#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Feb 16th 2650/2675 call spreads for 13.80. Sold on Friday for 6.20.
#ReverseRoll Sold $SPX Feb 21st 2700/2675 put spreads for 14.00.
Author Archives: Jeff
Higher
#Market #SPXcampaign This recent click higher and corresponding dip in the VIX signals to me this market is going up. Still not close to confirmation on the VIXIndicator but I’m going to start reversing some positions in SPX.
SPX long put plays
#SPXcampaign I didn’t post a couple trades Friday… here are long put trades Friday and today…
Friday:
Sold to CLOSE $SPX Feb 16th 2600/2580 put spreads for 8.00. Bought for 1.80 on Wednesday.
Bought to open Feb 23rd 2425/2400 put spreads for 3.00.
Today:
Doubled my size of the Feb 23rd 2425/2400 puts for 1.50.
Covered calls sold
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Sold $AAPL Mar 9th 170 call for 1.23
Sold $BABA Mar 9th 192.5 call for 1.86
Premium much better in BABA than AAPL.
SPX call spreads sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX March 15th (monthlys) 2815/2840 call spreads for 1.75.
Econ Calendar for week of 2/12/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated
8,600% On a Vix Bet
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-09/vix-surge-hands-8-600-profit-to-a-tiny-hedge-fund-in-colorado
Boom
#Market One thing about corrections is they can also include face-ripping rallies. This is a huge gap up… the market did what it does best on Friday… shook me out of put spreads which would be doing excellently today had I not ditched them. VIX not dropping too sharply yet, but I’ll be watching what it does during market hours. I have a couple of call spreads in trouble… not sure yet if I should forward roll or reverse roll.
Correction history
Here are all 36 10% corrections since 1980. Note: a year after the lows, stocks are up a median of 23% and two years later up 36%.
Fidelity bars purchases of SVXY
I can’t find the story on Bloomberg but just received this link in an email from Seeking Alpha:
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3329965-fidelity-bars-purchases-inverse-vix-etf?uprof=37#email_link
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Got caught in the down flush… these all could have been closed much better if I’d waited for the bounce.
In chronological order:
Sold Feb 16th 2650/2675 call spreads for 6.20
Stopped Feb 23rd 2450/2425 put spreads for 3.70. Sold for 2.00 yesterday.
Stopped Feb 12th 2550/2525 put spreads for 7.00. Sold for 3.75 on Tuesday.
Stopped Feb 9th 2565/2540 put spreads for 6.60. Sold for 2.20 yesterday.
Sold Feb 23rd 2690/2715 call spreads for 4.05.
Closed on GTC order: Feb 12th 2700/2725 call spreads for .40. Sold for 4.10 yesterday.
Stopped Feb 21st 2450/2425 put spreads for 3.65. Sold in #CondorRoll for 4.35 yesterday.
The only two put spreads I have remaining are the March 9th with short at 2300 and 2200. That’s likely all I will hold over the weekend, as we could have a Margin-Call Monday with a big gap down.
Whipsawed
#SPXcampaign Not a great morning on my SPX trades. Closed most put spreads near the lows. I think we have lower to go but i could have managed it much better. I will detail later.
DUST on the move
#ContangoETFs Sold $DUST Jan 2019 45 call for 4.80.
VXX puts bought
#VXXGame Added to a position I started in September:
Bought $VXX June 25 puts for 1.25.
Cramer
Jim Cramer had a 9-minute diatribe this morning about UVXY, XIV, etc. First 10 minutes of Squawk on the Street if you can find it archived later. He stopped short of calling for the SEC to look into closing such products, but said if they were to do that, the market would bottom. He believes the selling of stock has been driven by traders liquidating to cover margin calls in volatility products.
New LOW on SPX and NDX
Not on Dow or RUT
SPX day trade
#SPXcampaign Caught this flush with a short call spread.
Sold to Open $SPX Feb 9th 2630/2655 call spreads for 11.15 at 2:57 ET.
Bought to close for 6.00 at 3:54 ET
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Pulled the plug on this one with the intention to roll later. I feel like we need to test this week’s lows again before we can assume correction is over.
Closed $SPX Mar 9th 2630/2605 put spreads for 9.00. Sold as a 1.5x roll for 2.00 last Friday.
UVXY call sold
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY Jan 2019 70 call for 9.60. I still have more long calls than short, so it’s not costly for me to add slowly.
