#Earnings Sold $NFLX Feb 2nd 260 put for 2.55. Makes up for loss on call side from earnings trade. Expires next Friday.
Author Archives: Jeff
KMB closed
Closed $KMB Jan 26th 120 calls for 1.80. Closed the 111 puts for .05 on Tuesday.
Sold the strangles for 1.05 on Monday.
I may look at another strangle to make back the loss, since premium look decent.
Bailed on AVGO
#ShortStrangles Closed $AVGO Feb 16th 250/290 strangles for 7.40. Sold legs separately for a total of 9.35, so profit of 1.95. Not rolling, I’ll just take profit and wait for earnings in late Feb.
ISRG earnings
#Earnings Sold $ISRG Jan 26th 410/490 strangles for 3.00. Biggest UP move: 8.9%, Biggest DOWN move: -5.6%, Average move: 4.7%. My strikes are about 8.9% OTM
SPX no more shorts, again
#SPXcampaign After we tested going negative this morning, $CAT bounced off its rollercoaster of a morning and helped nudge the markets higher. $NFLX is going parabolic again, too. My $KMB calls are now underwater; could have closed for a nice profit on Wednesday. So I think we go higher, driven now by earnings.
Closed $SPX Feb 9th 2875/2900 call spreads for 6.00. Sold for 4.50 yesterday. That was my only short hedge on SPX. I also went long with a risk/reversal that’s making me a whole lot more than this 1.50 loss.
AVGO
Nice bounce of 250 area so far. I hold #ShortStrangles Feb 16th 250/290
AAPL add
#Earnings #ShortPuts Added another $AAPL Feb 2nd 175 put for 5.20. The bet is we raise into and after earnings. But if not, I’m okay rolling or taking some stock at 170 cost basis.
FFIV closed
#Earnings Closed $FFIV Jan 26th 130/155 strangles for .16. Sold yesterday for 1.60.
LRCX closed
#Earnings Closed $LRCX Jan 26th 200 puts for .05. Sold yesterday for 1.20.
Earnings trades
#Earnings $FFIV strangles and $LRCX bullish trades look good so far.
SPX risk/reversal
#SPXcampaign I did not catch the bottom but kind of chased as the bounce became clear:
Sold $SPX Feb 16th (Friday PM) 2800/2775 put spreads for 5.05.
Bought SPX Feb 2nd 2865/2885 call spreads for 4.00.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 9th 2875/2900 call spreads for 4.50. Throwing one out there in case this weakness holds up. Also looking to sell an aggressive put spread. I won’t be looking to roll any put spreads unless VIX moves over 12.50 or SPX below 2825.
SVXY put closed
#VXXgame Closed this one with nice profit, giving a nice chunk of buying power back so I can sell something better.
Closed $SVXY Feb 16th 80 put for .61. Sold for 7.35 in a strangle on Nov 15th
LRCX earnings
#Earnings Sold $LRCX Jan 26th 200 puts for 1.20 (now going for more).
Biggest UP move: 8.1%, Biggest DOWN move: -2.8%, Average move: 2.9%. This trade was 5.2% OTM at the time of the fill (stock price was 211.00).
This has only been making small moves down and bigger moves up on earnings. The last time it moved DOWN more than 3% was Oct 2011.
AAPL put sold
#Earnings #ShortPuts Taking advantage of weakness in $AAPL to place an earnings trade early. Release is next Thursday.
Sold AAPL Feb 2nd 175 put for 4.05.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order: $SPX Feb 9th 2650/2625 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.60 on Jan 8th.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign I have tried since Monday to sell my normal 5-week put spread, but keep missing a fill on the lows, only to see us ratchet higher. Finally just forced a fill. I don’t blame the market. Who wants to be on the other side of being long this market?
Sold $SPX Feb 23rd 2735/2710 put spreads for 1.60.
FFIV earnings
#Earnings Sold $FFIV Jan 26th 130/155 strangles for 1.60.
Biggest UP move: 9.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -10.0% , Average move: 6.0%.
