#ContangoETF’s New highest strikes added to $GUSH… 57 across all expiries.
Author Archives: Jeff
Rally time?
#Market SPX daily squeeze fired long, and 3 of the last 5 closes were over 1 SD. That’s two out of three signals that the rally will continue… #VIXIndicator didn’t quite make it low enough.
No one got my “Mowing down” reference?
A little 90’s nostalgia, anyone? (skip to 3:15 for the reference, if you ain’t into the beat)
Covered Calls
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign #Rolling
It’s all fun and games until you get blown out to the upside. It’s a nice problem to have, however, as stock holdings nice for the portfolio.
BTC $BABA May 25th 197.5 covered call for 4.95. Sold Friday for 1.70.
#StrangleRoll Sold BABA Jun 8th 190/207.5 strangle for 5.28.
BTC $FB May 18th 180 call for 5.72. Sold in a strangle-roll after earnings for 1.40. I don’t know how I missed this one going so far ITM this week. Confusing with FB, AAPL, and BABA all near the same price.
STO $FB June 8th 180 put for 2.40. Waiting to sell call.
BTC $FB May 18th 165 put for .07. Sold after earnings for 1.50.
BTC $SQ June 1st 52.5 call for 2.75. Sold for 1.35 on Monday
STO $SQ June 8th 56 call for 1.88
STO $SQ June 8th 50 put for 1.05
VXX gamin’
#VXXGame Bought some cheap protection for future call sales… doing so also gives me more buying power against current positions. All highest strikes.
BTO $VXX June 15th 70 call for .20
BTO $VXX July 20th 90 call for .25
BTO $UVXY June 15th 60 call for .07 (adding)
BTO $UVXY Sep 59 calls for .26
And took profits:
BTC UVXY Sep 30 call for .79. Sold in March for 3.425 (avg price)
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Stopped: $SPX May 18th 2725/2750 call spreads for 7.85. Sold for 3.65 as a roll on Monday.
Stopped: $SPX May 31st 2765/2790 call spreads for 4.85. Sold for 1.60 last Friday
#ReverseRoll: Sold June 1st 2675/2650 put spreads for 4.40.
Closed June 1st 2435/2410 put spreads for .20. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 2.90 on last Thursday.
That leaves only one short call spread that is almost at its stop level.
NVDA earnings
#Earnings Followed @fuzzballl‘s cue but made it a broken-wing condor… more down side risk.
Sold $NVDA May 11th 237.5/242.5/272.5/275 condors for 1.65. Downside risk 3.35, upside risk .85. Call me crazy, but I’m assuming a more muted move since stock is extended but it rarely moves bearishly on earnings.
Biggest UP move: 29.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -7.4%, Average move: 10.9%. Strikes are +/-5.8% OTM.
Mowing down My C’s like I’m mowing a lawn
#SPXcampaign My calls are getting killed one at a time… reverse rolled one, waiting on the others.
Stopped: $SPX May 17th 2720/2745 call spreads for 7.15. Sold yesterday for 3.15.
#ReverseRoll Sold May 25th 2700/2675 put spreads for 7.60.
Stopped: June 1st 2760/2785 call spreads for 3.90. No roll yet. Sold on May 3rd for 1.75.
Closed SPX May 25th 2525/2500 put spreads for .35. Sold as a roll for 2.30 on May 4th.
Closed on GTC order: June 1st 2450/2425 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.70 on May 3rd.
Can we get bullish yet?
#Market Watching multiple indicators today… the SPX daily squeeze may fire long; Sue’s 3-out-of-5 day 1 SD indicator may fire, and the #VIXIndicator is poised to cancel the Downside Warning if we close at 12.61 or lower.
SPX calls stopped & rolled
#SPXcampaign First spread stopped on the highest day in $SPX since April 19th. Last time we topped at 2717. Will we break through this time? I’m using a #CondorRoll because VIX is still in Downside Warning. If we push higher than 2702, more spreads will be stopped, and I may reverse roll some.
Stopped SPX May 25th 2745/2770 call spreads for 4.35. Sold in a roll for 1.75 on May 4th.
Rolled to: SPX June 1st 2585/2610/2775/2800 condors for 4.70.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order: May 17th 2540/2515 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.60 on April 17th.
