#Earnings Quite an overnight reversal… which I’d bought stock at 225 on the initial dip. Now my 275 short calls are threatened.
Author Archives: Jeff
AMBA mostly closed
#Earnings #LongStraddle Sold most of my $AMBA Aug 31st 40 puts for 5.40 at the open. Will wait to see if the stock goes lower for the rest. Straddles bought yesterday for 4.09.
AMBA earnings
#Earnings Bought $AMBA Aug 31st 40 straddle. Filled at 4.09; described in my earlier post.
AMBA earnings
#Earnings This one has had a volatile recent history. Last 12 quarters: Biggest UP move: 14.3%, Biggest DOWN move: -22.4%, Average move: 10.3%. So I’m taking the $YELP approach and betting on a big move.
Buying the 40 straddle. A 9.8% move will be breakeven at expiration… but in the morning premium will be higher.
My bid is in a 3.95, not filled. I’ll get it in the last hour if I need to adjust.
ULTA earnings
#Earnings Sold $ULTA Aug 31st 220/275 strangles for 1.80.
Biggest UP move: 17.3%, Biggest DOWN move: -9.1%, Average move: 6.4%. Bias +2.7%. My strikes are +13.2% and -9.5% OTM.
SQ
Parabolic.
CRM closed
#Earnings $CRM
Strangles sold for 1.53. Closed for .35
Condors sold for .58. Closed for .20
Considering ULTA, LULU, AMBA for tonight.
Covered Calls
#CoveredCallCampaign BTC $FB Sep 7th 167.5 puts for .20. Sold in a #StrangleRoll a couple weeks ago.
Sold $FB Sep 21st 185 covered call for 1.50.
Yesterday, BTC $BABA Sep 14th 195 covered call for .15. Sold for 1.50 the day after earnings, 8/23.
Exit TSLA
#Earnings #Rolling Bought to close $THA Sep 7th 300/327.5 strangles for 10.35. Sold on Tuesday for 9.65. Exiting since my put side was breached. Fortunately theta worked in my favor for 2 days so the loss is small. My broker upped margin requirements on TSLA so this was a big chunk of buying power. I’ll leave TSLA alone for a few days and reconsider.
CRM mgt
#Earnings Bought to close the $CRM Aug 31st 162.5 calls for .05 in both my strangles and condors. Now looking to close the short 147 puts. All sold yesterday.
What happened next?
Reverse Split Happy Fun Time!
ProShares announces reverse share splits on two ETFs
Aug. 29, 2018 4:27 PM ET|About: ProShares Short VIX Short-T… (SVXY)|By: Liz Kiesche, SA News Editor
ProShares reports reverse shares splits on two of its ProShares Trust II ETFs; the splits won’t change the total value of a shareholder’s investment.
ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSEARCA:UVXY) split ratio 1:5; CUSIP number will change to 74347W148 from 74347W163.
ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSEARCA:SVXY) split ratio 1:4; CUSIP number will change to 74347W130 from 74347W627.
All reverse splits will be effective before the market open on Sept. 18, 2018, when the funds will begin trading at their post-split price. Ticker symbols for the funds will not be changed.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3386632-proshares-announces-reverse-share-splits-two-etfs#email_link
SPX condor
#SPXcampaign Jumping back in after a month-long break.
Sold $SPX Sept 14th (Friday PM expiration) 2810/2835/2955/2980 condors for 3.80.
CRM earnings
#Earnings Sold $CRM Aug 31st 147/162.5 strangles for 1.53.
Also, sold 145/147/162.5/165 unbalanced iron condors for 0.58
Biggest UP move: 11.0%, Biggest DOWN move: -4.4%, Average move: 3.3%. These strikes are about +/- 5.0% OTM. The 11% up move is an outlier… it occurred in Feb 2016. Next highest move was +4.1%.