Expected move: 8.90
My strikes are +/- 8.8% OTM
NUGT and SVXY
#ContangoETFs #VXXGame Following @optioniceman in spirit:
Sold $NUGT Jan 2019 50 call for 5.95, adding to my position.
Sold $SVXY Feb 16th 120/100 put spread for 2.15. Margin cost to sell naked is too steep.
VXX call
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals #SyntheticShortStock
Sold $VXX Feb 2nd 26 call for 1.35.
With VXX perpetually headed to zero, I am selling short-term puts AND calls against my Jan 2019 long 25 puts.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 2nd 2830/2805 put spreads for 6.75.
SPX calls stopped
#SPXcampaign Flubbed this one up… too distracted by earnings trades to get long at the bottom this morning, now I’m chasing.
Closed $SPX Feb 23rd 2900/2925 call spreads for 3.90. Sold for 1.60 yesterday. I have no more call spreads.
I want to sell put spreads and buy call spreads, but hate doing it at all-time-highs.
NFLX mgt
#Earnings Closed last $NFLX Jan 26th 250 call for 5.65.
Sold Feb 16th 240 put for 3.30. I will sell a few more puts over the next week or two.
Closed these to free up margin:
Jan 26th 200 put for .02
Jan 26th 205 put for .03
FB covered call campaign
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
Closed $FB Jan 26th 180 put for .12. Sold on last week’s dip for 3.55. After getting crushed on my last covered call, I made up most of the loss by selling this put on the news-driven drop. Now I will wait until earnings on the 31st and sell strangles.
NFLX earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles
Closed one of my $NFLX Jan 26th 250 calls for 5.05. Letting the other one ride. Sold strangles yesterday for about 3.00.
SPX trades
Closed $SPX Jan 26th 2790/2765 put spreads for 1.20. Sold for 8.20 last Tuesday.
Closed on GTC order: Feb 2nd 2660/2635 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 on Jan 5th.
Stopped Feb 15th 2890/2915 put spreads for 3.05, sold for 1.50 last Wednesday. Will look to roll tomorrow
NFLX earnings
#Earnings Added a Jan 26th 205 put for 1.19 before the bell. Was waiting for a bit more pullback but it went the wrong way. So I have two strangles…
200/250
205/250
SPX reverse roll
#SPXcampaign Well, it already looks like the possibility for consolidation is a bust. It seems the higher we go with little rest and no correction means the eventual reckoning will be all the more devastating. But until it happens, we ride the rocket ship to the sky.
Closed $SPX Feb 9th 2875/2900 call spreads for 2.75. Sold on Friday for 1.55.
#ReverseRoll Selling the Feb 7th 2790/2765 put spreads. Asking 3.90, which I will get with any slight pullback. If not, I’ll sell it for less.
Unfortunately I have no long call spreads going. Since the Upside Warning is not in effect, it’s tougher to have firm conviction of follow through, so I don’t want to buy at fresh highs.
SPX calls stopped
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Jan 26th 2820/2845 call spreads for 9.20. Sold last Wednesday for 4.25. My plan was to get out around 8.00, but this morning’s price action blew right past that. I feel it’s more likely I’m closing at a short term top, but can’t risk it. With recent action, we could end today at 2830 easily. Good news is I sold the 2790/2765 put spreads for 8.20 and they’re currently trading at 2.00.
NFLX earnings
#Earnings Sold $NFLX Jan 26th 250 calls for 1.35 and 1.50. Coupled with a 200 put sold on Friday for 1.78. I’ll add another put sometime today for a total of 2 #ShortStrangles.
NFLX 5-day moves over last 12 quarters: Biggest UP move: 27.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -13.1%, Average move: 12.6%. My strikes are 11.1% OTM.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 23rd 2900/2925 call spreads for 1.60. Parabolic move might be continuing, which means I’ll be having to stop-out of these calls and start getting ridiculously long again. Anyone else think we’ll hit 2900 before March? Hard to believe but can’t rule it out.
