.5 call for .12. Sold for .75 on Tuesday.
Sold June 8th 52.5 call for .55.
#CoveredCallCampaign #coveredcalls
BTC $BABA June 8th 190 put for .25. Sold in a #StrangleRoll for 5.28 on May 10th.
Sold $FB June 29th 200 call for 1.90.
#LEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCall
BTC $TQQQ June 8th 52.5 puts for .20. Sold in a #StrangleRoll on May 14th for 2.10 (effective price)
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX June 29th 2815/2840 call spreads for 1.60.
Also, closed on GTC order: June 8th 2600/2575 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.60 on May 11th.
May Jobs Report
#Jobs Strong month, with lowest unemployment rate since 2000.
+223,000 non-farm payroll jobs, vs 188K expected
Unemployment down to 3.8%, lowest since April 2000
U6 unemployment at 7.6%, down by .2
Wages up 0.3%, reflecting 2.7% annualized
Labor force participation 62.7%, down 0.1
Apr revised down from 164K to 159K
Mar revised up from 135K to 155K
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Don’t want to leave this risk out there with VIX moving higher.
Closed $SPX June 1st 2675/2650 put spreads for .70. Sold for 4.40 on May 10th as a #ReverseRoll.
FB call roll
#CoveredCallCampaign Closed $FB June 8th 190 call for 3.60. Sold for 2.75 on May 10th.
Sold June 29th 185 put for 2.00. Will sell a call at new highs.
COST earning
#Earnings Sold to Open $COST June 1st 195 puts for 1.55. Biggest UP move: 3.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.0%, Average move: 2.8%. This trade is -1.8% OTM. This is a bullish trade. I’ll probably convert to a long position if my puts go ITM.
Earnings ULTA and COST
#Earnings Bullish or neutral on ULTA, bullish on COST.
Trying the $ULTA June 1st 230/270 strangle for 3.00-3.40. No fill yet, backing in. Biggest UP move: 17.3%, Biggest DOWN move: -9.1%, Average move: 6.6%. Bias +2.55% Strikes are +/-8.0%
FB flying
Breaking out to all time highs. Long stock, plus 190 covered call I will be rolling. Also,
Closed on GTC order: $FB June 8th 180 put for .25. Sold for 2.40 on May 10th.
Yesterday, closed on GTC order: $AAPL June 8th 195 covered call for .20. Sold for 1.75 on May 7th.
Leaping
#LEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCall
I’ve been watching @fuzzballl‘s LEAP plays and thought I’d use a couple of Jan 2019 call positions for the strategy. I’ve already been doing this with $TQQQ long 50 calls. (Jan 2020).
In November and this month, I bought two $PYPL Jan 2019 100 calls for 2.66 average price. These are at a small loss now. I need only .08 per week, so I will be selling 2-4 weeks out.
Today, sold PYPL June 15th 83 call for 1.25. I only sold one for now, will likely do these piecemeal rather than all at once. If I start to acquire a lot of these plays, I may prefer all at once.
In Nov, Dec, and Jan, I bought 4 $SQ Jan 2019 60 calls, 3.52 avg price. These are now more than doubled.
I’ll be selling weeklys against this; orders in to catch the next pop. I need only .11 per week.
I bought these OTM so it’s much easier to cover the cost than the TQQQ ITM call purchase.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 29th 2575/2550 put spreads for 1.70.
Decent day for earnings
Perennial favorites: GME, LULU, WDAY, ULTA, COST, VMW
OLED bump again?
Apple is reportedly planning on using OLED screens on new iPhones going forward. Consumers could see a good deal of benefits, according to @robotodd. https://t.co/2UwiadLGJS
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 31, 2018
Classic whipsaw
All things considered, I handled it as best as I can expect, in that I protected myself by closing some bullish spreads, but didn’t panic close positions, leaving a couple ATM/ITM put spreads in place. Now I’m stuck with some underwater call spreads but won’t panic close them… tough part is we are officially under Downside Warning again, which means we could easily collapse in the coming weeks. Below is a chart showing the warnings on the SPX chart… after the 2nd warning, we still had some wild swings. But since then we’ve been squeezing into a tight range. Anyone’s guess, but this third warning could be a head-fake.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 8th 2750/2775 for 3.25, as a #ReverseRoll
Sold $SPX June 29th 2800/2825 call spreads for 1.80.
SPX roll sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 22nd 2610/2585 put spreads for 2.30, with 1.33x-position size. Not much lower on the strikes than the spread this replaces, but it’ll do.