Today’s another demonstration that I am NOT a master of timing, rolling into call spreads earlier that have now almost doubled…. as I said then, these can bowl you over quickly, which is why I rarely do them. We go much higher today and these will have to be stopped and rolled again.
VIX getting to new lows not seen since beginning of February.
EA strangle
#Earnings #ShortStrangles
Closed $EA May 11th 115 put for .05. Order in to close 132 calls for same, but did not fill and now ATM. Will wait. Strangles sold yesterday for 1.60.
TQQQ roll
#LongLEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCall
Short call got breached so executed #StrangleRoll
Closed $TQQQ May 18th 160 call for 5.00. Sold for 1.60 on Friday.
Sold TQQQ June 1st 140/170 strangle for 5.00.
SPX call roll sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 17th (monthly) 2720/2745 call spreads for 3.15. #Rolling from the spread stopped for 3.90 on Monday, with 1.6x position size. I don’t often do this type of roll on the call side, as rallies can bowl me over quickly. But it seems we’re still in a range, and these expire next Friday (am), so I will close them Thursday at latest.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Opne $SPX June 8th 2775/2800 call spreads for 1.75.
SQ covered calls
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign #Rolling
BTC $SQ June 1st 52.5 call for 2.75. Sold for 1.35 yesterday.
STO $SQ June 8th 56 call for 1.88.
Also plan to sell a put on the next pullback.
EA earnings
#Earnings I sold slightly more conservative than fuzz:
$EA May 11th 115/132 strangles for 1.60. Biggest UP move: 13.7%, Biggest DOWN move: -7.5%, Average move: 5.0%. My strikes are +7.5 and -6.4% OTM.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 8th 2510/2485 put spreads for 1.65.
I love Z earnings trades that work
#Earnings Closed $Z May 11th 60 calls for .05. Order in to close the 51 puts for the same. #ShortStrangles sold yesterday for 1.09 (avg price).
Z earnings
#Earnings An old favorite; first time I’ve traded it since 2014.
Sold $Z May 11th 51/60 strangle for 1.05. Biggest UP move: 12.1%, Biggest DOWN move: -9.1%, Average move: 5.4%. My strikes are +/-8.1% OTM. I’ve had the order in most of the day, and was just filled on 1 spread. Don’t know if the other 4 will go through.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Stopped: $SPX June 1st 2740/2765 call spreads for 3.90. Sold Thursday in a #CondorRoll for 2.90. No decision on how to roll yet.
Closed on GTC order: May 18th 2465/2440 put spreads for .20.
Sold $SPX May 18th 2725/2750 call spreads for 3.65, as other half of the #CondorRoll I started earlier.
Covered Calls
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign #Rolling
Sold to Open $SQ June 1st 52.5 call for 1.35
Sold to Open $AAPL June 8th 195 call for 1.75
Stopped: AAPL June 1st 187.5 covered calls for 3.85. Sold for 1.58 on Friday.
#StrangleRoll Sold June 15th 175/195 strangles for 3.45
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Stopped: $SPX May 18th 2700/2725 call spreads for 7.45. Sold for 3.80 as a #ReverseRoll on May 1st.
Partial roll: Sold SPX May 18th 2630/2605 put spreads for 3.90. I plan to sell the other half as a call spread on strength. I won’t be getting aggressively long unless we can get the VIX lower.
Econ Calendar for week of 5/7/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated
Options Expiration 5/4/18
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #ShortStrangles #CoveredCallCampaign
— Expiring —
$BABA 167.5/195 earnings strangles; sold yesterday for 1.50.
$BABA 187.5 put, sold for 9.55 on Apr 19th as a roll
$SQ 55 calls
SPX stop and roll
#SPXcampaign This one went from about 2.10 to 5.10 while I had to be away from my desk today.
Stopped $SPX May 11th 2690/2715 call spreads for 5.35. Sold for 1.90 yesterday.
#Rolling to two spreads:
Sold May 31st 2570/2545 put spreads for 2.85, and
Sold May 25th 2745/2770 call spreads (1.5x position size) for 1.75
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX May 31st 2765/2790 call spreads for 1.60.
The Fourth is strong with this one
#Earnings #Rolling already
I’ve been trying to close this for an hour but it will not stop… so I chased.
BTC $OLED May 18th 100 call for 4.60. Sold this morning for 1.50.