KMB earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles
Sold $KMB 111/120 strangles for 1.05. Biggest UP move: 5.4%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.2%, Average move: 2.7%. These strikes are 3.9% OTM
Nothing really matters…
The Daily Shot: How did the previous government shutdowns impact the stock market? https://t.co/G78Isc67PO pic.twitter.com/tfMY0oqOPt
— WSJ Markets (@WSJmarkets) January 22, 2018
Econ Calendar for week of 1/22/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated
Final trades and expirations
#SPXcampaign
Sold $SPX Feb 16th 2710/2685 put spreads for 1.55.
#Earnings
Closed $AA Jan 19th 53.5 puts for .45, sold in strangle for 1.00 on Wednesday.
Closed $STZ Jan 19th 220 put for 1.60, sold for 2.35 on 1/4.
#OptionsExpiration #ContangoETFs
$DUST 30 call, sold for 1.50 on Nov 30th
$AA 59 calls, sold in strangle for 1.00 on Wednesday.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Jan 22nd 2780/2755 put spreads for .60. Sold for 2.10 as a roll on Wednesday.
Earnings trades
#Earnings
BTC $STZ Jan 19th 220 call for 1.65. Sold for 2.35 on Jan 4th. Still got another one to buy back before the close
BTC $AA Jan 19th 53.5 puts for .60. Sold as 53.5/59 strangles for 1.00 on Wednesday. Still holding more to cover before the close.
Sold $NFLX Jan 26th 200 put for 1.78. They announce Monday after the close so I’m starting my position now in case it rallies higher before the report.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 9th 2875/2900 call spreads for 1.55. Missed the fill at highs and got caught in the plunge. I sold no call spreads in this expiry last week because we were in an Upside Warning.
No trades…
…just a theta decay day for me. If we get government shutdown, will it be a BTFD or something bigger? If they avert it, will another blistering rally commence?
Closed some Puts early
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Jan 24th 2775/2750 put spreads for 3.10. Sold yesterday for 6.70.
I had three put spreads close to ATM so I took off this one with a decent profit. If we get a pullback I want to be selling new spreads, not scrambling to manage threatened ones.
Rolling already
#SPXcampaign #Rolling #CondorRoll Already rolling the call spread I sold this morning.
Closed $SPX Feb 15th 2870/2895 call spreads for 3.25. Sold this morning for 1.80.
Sold Feb 15th 2890/2915 call spreads for 1.50.
Sold Jan 22nd 2780/2755 put spreads for 2.10.
guess it is a Rocket Ship
#SPXcampaign Sold to Close $SPX Jan 19th 2765/2785 call spreads for 18.10. Bought for 3.20 on Jan 10th.
Ripping up again. The 2 call spreads I sold earlier have each gone against me by 50% already. I’ll hold overnight but will have to consider rolling if the rally continues tomorrow.
VXX put sold… yep, you read that right
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals #SyntheticShortStock
Sold $VXX Feb 16th 25 put for 1.15. Just trying this out ahead of some possible consolidation. I will NOT let this go ITM, but I would like to chip away at some of the loss I took in selling puts months ago. I forgot to sell some short term calls yesterday, which I had been planning on a spike.
AA earnings
#Earnings #shortstrangles
Sold $AA Jan 19th 53.5/59 strangles for 1.00. Biggest UP move: 9.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -11.4%, Average move: 4.8%. Expected move is 2.98. So this strangle is a bit aggressive, being inside its expected and historical moves. But I also noted that many of the post-earnings moves could be faded on the first day, and that the moves have been smaller in recent quarters. In any case, totally manageable at the stock price of 56.20.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Jan 26th 2820/2845 call spreads for 4.25. Provided we’re not on another rocket ship higher, this should be closable within a couple days.
Bitcoin…
What’s the best TOS ticker to follow?
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Back in the call game after the Upside Warning was canceled.
Sold $SPX Feb 15th (monthlys) 2870/2895 call spreads for 1.80.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Jan 24th 2775/2750 puts for 6.70. If this one looks to be in trouble tomorrow (one week from expiration), I will roll it.