UVXY calls
#VXXGame Yesterday, Sold $UVXY July 20th 20 calls for 1.20.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign These two also got stopped yesterday, orders filling on the end of the day bounce. The May 31st one kinda sucked, since it is much cheaper this morning, but it was too close to expiration to risk a further drop. I am mapping out rolls for everything today… some in calls, some in puts, some in condors.
Stopped: $SPX May 31st 2675/2650 put spreads for 6.50. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 6.70.
Stopped: $SPX Jun 14th 2610/2585 put spreads for 2.90. Sold for 1.65 on May 14th.
New downside warning
#VIXIndicator… for perspective, when this happened on Feb 28th (another warning firing a few days after the previous one had been canceled), the SPX closed at 2713. We hit the low of 2553 on April 2nd, so a full month later. During that month, we also reached a high of 2801.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign STOPPED: $SPX June 22nd 2620/2595 put spreads for 4.10. Sold for 1.70 on Thursday.
Closed on GTC order: SPX June 14th 2810/2835 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.80 on May 15th.
I will probably be stopping a couple more put spreads before the close, especially if no rally develops soon.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign. Closed on GTC order: $SPX June 1st 2750/2775 call spreads for .40. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 8.00 on May 15th.
Dump
Looks like I picked the wrong hour to be away from my desk!
AMAT covered call
#PieTrades #CoveredCalls Sold $AMAT June 1st 52 covered call for .75.
SQ covered call
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $SQ June 29th 61.5 covered call for 1.60
OLED, boom!
iPhone may use their screens… https://seekingalpha.com/news/3359877-universal-display-plus-12_4-percent-iphone-oled-report
Italy this time
#VIXIndicator In pre-market we have a signal on the VIXIndicator which indicates to be wary of new downside risk, this time due to Italy’s political crisis causing a big drop in the Euro. Whether we get a new Downside Warning will depend on the VIX closing price.
Econ Calendar for week of 5/28/18
May jobs report is Friday at 8:30am ET.
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 22nd 2795/2820 call spreads for 1.70. No upside warning so I’m still selling both sides of this market.
Upside Warning data
#VIXIndicator Looking less likely we’ll get an Upside Warning today, but in any case here’s an updated version of the chart I posted months ago. The blue bars with numbers on top represent the percentage move UP from the close of an Upside Warning day to the eventual SPX high before another pullback. The numbers at the bottom of each bar are the percentage move DOWN from the preceding correction, and the date of the Upside Warning. Please ask any questions you have! (you can click on the chart to see it full screen)
Squeezing to explode, or collapse?
Interesting look at the VIX chart… I think today’s close will be telling.
Fascinating. Tags on both sides this week. $VIX pic.twitter.com/XpfPoGHlhh
— Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) May 25, 2018
SPX long calls added
#SPXcampaign Added another batch of long $SPX June 15th 2825/2850 call spreads for .40. I now have a triple-sized position at avg price of .743
It’s a long shot, but no so outlandish as to be called a lottery ticket. I think we’ll get an Upside Warning today which gives us a good shot at a new all-time high on SPX. $RUT is already doing that, and $VIX is telling us these intraday swoons aren’t causing any panic.
GUSH blow off top?
#ContangoETFs $GUSH topped out early this week at 47, which triggered my rolling of several ATM positions… then it did what a ContangoETF is supposed to do… dropped dramatically. Bummer that its highs had to be right around my strikes, forcing the rolls. I rolled one into a strangle that may soon have its 31 puts breached. I waited on another, which was a mistake as it is now too low to roll into a higher call. Such is the folly with these ones destined toward zero.
Two down, one to go
#VIXIndicator Another somewhat volatile day capped with a plunging VIX. That’s two consecutive days below the Fib 78.6% line… if it happens again tomorrow we shall be entering next week with an Upside Warning.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Closed $SPX May 25th 2700/2675 put spreads for .45. Sold as a #ReverseRoll for 7.60 on May 10th.
Sold $SPX June 22nd 2620/2595 put spreads for 1.70.
Sold $SPX June 15th 2700/2675 put spreads for 5.25.
Wango Contango
#ContangoETFs Closed these positions yesterday, leaving me flat in all three tickers.
BTC $KOLD Nov 68 call for .25. Sold for 2.50 on March 23.
BTC $NUGT Jan 2019 50 call for .98. Sold for 5.025 (avg price) in Dec/Jan.