I also, unwisely as it turned out, closed May 18th 125 put for 27.50 (when stock was about 97.00). Sold for 26.50, avg price last month in an #ITMroll. I wanted to roll down to a 120 put on the next pullback, but that is probably out of reach now. I will continue to work this one, but probably hold off for today as it is overdone… +12%.
GUSHing
#ContangoETFs Following on a couple that @ramie77 sold a few days back…
Sold $GUSH July 45 call for 1.50
Sold $GUSH Sep 45 call for 2.75
BABA covered call
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $BABA May 25th 197.5 call for 1.70.
Looking for my 187.5 put to expire worthless today… too much to ask?
AAPL all-time high
And here comes BABA. Bullish day.
Covered Calls
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign #SyntheticCoveredCall #LongLEAPs
Sold $AAPL June 1st 187.5 covered calls for 1.58
Sold $TQQQ May 18th 160 synthetic covered call for 1.60.
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign Every attempt to roll this lower was not filled due to market strength. So I’m ending up rolling it to a HIGHER put spread at 1.5x size. I feel comfortable doing this since we are still not far from the bottom of the recent range.
Sold $SPX May 25th 2525/2500 put spreads for 2.30. #Rolling from May 25th 2500/2475 puts stopped yesterday.
AAPL earnings closed
#Earnings #CoveredCallCampaign
I was trying to exit the calls for pennies yesterday but not filled, and now the Oracle has AAPL bulls on a rampage.
Closed $AAPL May 4th 180 calls for .46 (today), and 160 puts for .02 (on Wednesday). #ShortStrangle sold for 1.27 on Tuesday.
April Jobs report
#Jobs Fewer than expected jobs added, but lowest UE rate since 2000, and wage growth sluggish.
+164,000 non-farm payroll jobs, vs 192K expected
Unemployment falls to 3.9%, lowest since 2000
U6 unemployment at 7.8%, down by .2 and lowest since 2001
Wages up 0.15%, reflecting 2.6% annualized, down from last month
Labor force participation 62.8%, down 0.1
Mar revised up from 103k to 135k
Feb revised down from 326k to 324k
TQQQ, UVXY, and FDX
#LongLEAPs #syntheticstock #syntheticcoveredcall
Closed $TQQQ May 11th 165 call for .30. Sold for 1.70 on Apr 24th. Sold against the long Jan 2020 150 call. Will sell a new one when we move higher.
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY Sept 20 call for 2.75. (today)
Earlier this week, closed these for profits:
UVXY June 15th 30 call for .40 (sold for 2.125)
UVXY Jan 2019 70 call for 1.20 (sold for 6.50)
UVXY Jan 2019 65 call for 1.15 (sold for 3.50)
#Earnings #Rolling (on Monday)
Closed $FDX May 4th 237.5 put for .24. Sold for 5.55 on 4/11.
Closed $FDX May 4th 235 put for .16. Sold for 6.05 on 4/11.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Certainly is a difficult market for these trades as traditional stops can be hit quite often, and often on the lows. The whipsaw hit me today, but I choose to stick to my rules as the pain of going deeply underwater if the drop gets serious is much worse than the irritation of having to roll after getting stopped out on the lows.
Stopped: $SPX May 25th 2500/2475 put spreads for 3.25. Sold for 1.60 last Friday. This is the second time around on this spread… a true example of “whipsaw.” I tried to roll further down but missed my fill. Now holding off until we get a better place to sell the roll.
Stopped: $SPX June 1st 2490/2465 put spreads for 2.80. Sold for 1.75 on Monday.
#CondorRoll: Sold June 1st 2410/2435/2740/2765 condors for 2.90.
All that said, I have allowed the May 17th 2540/2515 put spread to significantly breach my stops TWICE; once last week and again today, without touching it. The vast majority of “stops” I’ve executed since early Feb have been on spreads that would have ended up expiring OTM, so I’m allowing some leeway.
BABA earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles #CoveredCallCampaign
I’m long stock on this one. Legging into a strangle.
Sold May 4th 165 puts for .75.
Looking to sell 195 calls for .75 as stock rises off the lows.