AMZN closed
#Lophir Closed on GTC order: $AMZN 1820/1855/1885/1915 Lophir put trade for 4.30. Sold for 8.70 yesterday. The gap higher today made this only a one-day trade, although I think the very wide bid/ask spread on a trade like this can work in your favor on both ends, provided you can be patient and don’t force a fill. Thanks @kathycon for the idea!
MU pie roll
#PieTrades Rolled $MU Aug 31 50 covered call to the Sep 7th 50.5, .30 credit
#CoveredCallCampaign Rolled $AAPL Aug 31st 205 covered calls to Sep 7th 207.5 calls, 2.00 debit. Clawing my way up the strikes until I get a pullback.
GOOGL closed
#SuperCharger Closed on GTC order: $GOOGL Sep 7th 1200/1210 bull call spread for 9.45. Bought for 7.20 on 8/23.
Strangling TSLA again
#Earnings #Rolling Seems to have found a range, so after last week’s successful trade I’m trying again.
Yesterday, sold $TSLA Sp 7th 300/327.5 strangles for 9.65.
Other than that, my main work has been trying to stay ahead of #CoveredCalls in $AAPL, $PYPL and $SQ. It’s nice to be long all of these but selling calls is a bitch! I keep having to stop out and roll.
Econ Calendar for week of 8/27/18
Rolling OLED, all the kids are doing it
#Rolling #CoveredCalls
BTC $OLED Aug 24th 122 call for .45. Sold for 1.65 on Aug 16th.
STO $OLED Aug 31st 124 covered call for 1.50.
No expirations, have a good weekend all!
TSLA closed
Closed the final spread for .18. Sold for 9.75 on Tuesday. Nice trade for only 3 days. Thinking about doing it again for next Friday. Premium for same strangle is 9.42 right now.
TSLA strangle
Extra credit…
… to whoever can identify what the background today represents (Oregon residents are excluded from the contest). Refresh the page if you still are seeing bamboo.
VMIN
Interesting one, MamaCash. From the prospectus:
“The Fund expects to primarily take short positions in and obtain short exposure to VIX Futures Contracts with two to six months to expiration, but may take short positions in and obtain short exposure to VIX Futures Contracts with shorter or longer durations. The Fund expects the notional value of its exposure to VIX Futures Contracts to be equal to approximately 100% of Fund assets at the close of each trading day, but the notional value of such exposure may be less, and could be substantially less, at the close of any trading day. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in financial instruments that in combination provide short exposure to VIX Futures Contracts.”
Here are today’s holdings:
I am considering buying shares as well based on the dividend. Price is only around 3.30 so not a big risk if all is lost (which it could be in these inverse vol products, like SVXY).
GOOGL SuperCharger
#SuperCharger Bought to Open $GOOGL Set 7th 1200/1210 Bull call spread for 7.20. It has a daily squeeze. You can get a better price now, or move down a strike or two. Goal closing price is 9.40.
Covered Call type of morning in PDX
Back home at last… slept well so keeping jet lag at bay!
#CoveredCallCampaign #SyntheticCoveredCalls Since I’ve been trading lighter I mostly only have long stock and long #LEAPs positions. Looking for new entries… who’s got something?
Wednesday I was over the Pacific without enough WiFi megabytes to trade, so fortunately the market didn’t do much.
Tuesday: BTC $SQ 75 calls for 1.55. Small loss. #StrangleRoll: Sold Aug 31st 73.5/78.5 strangles for 1.95.
Tuesday: BTC SQ Aug 24th 76 call for 1.16 & Aug 31st 76 call for 1.96. Breakeven combining the two.
Today: #Rolling Sold SQ Sep 7th 79 call for 1.55; sold Sept 7th 80 call for 1.50
Today: Sold $BABA Sep 14th 195 Covered Call for 1.50
Tuesday: Rolled $AAPL Aug 24th 202.5 #CoveredCalls to Aug 31st 205 covered calls, breakeven. Still underwater on this one but managing to creep my strike up.