BTC $DUST Jan 2019 45 call for 1.05. Sold for 4.80 on Feb 9.
Morning dip
Most of these news driven pullbacks have been buying opportunities lately.
Dow falls nearly 120 points after Trump sends letter to North Korea's leader calling off the upcoming Singapore summit https://t.co/aUSrApFtNK pic.twitter.com/oZvmYK3FxC
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) May 24, 2018
Downside Warning Canceled
#VIXIndicator I did a double-take when I looked at my screen. Wouldn’t have thought a day opening as negative as we did would finally get us across the threshold, but looks like the official close on VIX is 12.58. That’s the first close this low since January 26th.
If we close below 12.61 for two more consecutive days… tomorrow and Friday, that will be an Upside Warning.
SPX trades
#spxcampaign
Bought more $SPX June 15th 2825/2850 call spreads for .60. A double position now, so I can sell half for maybe 3.00 or 4.00 and then wait to see how far we go up.
Closed on GTC order: June 8th 2820/2845 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.65 on May 11th.
Sold June 22nd 2810/2835 call spreads for 1.80.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX May 25th 2745/2770 call spreads for 1.15. Sold for 5.80 last Wednesday (I posted this at the time as 2750/2775, but it was actually the 2745/2770).
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX June 22nd 2585/2560 put spreads for 1.75.
Gush dump
#ContangoETFs Closed $GUSH Dec 46 call for 9.90. Sold on Apr 4th for 4.00.
Order filled on the way down, and then it dropped a lot more. Using a #StrangleRoll on this… it’s quite doubtful that both of these strikes will expire, but I’ll take the premium now and deal with any breaches later.
Sold GUSH Dec 32/57 strangle for 10.55.
AZO
wow… can you say “intraday”?
TQQQ trades
#LongLEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCalls
Closed $TQQQ June 1st 140 put for .35. Sold in 140/170 #StrangleRoll for 5.00 on May 9th.
Gush rolls
#ContangoETFs Closed $GUSH June 15th 45 call for 3.50. Sold for 1.05 on April 19th.
#Rolling: Sold July 50 call for 3.90.
Closed GUSH Sept 45 call for 8.20. Sold for 2.75 on May 4th.
#Rolling to the Dec 55 call, not yet filled.
Also stopping the Dec 46 call, not yet filled.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Stopped: $SPX May 31st 2750/2775 call spreads for 7.20. Sold in a #CondorRoll last week for 6.70. Will roll later.
BOUGHT to Open $SPX June 2825/2850 call spreads for 1.15.
(Yesterday) closed on GTC order: June 8th 2510/2485 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.65 on May 8th.
Have not yet sold the standard weekly spreads (for June 22nd). Missed fills at the highs.
AMBA long
#LongCalls Bought $AMBA June 15th 50 call for 3.90. Following a trade from SimplerOptions… their entry was on the rally day and they paid over 7.00. AMBA has been in a wide range and I think we’re nearing a short-term bottom.
Econ Calendar week of 5/21/18
Be sure to periodically click Home/REFRESH to keep Bistro features updated.
Final trades and Options Expiration, 5/18/18
#SPXcampaign
Sold $SPX June 14th 2795/2820 call spreads for 1.75
Sold $SPX May 31st 2650/2675/2750/2775 #CondorRoll for 6.70
#OptionsExpiration Expiring at full loss: Long 2770/2790 call spreads, bought for 1.29… Made a couple of profitable rounds with this spread but the remaining ones fizzled out.
#IronButterfly Sold to close $AMZN 1575/1600/1625 butterfly for .84. Bought for 2.95 on May 3rd.
#Earnings Closed remaining $A 65 puts for .75. Avg closing price: 1.10. Strangles (65/75) sold for .77 on Monday.
Closed $OLED May 18th 100 put for 5.70. Sold for 3.50 last week. In the hole on the rolls here… need to assess next week.
#VXXGame BTC $UVXY Jan 2019 70 call for .45. Sold for 6.50, avg price.
Expiring are long calls used as hedges, UVXY 40 calls (bought for .45) and 44 calls (bought for .21).
Expiring at full loss: a bunch of $VXX 30 puts, bought for the avg price of .12
#Assignment $AMAT 54.5 put, taking stock, will sell call next week. #PieTrades
Amazon’s weakness today…
Amazon briefly hit session low after report that Trump pushed the USPS to double shipping rates https://t.co/IfTJ8e1NSp
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 18, 2018
KOLD closed
#ContangoETFs BTC $KOLD Aug 60 calls for .15. Sold for 1.50 and 1.75 in March.