SVXY final long put sold
#VXXGame Sold to Close $SVXY June 110 long put for 99.25. Originally sold in the 150/110 put spread for 18.40 on Jan 5th. That leaves my highest SVXY naked put (150) ready for assignment. Cost basis on assignment for this one alone would be 32.35. Not so bad, but also not taking into account the rest of my puts that didn’t have the benefit of spreads.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign High $TICK readings of the day… the lows could be in.
Sold to OPEN $SPX Feb 9th 2565/2540 put spreads for 2.20. Expire tomorrow, 70 points OTM.
Sold to CLOSE $SPX Feb 9th 2590/2570 put spreads for 2.75. Bought for 4.25 on Tuesday. Was riding the limit price on this one at the lows, but liquidated once I saw new TICK highs; loss is covered by the one I sold above.
Earlier: Sold to Open $SPX Feb 23rd 2450/2425 put spreads for 2.00.
Closed on GTC order: Feb 9th 2740/2765 call spreads for .25. Sold for 6.20 on Tuesday.
“Traders who continue to play…
“Traders who continue to play the short-vol game with SVXY must read this.”
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4144576-xiv-dies-warning-svxy
SPX roll sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 21st 2425/2450/2750/2775 #CondorRoll for 4.35, as a roll from the Feb 9th put spreads stopped earlier.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 9th 2625/2600 put spreads for 4.25. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 4.25 on Monday. Will look to roll later today. Couldn’t risk a precipitous drop into tomorrow’s close.
FANG
FB, BABA, GOOGL, NFLX, AMZN, following market.
AAPL not caring, although still a crappy daily chart.
TSLA trade closed
#Earnings Closed $TSLA Feb 9th 310 puts for .55. In #ShortStrangles for 3.15, out for .65.
VXX stock sold
#VXXGame Sold long $VXX stock for 49.82. Assigned via 42 puts on Oct 13th.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 12th 2700/2725 call spreads for 4.10.
Working on stopping out of tomorrow’s 2625/2600 put spreads. Probably on this bounce.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order: $SPX 2790/2815 call spreads for .30. Sold for 3.55 on Monday.
Market’s looking pretty weak.
TSLA call closed
#Earnings Closed $TSLA Feb 9th 372.5 call for .10. Order in to close put for the same. #ShortStrangles sold yesterday for 3.15. I would normally let these expire but not in the volatile market.
TWTR
Boom
DUST calls
#ContangoETFs Thanks to @ramie77 for the head’s up that DUST is back in call-selling range.
Sold $DUST Apr 20th 35 call for 1.65
Sold $DUST Jun 15th 35 call for 2.75
TSLA earnings
Sold $TSLA Feb 9th 310/372.5 strangles for 3.15. Biggest UP move: 11.2%, Biggest DOWN move: -8.9%, Average move: 5.4%. My strikes are -9.9% and +8.3% OTM.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign
Closed on GTC order: $SPX Feb 9th 2785/2810 call spreads for .20. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 4.25 on Monday.
UVXY calls added
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY Mar 16th 22 call for 4.40, adding.
Sold Apr 20th 26 call for 5.30
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Feb 16th 2810/2835 call spreads for .90. Sold for 10.00 on Friday.
SVXY trades
#VXXGame Sold $SVXY Feb 16th 100 long put for 86.80. Sold in the 120/100 put spread for 2.15 on Jan 23rd.
Also, yesterday closed my final 2 calls:
Closed June 150 call for .05. Sold for 14.95 on 12/20.
Closed Jan 2019 205 call for .05. Sold for 8.05 on Oct 20th.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold to close $SPX Feb 9th 2760/2740 put spreads for 15.05. Bought for 3.80 last Friday.
Bought to open SPX Feb 16th 2600/2580 put spreads for 1.80. In case we get tother text of lows.
I have several SHORT spreads on either side of current SPX level.
More on ETN’s
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/06/wall-street-turned-these-esoteric-etns-into-a-winning-bet-for-the-masses.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain
Could repercussions affect SVXY’s existence?
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/06/wall-streets-effort-to-turn-volatility-into-an-asset-class-is-partly-to-blame-for-this-market-chaos.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Right after the bell, filled on this:
Sold $SPX Feb 23rd 2775/2800 call spreads for 5.70.