Today: Sold $FB Sep 14th 182.5 covered call for 1.45.
Today: Sold $AMAT Aug 31st 43 covered call for .80. This #PieTrade is a stinker… not much premium to work with.
SPX all-time high
This also cancels the Downside Warning.
TSLA rolling
#Rolling. A fun experiment trying to tame this ridiculous stock. Don’t try this at home.
BTC $TSLA Aug 24th 260/320 strangles for 8.90. Sold for 6.90 yesterday.
Sold TSLA Aug 24th 312.5/335 strangles for 9.75.
Sticking with this Friday’s expiration. Going to bed now.. can’t wait to see where this one is when I check the market at 4am.
Last night in Tokyo
I’ll be on a plane during Wednesday’s session and back in Portland Thursday. This has not been easy with the market opening at 10:30pm. It’s too hard to stay up late when you’re old.
TSLA 5-day strangle
Econ Calendar for week of 8/20/18
TSLA dump
#Earnings #Rolling Forced to close out my strange… the stock way overshot my target range of the 330’s on Friday.
BTC $TSLA Aug 24th 332.5/340 strangles for 31.28. Sold for 18.60 on Wednesday.
This is an ongoing roll campaign… should have just stuck with the short calls, but I didn’t think the drop would be this fast so the puts became the problem. Will decide how to reposition next week.
SPX stopped
#SPXcampaign Stopped $SPX Aug 31st 2860/2885 call spreads for 9.50. Sold for 6.70 on Tuesday. Too much strength to leave it over the weekend. Will wait for a new, better entry.
NVDA earnings closed
#Earnings BTC $NVDA Aug 17th 240 puts for .24. Sold for 2.43 yesterday.
BTC NVDA Aug 17th 240/235 put spreads for .15. Sold for .87 yesterday.
Covered Calls
#PieTrades. Sold $OLED Aug 24th 122 call for 1.65
#CoveredCallCampaign Closed on GTC order: $FB Aug 24th 190 call for .15. Sold for 1.35.
DUST calls
#ContangoETFs Put in these orders after the open and they filled as the ETF rose. Wish I’d waited until the close!
Sold $DUST March 15th 60 call for 3.00
Sold $DUST Nov 16th 49 call for 2.50
Sold $DUST Jan 18th 50 call for 4.00
NVDA #Supercharger closed #SuperCharger Sold…
NVDA #Supercharger closed
#SuperCharger Sold to close $NVDA Aug 17th 230/240 call spread for 9.25. Bought for 7.55 on July 21st. Took awhile, but taking profit today to clear out before earnings. 22.5% profit.
AMAT call closed
#PieTrades #Earnings.
BTC $AMAT Aug 17th 46.5 #CoveredCall for 1.97. Sold for 3.56 last week as a roll. Leaving my stock alone for earnings report tonight.
NVDA earnings
#Earnings. Sold $NVDA Aug 17th 240 puts for 2.43.
In retirement accounts, sold 240/235 put spreads for .87
NVDA earnings after the bell
#Earnings. Here are the last 12 quarters’ moves on $NVDA:
May 10, 2018 AC -2.15%
Feb. 8, 2018 AC 6.69%
Nov. 9, 2017 AC 5.26%
Aug. 10, 2017 AC -5.32%
May 9, 2017 AC 17.82%
Feb. 9, 2017 AC -2.37%
Nov. 10, 2016 AC 29.80%
Aug. 11, 2016 AC 5.59%
May 12, 2016 AC 15.20%
Feb. 17, 2016 AC 8.60%
Nov. 5, 2015 AC 13.85%
Aug. 6, 2015 AC 12.37%
Wednesday Trades
#Earnings #Rolling Sold $TSLA Aug 24th 332.5/340 strangles for 18.60.
#CoveredCallCampaign Stopped $FB Aug 31st 180 puts for 3.40. Sold Sep 7th 172.5/187.5 #StrangleRoll for 3.07.