Spamming
Click Home/REFRESH if you’re still seeing the spam comments.
DE closed
#Earnings Closed $DE May 18th 140/135 put spreads for .05. Sold for .85 yesterday.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 14th 2590/2565 put spreads for 1.65.
Trade jitters again
BREAKING: President Trump says he doubts that trade talks with China will be successful https://t.co/vccLO1oIe9
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) May 17, 2018
DE earnings
#Earnings Fairly bullish history on earnings, with small drops and big gains.
Sold $DE May 18th 140/135 put spreads for .85. Biggest UP move: 13.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -8.1%, Average move: 5.9%. This trade is -6.3% OTM.
Kicking A
#Earnings Starting to peel off $A 65 puts at a small loss… big rally today but don’t want to leave full position on overnight with risk of early assignment or a big drop tomorrow. Won’t work for #PieTrades or #CoveredCallCampaign since there are no weeklys and weak premium.
Closed $A May 18th 65 put for 1.23; 65/75 strangles sold for .77 on Monday.
Calls sold
#Earnings #Rolling Sold $OLED June 15th 110 call for 1.95
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign Sold $SQ June 15th 60 call for 1.40
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 25th 2745/2770 call spreads for 5.80. This offsets aggressive put spreads sold for this expiry last week.
EDIT: strikes were previously entered incorrectly as 2750/2775
BABA covered call
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $BABA Jun 22nd 215 call for 2.00.
SPX trades
##SPXcampaign Sold a couple before and after the closing bell.
Sold $SPX June 1st 2625/2650/2750/2775 #CondorRoll for 8.00.
Sold $SPX June 14th 2810/2835 call spreads for 1.60.
SPX puts closed
#spxcampaign
Yesterday: Closed $SPX May 31st 2570/2545 put spreads for .35. Sold for 2.85 on May 4th.
This morning, pre-market: Closed SPX June 1st 2610/2585 put spreads for 1.30. Sold in a #CondorRoll last Wednesday, for 2.45 for the put side. I closed this to lighten the load if we get crushed today, and to give myself a nice chunk of buying power back.
A-bomb
#Earnings Big drop in $A this morning… I called my strangle “super-safe”… it has only ended the day after earnings over 10% down twice in 16 years, and exceeded 10% intraday one additional time. So this is an unusual move, but we have until Friday for recovery.
Tumbling
Volatility has not left the building
TQQQ & SQ rolls
#LongLEAPs Closed $TQQQ June 1st 170 #SyntheticCoveredCall for 6.00. Sold in a #StrangleRoll on May 9th.
Sold $TQQQ June 8th 157.5/177.5 strangle for 6.30.
Closed $SQ June 8th 56 call for 1.60. Sold for 1.88 last Thursday. Will wait to roll on the next move up.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 14th (monthlys) 2610/2585 put spreads for 1.65.
A earnings
#Earnings I don’t remember ever trading $A before, so I took an extra-safe position.
Sold $A May 18th 65/75 #ShortStrangles for .77. Biggest UP move: 4.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -3.5%, Average move: 2.5%. My strikes are +/-7.1% OTM.
Econ Calendar for week of 5/14/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
Almost but not
#VIXIndicator Official close for the VIX (and LOD) was 12.65… .04 shy of canceling the warning. Not an exact science, so things looking strong for next week.
Have a great weekend y’all
Happy Mother’s Day
VIX plunging
VIX plunging
Strategies on Bistro
Hello all… I just updated the “Hashtag Strategies” Menu item (top-center of this page). I’d like your feedback on anything that should be added. I’m working on one sheet explanations of each strategy, so members will have an overview explanation and not just a link to old posts.
Let me know what you think!
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 8th 2600/2575 puts sold for 1.60.
SPX calls stopped
#SPXcampaign Stopped $SPX June 1st 2775/2800 for 4.50. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 4.90 on Wednesday.
Other than the June 8th calls I sold this morning, all my previous call spreads have hit their stop levels and are closed. I have reverse-rolled some, but need to do more. I’d prefer the VIX to be lower before going to heavy to the long side.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 8th 2820/2845 call spreads for 1.65.
NVDA earnings closed
#Earnings Closing $NVDA mainly to get back some buying power but also to avoid surprises. Closed the 242.5 short puts for .15 and the 272.5 short calls for .04. I’ll leave the lottery-ticket long legs.
Sold condors yesterday for 1.65
Options Bistro 