BABA covered call
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign #LongStock
Sold $BABA Mar 2nd 202.5 call for 1.75. I was assigned 200 shares on Friday.
SPX call spread
#SPXcampaign so at the lows about an hour ago I was preparing to take profits on the Feb 7th 2670/2695 call spread I sold earlier for 11.65. It was down around 6.00. Then I realized I had actually PURCHASED the spread. So I’m now long and liking this rally. Hopefully can close today with small profit.
SVXY calculations
#VXXGame Ok, here’s my thinking. I am short 6 naked options between 75 and 120. I also have two spreads, 30, and 40 points wide. All expire by September.
I have calculated two scenarios:
1. I take assignment on the naked options, and allow the spreads to expire and take the loss.
That would result in a $60,000 cash outlay and 600 shares of stock. So $100 per share.
2. Take assignment of the 6 naked, SELL the longs from the spreads when stock is at 15.00, and also take assignment from the 2 remaining shorts.
That would result in a $63,000 cash outlay for 800 shares, or 78.75 per share.
So #2 is preferred, PROVIDED $SVXY survives and gets its way back at least to 78.75.
Thoughts, anyone?
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 12th 2550/2525 put spreads for 3.75.
Also bought this in case of strong move down today or into Friday:
Bought Feb 9th 2590/2570 put spreads for 4.25.
Covered SVXY short stock
#VXXGame BTC $SVXY stock for 11.40. This was assigned via a 100 put last March, then it split, so cost basis is 50.00. I covered the other half yesterday at 86.00 (doh!).
I couldn’t figure a reason to hold it. It’s possible this is the low for SVXY so why not cover at best price? By the time SVXY gets back to 100, I will have been assigned 700 shares.
SVXY call closed
#VXXGame Closed $SVXY Jan 2019 165 call for .05. Sold for for 4.25 (effective price) on July 11th, as half of a 330 call before the split.
So I’m guessing we have to now watch SVXY build itself back up from 11.00? I don’t see how a massive rally will make this thing go up as fast as it came down.
SVXY now open
Opening price 11.70
UVXY call
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY March 70 call for 4.30. Against long 91 calls I bought for .16 last month.
SPX reconciled
#SPXcampaign Okay, after my bonehead trades this morning, I can see we’ll probably be going down more, or at least remain congested.
Sold $SPX Feb 7th 2670/2695 call spreads for 11.65. This was a fat-finger… I mis-entered the price, should have gotten more
Sold $SPX Feb 9th 2740/2765 call spreads for 6.20.
Sold $SPX Mar 9th 2200/2175 put spreads for 1.90…. 440 points OTM.
Yesterday I sold the Mar 9th 2300/2275 for 1.80, and today it’s still 325 points OTM and trading for 4.00 (with very wide bid/ask). Fairly safe bet if you don’t believe this is a market crash.
VXX long puts
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals i entered this trade on Sept 1st when VXX was at 46.08. I bought the $VXX 2019 LEAP 20 puts for 1.80.
Today, VXX is HIGHER (52.00 as I type) and those puts are ALSO higher… mid price about 3.00.
Shows how much volatility drives all prices higher. If I get a chance to buy more under 2.00, I will.
SPX… ill-advised
#SPXcampaign Already had to bail with losses on those SPX call spreads sold earlier. 100-point rally off the open is not what I expected in 25 minutes.
Closed with losses of 8.10 and 2.05.
SPX call spreads sold
#SPXcampaign Fat premium out there for decently far OTM call spreads expiring this week.
Sold $SPX Feb 7th 2675/2700 call spreads for 7.00
Sold $SPX Feb 9th 2700/2725 call spreads for 8.90
UVXY call sold
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY June 55 call for 11.00. This is against long 60 calls I bought last month for .96. I’m being careful to remain in spreads now.
VIX Indicator
#VIXIndicator fired an additional SIX warnings today, which is a record for a single day as far back as 2000 (which is the extent to which I’ve measured).
It was the highest level the $VIX has reached since August 2015, and the highest close since October 2011.
Although it was the biggest ever single-day point drop on the DOW, it was only the 33rd biggest percentage drop.
A VIX close below 15.30 would signal the Warning is over (that number will change if we get a new VIX high). But the bottom will occur several days before that signal; the indicator is working well but it can’t pick a bottom!