#ContangoETFs Stopped $GUSH Dec 32 put for 6.20. Sold for 5.05 in a strangle-roll months ago.
#StrangleRoll: Sold GUSH Dec 21/45 strangles x2 for 3.87.
Also, closed GUSH Sep 62 call for .10. Sold for 1.60.
#PieTrades BTC $OLED Aug 17th 120 call for .20. Sold for 2.00 on Friday.
BTC $MU Aug 24th 53 call for .10. Sold for .85 on Monday.
TSLA mgmt
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign. Back in the game again! Sold $SPX Aug 31st 2860/2885 call spreads for 6.70. I was waiting for an Upside or Downside warning before throwing on my first spread in weeks.
Trades
Catching up on posting from the last 7 days…
TODAY (Monday)
#CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $AAPL Aug 24th 202.5 #CoveredCalls for 7.00. This replaces the Aug 17th 202.5 calls I closed last week for 7.40, to avoid being called away on the ex-div date. I’m rolling ITM calls after earnings trade got breached.
Sold $SQ Aug 24th 76 call for 1.25, and Aug 31st 76 calls for 1.23
#SyntheticCoveredCalls
Sold $PYPL Aug 31st 90 calls for 1.10. A roll-up from Aug 24th 87.5 calls stopped last week.
#PieTrades
Sold $MU Aug 24th 53 covered call for .85. #PieTrades
LAST WEEK
#Rolling #StrangleRoll $TSLA Aug 17th 332.5 calls to Aug 17th 332.5/335 strangles for .65 credit. Will roll soon to avoid early assignment.
#Earnings Bought $YELP Aug 10th 38.5 #LongStraddles for 4.94. Sold the calls next day for 9.95. This trade usually works on YELP.
Stopped $FB Aug 24th 187.5 covered calls for 3.85. Rolled to Aug 31st 180/195 strangles for 3.83. Looks like I got stopped at the top. #CoveredCallCampaign.
#PieTrades Rolled $AMAT Aug 10th 46.5 covered call to Aug 17th 46.5 for .30 credit.
#VXXGame Closed $VXX Sep 21st 50 call for .46. Sold for 5.65 on April 17th.
Downside Warning AGAIN
#VIXIndicator. 2018 is the year of the rollercoaster. Today’s close triggered anther warning for potential drops in the market.
Econ Calendar for week of 8/13/18
OLED covered call
#CoveredCalls Sold $OLED Aug 17th 120 covered call for 2.00
We missed again
#VIXIndicator The $VIX avoided an Upside Warning again… clock restarts, we need three consecutive closes below 11.20 (11.19 or lower).
Two down…
#VIXIndicator …one to go. A $VIX close below 11.20 tomorrow will mean an Upside Warning, indicating a high chance of a rally to new all-time highs on the $SPX. The third day is where we failed in both late February and late May, and then new Downside Warnings hit on the fourth days.
TSLA
Downside Warning finally canceled
#VIXIndicator Third time’s a charm for an Upside Warning? Two more closes below 11.20 and we’re golden.
Smoother sailing?
#VIXIndicator Monday’s close on the VIX was the lowest since January 23rd, before this whole mess started. And we’re rallying in pre-market, with VIX hitting a low of 10.90, which is the lowest low since Jan 24th.
Final trades
#Earnings
Closed $SHOP Aug 3rd 140 calls for .15. Sold for 1.40 on Monday.
Rolled $TSLA Aug 3rd 330 calls to Aug 10th 332.5 calls for .40 credit.
Closed $SQ Aug 3rd 71 calls for 1.50… sold for .78.
Rolled $AAPL Aug 3rd 200 #CoveredCalls to Aug 10th 202.5 calls for 1.85 debit.
#PieTrades
Rolled $AMAT Aug 3rd 46.5 covered call to Aug 10th 46.5 call for .12 credit.
