#Earnings #Rolling
BTC $YY June 8th 115 put for 5.25. Sold for 1.80 on Tuesday
Sold YY July 6th 110 put for 5.50. Moved down 5 points and got an extra .25.
Glad I wasn’t paying much attention on Tuesday or I probably would have sold more than one. I also got filled on a 110 for .85, trying to see if I can let that one expire.
#CoveredCallCampaign
I know this is a strategy for selling calls against stock, but my love for #ShortStrangles makes me want to take advantage of weakness…
Sold $AAPL July 6th 185 put for 1.70. Already long stock and short calls at 195 and 197.5.
#LEAPs Selling some puts on weakness. I’m basically strangling these long LEAP and #CoveredCallCampaign stocks… kind of an adjustable strangle after having to roll some breached calls.
Sold $PYPL July 6th 83 put for 1.25
Sold $SQ July 6th 58 put for 1.20
#Market Financials ($XLF) got off their ass yesterday and are up again today, but tech ($XLK) is tumbling. Seems that these rallies can’t get everyone to join the party at the same time.
#SPXcampaign I’m getting pretty torn up on the call side, in triage. I can say I am reconsidering my entire approach. After a couple of good years of SPX spread trading, it simply has not been working for the last 10 months. The Upside Warning works great, but it usually comes too late, and the Downside is too unreliable and prone to head fakes.
My goal was always to build a strategy that can follow rules and roll when necessary. But the market has revealed its ability to whipsaw like no time since the 2008 crash. #SPXcampaign is not sustainable, or at least, selling call spreads is not sustainable.
I have already been working with LEAP and Covered Call strategies, so I’m at a point I need to reassess whether to continue SPX trading, or change it dramatically and make it a smaller part of my portfolio.
I’m not posting my SPX trades today, but I can answer any specific questions you have about trades you’re in. Mainly, I have about 6 call spreads that all passed their stop levels between yesterday afternoon’s surge higher and today’s open. I am selling some put spreads, but not enough (yet) to make up the losses. I will be still watching for the Upside Warning and getting more aggressive, but mostly with shorter term spreads as I can’t trust it to last.
#VIXIndicator We’ve seen this movie before, but each time it happens at a lower VIX level. Today should be the second close below the PREVIOUS 78.6% Fib line, but we need to close at 11.01 or lower to cancel this current warning. Because we are in the third Downside warning without an Upside one, the normal levels may be out of whack. It certainly looks as if we’re ready to cruise higher but we’ve been fooled many times this year.
In $SQ I am both long stock for the #CoveredCallCampaign and also long Jan 2019 60 calls for the #LEAPs strategy. So selling short-term calls against both positions.
Today:
Sold SQ June 29th 63.5 #CoveredCall for 1.60
Sold SQ July 6th 65 #SyntheticCoveredCalls for 1.65
#SPXcampaign I built this one up to a triple-sized position, back when we thought maybe an Upside Warning was coming. Now they’re close to expiration with less chance. Taking off 1/3 now at about breakeven.
Sold $SPX June 15th 2825/2850 call spreads for .70. Acquired in May for .743, avg price. A double position still remains.
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order: $SPX June 14th 2590/2565 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.65 on May 17th.
#LEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCalls
Missed the highs at the open, so selling now: $TQQQ June 29th 62.5 calls for 1.20
#SPXcampaign Sold after the closing bell yesterday: $SPX July 6th 2830/2855 call spreads for 1.65.
Today I’m just letting time decay do its thing. I may sell something if we reach significant highs or lows.
#LEAPs
BTC $TQQQ June 22nd 60.83 calls for 1.75. Sold for 1.20 yesterday.
Sold TQQQ June 29th 56 puts for 1.15.
Will sell new calls at new highs.
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX July 6th 2625/2600 puts for 1.60
#SPXcampaign Today’s high was, of course, just above my ATM stop level for this one.
Stopped: $SPX June 8th 2750/2775 call spreads for 8.55. Sold last week for 3.25.
#CondorRoll: Sold $SPX June 15th 2695/2720/2785/2810 condors for 6.70, 1.33x position size.
#LEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCalls
Sold short-term calls against 2019 long leap calls. Lots of bullish movement has me #Rolling a lot.
Yesterday:
Sold $SQ July 6th 63.5 call for 1.77
Sold $PYPL July 6th 87 call for 1.15
Today:
Closed PYPL June 15th 83 call for 2.00. Sold for 1.25 last Thursday.
Closed SQ June 22nd 61.5 calls for 2.02. Sold for 1.40 on Friday.
Will look to replace these today.
Also gotta roll $TQQQ calls I sold yesterday, already breached.