XIV and SVXY crater
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/xiv-exchange-traded-security-linked-to-volatility-plummets-80-percent.html
SVXY is at 12.00
UVXY peaked at 36 and already back down to 27.00
But VXX increased to a peak of 64.90, and is back to 55.00 now. That’s DOUBLE Friday’s close. This is what’s causing SVXY to crater, but not sure how the math drove it down to $10.00.
After hours fill
#VXXGame Bought to close $SVXY June 145 call for 1.75. Sold for 10.00 on Dec 1st. Was trading at 20.00 a couple weeks ago.
SPX long puts sold
#SPXcampaign I bought these this morning (in pre-market) for 2.65.
Sold $SPX Feb 7th 2700/2675 put spreads for 17.00. Fill just before trading closed at 4:14 ET.
A 20K day trade!
After hours..
….new lows in /ES and SPY, new highs in VIX
VXX Game
#VXXGame Got antsy and took some profits on the way down… too early!
Bought to cover 100 shares of $SVXY for 86.00. Assigned awhile ago at 50.00. Still holding another 100.
Sold the long put on the $SVXY March 130/100 put spread: Sold 100 put for 23.00. If assigned the stock via the 130 put, it will be at 99.00 cost basis.
Also, just filled for 7.90 on the $UVXY Jan 2019 70 call. That’s 5 fills in one day, each one a dollar higher than the last.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX March 9th 2300/2275 put spreads for 1.85. 350 points OTM!
Low TICKS
According to the TOS ticks, today we had the lowest TICK reading since November 2011.
UVXY
#VXXGame After loading up on short $UVXY Jan 70 calls in the space of an hour… 3.90, 4.90, 5.90, 6.90, I couldn’t resist selling one of my long 75 calls for 6.50. Bought for 1.59 avg price in early Jan.
My account is up today, thanks to the Downside Warning getting me pretty damn short.
We’re in the upside down
#Market #SPXcampaign For the last few months we have seen unending rallies, defying gravity. Many mornings we would open with a nice little pullback, getting enough traders worried the happy days were ending so they would sell, then the market turns around and notches another all-time high.
This morning’s “rally” was the reverse of that… Gap-down open, only to perk into positive territory, head faking enough to cover their shorts before we rip down to new lows.
It’s the upside down of last month.
UVXY call
#VXXGame I’m building a much smaller ladder at a slower pace than the master ( @optioniceman )
Sold $UVXY March 16th 22 call for 3.20.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Stopped: Feb 23rd 2665/2640 call spreads for 4.00. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 3.00 last Tuesday.
#CondorRoll: Sold Feb 9th 2600/2625/2785/2810 condors for 4.25. Expire this Friday.
Closed on GTC orders:
Feb 7th 2800/2825 call spreads for .30. Sold for 4.10 on Friday.
Mar 2nd 2895/2920 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.85 on Friday.
While we are in correction, call spreads become very lucrative. You can see I sold the two above only one trading day ago.
Are we having fun yet?
Enjoy trading this volatility? Just heard this great song… click “Home/REFRESH” and then a music player will appear in the right-hand column… spice up your trading day with a toe-tapping tune. —->
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Stopped $SPX Mar 2nd 2680/2655 put spreads for 3.85. Sold as a 1.5x-roll for 2.05 last Tuesday. Considering roll options later in the day.
Finally revealed…
… what that kid was doing on his phone.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Feb 9th 2825/2850 call spreads for 1.05. Sold for 10.40 last Wednesday.
SPX trades
Stopped $SPX Feb 15th 2675/2650 put spreads for 3.25. Sold for 1.50 on Jan 16th.
#ReverseRoll Sold Feb 12th 2790/2815 call spreads for 3.55
Sold Mar 9th 2865/2890 call spreads for 1.75
Closed on GTC order: Mar 2nd 2925/2950 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 last Wednesday.
SPX put spread bought
#SPXcampaign I am already long a put spread from last week and I added another just after the SPX peaked a small rally in pre-market:
Bought to Open $SPX Feb 7th 2700/2675 put spreads for 2.65.
Econ Calendar for week of 2/5/18
Be Sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
SPX spread
#SPXcampaign After the bell, sold $SPX Feb 23rd 2825/2800 put spreads for 16.90.
Yes, that means I believe the correction will be over by then. But I’ll give it until a week before, Feb 16th. If we’re not above 2825 by then, I will roll it.
Options Bistro 