AMZN call butterfly
This is an idea from John Carter at simplertrading.com. He bought it yesterday (a 10-lot), I’m getting a slightly better price today (for a 1-lot). Risking $275 for max gain of $2200-ish. Idea is that price will gravitate toward 1600 for the monthly expiration.
Bought to Open $AMZN May 18th 1575/1600/1625 call butterfly for 2.75.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Sold to Open $SPX June 1st 2450/2425 put spreads for 1.70.
Closed on GTC order: May 25th 2795/2820 call spreads for .20. Sold last week for 1.65.
TSLA closed
#Earnings #ShortStrangles Closed $TSLA May 4th 265/330 strangles for .65. Sold for 3.40 yesterday.
SQ earnings closed
#Earnings #CoveredCallCampaign
Closed $SQ May 4th 45 puts for .15. Sold yesterday in the 45/55 #ShortStrangles for 1.00. I’ll let the calls expire.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order: $SPX May 17th 2775/2800 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 on April 20th.
SQ earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $SQ 45/55 May 4th strangles for 1.00. Leans slightly bullish. I am also long the stock so some of the calls are covered.
Biggest UP move: 14.0%, Biggest DOWN move: -21.7%, Average move: 8.2%.
Stock at 48.50 at time of fill, strikes are +13.4% and -7.2% OTM.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 1st 2760/2785 call spreads for 1.75.
Closed on GTC order: May 4th 2575/2550 put spreads for .30. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 7.15 on April 12th.
TSLA earnings
#Earnings Sold $TSLA May 4th 265/330 #ShortStrangles for 3.19. Biggest UP move: 11.2%, Biggest DOWN move: -8.9%, Average move: 5.7%. Strikes are +10.0% and -11.7% OTM. Leaning a bit bearish as we’re bellow 200ma and recent performance.
AAPL strangles
#Earnings #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $AAPL May 4th 160/180 #ShortStrangles for 1.27. I am also long the stock, so short calls are covered. Leaning slightly bullish on strike selection.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX May 11th 2500/2475 put spreads for .95. Sold for 1.85 on Apr 13th.
#ReverseRoll PLUS: Sold May 18th 2700/2725 call spreads for 3.80.
Closed the put spread earlier than usual and sold the call spread to balance out the SPX campaign portfolio…. I am heavier on short puts but prefer to be more balanced in such a range bound market.
SHOP closed
#Earnings Closed $SHOP May 4th 115/150 strangles for 1.10. Sold yesterday for 1.75. I wasn’t liking the weakness and don’t want to tie up the margin if the puts go ITM.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed the iron condor I sold last week for this Friday’s expiry. Pulled in decent profit today rather than giving it the chance to blow me up on either end.
Closed $SPX May 4th 2625/2600 put spreads for 3.95. Sold for 10.00 last Wednesday.
Closed $SPX May 4th 2690/2715 call spreads for 2.00. Sold for 6.40 on Thursday.
Also, right at the closing bell, filled on: SPX June 1st 2490/2465 put spreads for 1.75.
SHOP earnings
#Earnings Selling $SHOP May 4th 115/150 strangles. Trying for 1.90, no fill yet.
Econ Calendar for week of 4/30/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
April Jobs Report is this Friday, 8:30am ET.
FB roll
#Earnings #CoveredCallCampaign #StrangleRoll #ShortStrangles
Closed $FB Apr 27th 170 call for 2.95. Sold for 1.00 on Wednesday.
Sold FB May 18th 165/180 strangle for 2.92.
SPX sales
#SPXcampaign
Sold $SPX May 25th 2500/2475 put spreads for 1.60
Sold $SPX May 25th 2785/2810 call spreads for 1.50
SQ put
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Closed $SQ Apr 27th 46 put for .05. Sold for 1.20 on 4/16 as a #ReverseRoll from a breached covered call. Now waiting for earnings next Wednesday.
AMZN, scraping for pennies
#Earnings Closed the 25-pt #IronButterfly for 24.70, saving myself 30 bucks from allowing it to be exercised. Working on something for the 30-pointers…. dare I try to leg out on this pullback?
AMZN earnings
#Earnings Trying what has become my usual on this one: #IronButterfly
Looking at 25-pt and 30-pt wide centered on 1525. Gigantically favorable R:R.