Sold $MU Aug 10th 53 covered call for .84
Closed $OLED Aug 3rd 100 covered call for 1.50. Sold for 2.15. Earnings next week.
#CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $FB Aug 24th 187.5 covered calls for 1.35
#OptionsExpiration 8/3/18
$AAPL 177.5 puts. Sold for .75
Bulls ran me over
#Earnings. Quite a week for blind trading… Thursday’s bullish run looks good for my trades in $SHOP (#Earnings), $MRVL (#PreEarnings), and $NVDA (#SuperCharger).
But I’m under water with naked calls 330 calls in $TSLA, and #CoveredCalls in $AAPL and $SQ. I will have to roll on Friday. May require me to stay up late!
Today,
Closed $TSLA 260 puts for .06. Sold for 2.75
Sold $PYPL Aug 17th 87.5 #SyntheticCoveredCalls for .80.
Good night from Kyoto
This is the first time on this trip I’m still awake for the open.
Sold to close $AET Aug 3rd 190 calls for 1.00. Bought for 1.50, #PreEarnings.
BTC $MU Aug 3rd 55 call for .10. Sold for .80 last week. Looking to replace. #PieTrades
#Earnings:
Sold to Open $SQ 71 calls for .78. Order in to sell the 60 puts. Calls are covered, some with stock, some synthetically with long LEAPs.
Sold $TSLA Aug 3rd 260 puts for 2.75. Looking to sell 330 calls for 2.25 on the bounce.
Good morning from Hiroshima
#Earnings. Only trades this week… placed orders in premarket and was filled… didn’t get best prices of the day by any means!
Monday: Sold $SHOP Aug 3rd 140 puts for 1.40.
Tuesday: Sold $AAPL Aug 3rd 177.5/200 strangles, .75 each side (1.50 total). Calls are covered.
Overnight trades
I leave you crazy kids for one day and the Market goes haywire?
I’ve never traded blind before, but it’s working out okay so far. Set up some covered call management before bed. Was woken up by heavy rain (typhoon coming) about 2am (11am Portland time) and made a couple of adjustments.
Sold $FB Aug 17th 190 #CoveredCalls for 2.06 and 192.5 calls for 1.70
Sold $MU Aug 3rd 55 covered call for .80
Rolled $AMAT July 27th 46.5 covered call to Aug 3rd 46.5, .33 credit
Sold $PYPL Aug 17th 91.5 #SyntheticCoveredCall for 1.50. Missed the fill on more.
BTC $GUSH Aug 17th 50 call for .25. Sold for 2.15 awhile back.
#OptionsExpiration
— Expiring —
FB 227.5 & 230 calls
— Assignment —
FB 197.5 and 200 puts
Have a great weekend y’all!
Taking it easy
Only trades today were GTC orders to close $BIIB July 27th 300/415 #Earnings strangle. Closed each side for .20; sold on Monday for 2.40.
Other than that, looks like I’ll be long more $FB stock tonight or over the weekend (a couple 197.5 puts and one 200 put).
I’m planning to execute few if any trades until August 9th. We are staying with my wife’s parents in Yokohama until then, and we’ll be touring the country and climbing Mt Fuji. On the 9th, we check in to a Tokyo AirBnB for another two weeks, and then I’ll start transitioning back into the job. We return to Portland on August 23rd.
Glad to have all your posts to read when I wake up! Let’s me know what’s happening out there.
Greetings from Yokohama
After 24 hours of travel I was NOT staying up for a 10:30pm market open, so I set up a few orders and slept through the night.
Sold strangles on $FB #Earnings… 197.5/230, fortunately small in size!
Closed $EOG #PreEarnings trade for almost a double.
Closed my final $SPX spreads for profit. Now flat in $SPX for first time in 3 years.
Trading gods smile upon me
#Earnings #ShortStock. In LAX for our connecting flight to Tokyo. Closed the second half of the $SNA short stock for 166.89. Assigned Friday at 170… closed half yesterday for breakeven, but this second lot turns it into a higher profit trade than originally expected. Nice drop on an otherwise strong day for the market.