#Earnings This one has not been a big mover on earnings, except for the last two quarters, which account for its two biggest moves, up and down. I’m selling a few puts, but beware, it could be over-extended.
Sold $YY June 8th 115 put for 1.80. May add a couple 110 puts, too.
Biggest UP move: 24.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -12.3%, Average move: 5.1%. This trade is -5.9% OTM.
#SPXcampaign Stopped $SPX June 22nd 2800/2825 call spreads for 3.85. Sold for 1.80 last Wednesday.
I’m using a 4.00 stop on standard campaign call spreads, which this breached right after the open, so I got out on the pullback. I’ll consider how to roll tomorrow.
#LongLEAPs Sold $TQQQ Jan 2020 83.33 call for 6.30.
Today, as $QQQ just notched an all time closing high, you can see the TQQQ is about 5% below its highs. This is due to the compounding effects of a 3x leveraged product. The same force that drags NUGT, DUST, GUSH, DRIP, and others downward will drag on TQQQ. Because we’re in a long-term bull market, it is harder to see this force in the chart, but today’s high gives you a good snapshot when comparing to QQQ. Thus, I like selling farther out 83.33 call against my long 2020 50 calls. I just sold 1 today (against the 3 longs) and can add more at better prices or different strikes. I am ALSO still selling short term calls, so this will throw my deltas out of whack, but I’m really looking at each of the short calls separately and less at the full picture. Upside risk on a ContangoETF is not difficult to manage.
#LEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCall
Closed $TQQQ June 8th 59.17 calls for 1.00. Sold May 14th for 1.16 (effective price)
#Rolling Sold June 22nd 60.83 calls for 1.20.
May also add short puts if we get any pullback.
#CoveredCallCampaign #CoveredCalls
Closed $BABA June 8th 207.5 covered call for 2.65. Sold in strangle-roll for 5.28 on May 10th.
#StrangleRoll Sold BABA July 6th 190/220 strangle for 3.37.
#CoveredCallCampaign #CoveredCalls
Sold $AAPL July 6th 197.5 covered call for 1.90.
Be sure to periodically click Home/REFRESH to keep Bistro features updated.
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX June 29th 2610/2585 put spreads for 1.55.
Stopped SPX June 15th 2735/2760 call spreads for 11.45. Sold as a #ReverseRoll for 4.40 on Tuesday.
Looking to roll into a condor.
#PieTrades Sold $SQ June 22nd 61.5 #syntheticcoveredcalls for 1.40
#CoveredCallCampaign #CoveredCalls
BTC SQ June 15th 60 call for 1.41. Sold for 1.40 on May 16th
#Rolling
Sold SQ June 29th 57.5 put for 1.50
Sold SQ July 6th 63 covered call for 1.40
#Earnings Closed $COST June 1st 195 puts for .16. Sold yesterday for 1.583 (avg price)
#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)
#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.
#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
#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.
#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.
#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 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%
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.
#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.
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 29th 2575/2550 put spreads for 1.70.
Perennial favorites: GME, LULU, WDAY, ULTA, COST, VMW
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
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.
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX June 8th 2750/2775 for 3.25, as a #ReverseRoll
Sold $SPX June 29th 2800/2825 call spreads for 1.80.
#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.
#VXXGame Yesterday, Sold $UVXY July 20th 20 calls for 1.20.
#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.
#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.
#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.
#SPXcampaign. Closed on GTC order: $SPX June 1st 2750/2775 call spreads for .40. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 8.00 on May 15th.
Looks like I picked the wrong hour to be away from my desk!
#PieTrades #CoveredCalls Sold $AMAT June 1st 52 covered call for .75.
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $SQ June 29th 61.5 covered call for 1.60
iPhone may use their screens… https://seekingalpha.com/news/3359877-universal-display-plus-12_4-percent-iphone-oled-report
#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.
May jobs report is Friday at 8:30am ET.
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
#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.
#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)
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
#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.
#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.
#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.
#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.
#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.
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
#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.
#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.
#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).
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX June 22nd 2585/2560 put spreads for 1.75.
#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.
wow… can you say “intraday”?
#LongLEAPs #SyntheticCoveredCalls
Closed $TQQQ June 1st 140 put for .35. Sold in 140/170 #StrangleRoll for 5.00 on May 9th.
#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.
#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.
#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.
Be sure to periodically click Home/REFRESH to keep Bistro features updated.
#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 briefly hit session low after report that Trump pushed the USPS to double shipping rates https://t.co/IfTJ8e1NSp
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 18, 2018
#ContangoETFs BTC $KOLD Aug 60 calls for .15. Sold for 1.50 and 1.75 in March.
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