SPX condor roll
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX May 11th 2500/2525/2750/2775 condors for 3.10, as a #CondorRoll from put spread stopped yesterday.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX May 4th 2690/2715 call spreads for 6.40. This offsets the $10 put spread sold yesterday with same expiry. Fairly aggressive condor of expiration a week from tomorrow.
FB covered call
#Earnings #CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $FB Apr 27th 170 covered call for 1.00.
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX May 25th 2500/2475 put spreads for 2.90. Sold yesterday for 1.70. I’ll look to roll later today. This started the day going over the 3.00 stop level, so got out on the bounce. I also am not going to let my 10-dollar spread go negative. If the bleeding doesn’t stop soon I will be out.
Also, closed on GTC orders:
May 4th 2750/2775 call spreads for .30. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 7.15 on Apr 12th.
May 17th 2810/2835 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.50 on Apr 16th.
FB slump
#Earnings Tough to make a call for earnings. It’s breaking more support this morning. It’s biggest recent drop on earnings is only -5.6%, and it has a positive bias after earnings. Even a good earnings report (which is likely) may just be another excuse to sell. I’m probably staying away, although might sell calls if we get a late day rally.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcamaign Making a bet that the low is in… change my mind if we get down to 2600…
Sold $SPX May 4th 2625/2600 put spreads for 10.00.
SPX long again
#SPXcampaign Bought $SPX May 18th 2770/2790 call spreads for .90. Got these a little early in today’s drop, but it is the same position I’ve turned around twice by selling on the highs.
SPX stop and roll
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX May 17th 2535/2510 put spreads for 3.10. Sold Friday for 1.60.
#CondorRoll Increased position size and sold May 18th 2440/2465/2780/2805 condors for 2.20.
The roll leans bullish, with higher premium on the put side, since we are at the bottom of the consolidation range.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 25th 2500/2475 put spreads for 1.70.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 25th 2795/2820 call spreads for 1.65.
Closed on GTC orders:
Yesterday: May 11th 2825/2850 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.75 on Apr 10th.
Today: May 11th 2400/2375 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.75 on Apr 9th.
TQQQ call sold
#LongLEAPs #SyntheticStock #SyntheticCoveredCall
Sold $TQQQ May 11th 165 call for 1.70. Against my long Jan 2020 150 call.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX May 14th 2675/2650 put spreads for 9.30. Sold Friday for 10.25. Since we did NOT start the week with a nice bounce, I’m exiting this with plans to enter something similar later, perhaps today. Since this is a trade I’ve rolled three times, each time bleeding more, I’m getting out iwht a small profit this time.
Also, in pre-market, closed on GTC order: SPX Apr 27th 2750/2775 call spreads for .30. Sold for 2.35 on April 6th.
Econ Calendar for week of 4/23/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX May 17th 2775/2800 call spreads for 1.55.
Sold SPX May 14th 2675/2650 put spreads for 10.25. Another aggressive roll but with a more manageable time frame.
Joining the TQQQ Queue
#LongLEAPs Bought to Open $TQQQ Jan 2020 150 call for 41.00. To break even, underlying only has to reach its all-time high from last month, and I got 21 months to do it. Meanwhile, I’ll be selling calls against it.
Volatility not kicking up
#Market Today we are down less than 1%, which in 2018 is notable. VIX not up much, and UVXY and VXX could barely be considered to be spiking, given the huge drop they saw in the last week. UVXY had been at 20 for a couple weeks, then a quick drop to 15, and barely up today.
Meantime, SPX could barely get above 2700. Is this the new normal? Consolidating indices all year and volatility drifts downward as we get used to it?
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order: $SPX May 4th 2810/2835 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.45 on Apr 5th.
Closed Apr 25th 2680/2655 put spreads for 9.70. Sold for 5.65 yesterday. I had to step away for a few, and that’s when the plunge happened, just before I failed to get a fill on a break-even order. Now I may have gotten out on the lows. My ability to trade these short-term near-the-money spreads has totally sucked since early March. I was killing it with them in February and it got my confidence up, so the market had to affirm who’s daddy.
RH trade closed
#Earnings #ShortStrangle #StrangleRoll
Closed $RH Apr 20th 87.5 puts for .60. Sold as the 87.5/100 #StrangleRoll from breached short calls for 4.535 on Mar 29th. Letting the calls expire. Total profit in trade, 2.11.
Options Bistro 