LMT pre-earnings closed
#PreEarnings Sold to close $LMT July 27th long 330 calls for .85. Bought for 1.40 last week. Small loss on this batch, but with previous call spreads included I netted 5.90 profit on multiple spreads in multiple accounts. Thanks for leading the way, MamaCash!
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX July 25th 2750/2725 put spreads for .20. Sold for 4.50 on July 11th.
Snap judgement
#Earnings #ShortStock Covering $SNA short stock, assigned at 170 on Friday. I have covered half, buying to close at 171.40, which makes that batch breakeven since the earnings strangle was sold for 1.40.
Leaving the rest for hopefully lower prices.
BIIB earnings
#Earnings Sold $BIIB July 27th 300/415 strangles for 2.40.
FIVE-DAY MOVES: Biggest UP move: 9.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -16.9%, Average move: 5.7%. These strikes are +15.9% and -16.2% OTM.
Econ Calendar for week of 7/23/18
Be sure to periodically click Home/REFRESH to keep Bistro features updated.
Options Expiration 7/20/18
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #ContangoETFs
— Expiring w/max profit —
$COF 93.5 puts, sold yesterday for 1.40
$GUSH 48 call, sold for 1.05 last month
$ISRG 520/525 call spread, sold yesterday for 2.75 (wish I’d waited on both!)
$NFLX 475 call, sold Monday for 1.00
$SNA 145 puts, sold Wednesday
— Assignments —
$MU 54 and 54.5 #CoveredCalls #PieTrades Originally assigned via 55 puts, after a few weeks of call sales, exiting with cost basis around 51.
$SNA 170 calls, going short the stock. No weekly options on this so I think it will be quicker to get out on a dip next week.
NVDA super-charger
#SuperCharger Following Mama and Mort:
Bought to open $NVDA Aug 17th 230/240 bull call spread for 7.55.
FB covered Call closed
#CoveredCallCampaign BTC $FB July 20th 210 #CoveredCall for 1.00 to avoid assignment. Sold for 2.00 on June 20th.
Bring on the earnings!
PYPL puts closed
#LEAPs Another one I’m closing early to avoid any intraday surprises.
BTC $PYPL July 20th 87.5 puts for .11. Sold for 1.26 (avg price) last Friday.
I’m trading short term around PYPL against Jan 2019 100 long calls.
NFLX put closed
#Earnings $NFLX has not recovered from its drop strongly and I don’t want to mess with this if it drops into the close.
BTC NFLX July 20th 360 put for .27. Sold for 3.46 last week. Leaving 475 call to expire.
ISRG half closed
#Earnings Closed one of my $ISRG 520/525 call spreads for 4.49. Saved 51 bucks from allowing it to expire ITM. I’ll wait longer on the other one in case the stock starts dropping. Sold them yesterday for 2.75.
AMAT roll
#PieTrades BTC $AMAT July 20th 46 #CoveredCall for .80. Sold last week for .75
Sold to Open AMAT July 27th 46.5 covered call for 1.05.
ISRG overdone?
#Earnings I sold two (2) $ISRG July 20th 520/525 call spreads for 2.75. Max loss 2.25. Chart looks over done. Better than 1:1 so why not?
COF earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $COF 93.5 puts for 1.10.
Biggest UP move: 8.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -13.1%, Average move: 4.0%. When filled, this trade was 1.8% OTM. Chart looks decent, and the strike is below the 200 dma. I can take assignment and sell calls if necessary.
Also considering a similar trade on $CTAS.
I might BUY a strangle on $SKX, since it often moves big.
SNA victory
#Earnings Finally, an earnings trade that works like they’re supposed to. $SNA July 20th 145/170 strangle sold yesterday for 1.40. Dead centered. Will close for cheap or allow to expire.