Cancelation of the upside warning does not necessarily mean that the bull run is finished. But it may mean a slowing of the momentum. I will look to try some call spread sales on the next up day.
Upside Warning canceled
#VIXIndicator The VIX just exceeded 25% above the 2-day closing low, so that cancels the Upside Warning. Under my revised rules, we do not get a downside warning unless we close above 12.35.
In recent months these spikes intraday have been bought. I have no reason to feel this would be different, provided we get the normal afternoon bounce. It was a beautiful morning as I had 3 put spreads close for pennies. If we find a low and bounce, I will be looking for more positions to get long the market.
UVXY calls
#VXXGame Followed @optioniceman and sold $UVXY March 16th 15 calls for 1.15.
I was looking to follow @fuzzballl‘s $SVXY 110 Feb puts, but broker wanted 11K in margin to sell a 3-dollar put. That’s the problem with being long so many $VXX puts on portfolio margin…. broker doesn’t want me to get short more volatility. But UVXY was more reasonable, only charging 1.5K for each 1.15 option.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign I sold a normal 5-week spread and an aggressive 10-dayer.
Sold $SPX Feb 15th 2675/2650 put spreads for 1.50.
Sold $SPX Jan 26th 2790/2765 put spreads for 8.20.
Can’t be bullish enough
#SPXcampaign
Closed on GTC orders:
$SPX Feb 2nd 2620/2595 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.50 on Jan 3rd.
$SPX Jan 22nd 2740/2715 put spreads for .40. Sold for 7.50 last Wednesday.
Waiting for at least a morning minor pullback to add more… will we ever go down again?
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order in pre-market: $SPX 2740/2715 put spreads for .40. Sold for 6.85.
Econ Calendar for week of 1/15/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated
Closed UVXY synthetic
#SyntheticShortStock #LongPutDiagonals
Took the cue from @fuzzballl and closed one of these (I originally had 2). Can’t make a whole lot more on this since we’re getting closer to zero on the stock.
Closed $UVXY Jan 2019 positions:
Long 30 put, Short 30 call, Long 40 call for 23.91.
Bought for 17.10 on Aug 17th.
That’s a $6.81 profit, BUT I also lost $818 total in the attempt to sell short-term puts. Since I had 2 positions, that’s a $409 loss for each, so profit on this one is $272.
As for the other one, I previously closed the call spread for 1.60 (on Dec 20th), and I put in an order to close the remaining long put for 24.50, which price is already near. That would mean a $171 profit on that half.
I am keeping my $VXX version of this open, since the stock is still at 25.75 so my long 20 puts still have a lot to gain. I have closed a third of my short call spreads, and I added more long puts “naked” anyway, so I’m long 18 puts, currently at 4.68, average purchase 1.77. I lost a bigger bundle on the sale of short-term puts on VXX, but my ending profit on the long puts will make up for it and them some.
I will look to do this again when they launch $VXXB with the 2020 LEAPs. But that time, I will skip the #Fuzzy hedging and just go with the synthetic short.
Closed short calls already
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Jan 26th 2800/2825 call spreads for 5.80. Sold for 3.60 yesterday. These got close to 7.00 at the highs. It is still a folly to attempt to short this market.
SPX long calls closed
#SPXcampaign Closed the $SPX Jan 16th 2750/2770 call spreads for 18.40.
This expires Monday and the max gain is 20.00. I figured if I could get 18.40 of that today, it was worth closing early. I didn’t really think it would fill when the morning started, but it did.
Bought for 2.80 on Jan 5th, the day after the Upside Warning fired.
FB covered call campaign
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign #earnings
Got whipsawed on this one… first time in the year since I started this, so not bad.
Sold $FB Jan 26th 182.5 call for 1.30 on Jan 2nd.
Closed it for 5.50 on Wednesday.
Today, we get the dip I wish I’d waited for. But now looking at a run up into earnings, so I sold Jan 26th 180 put for 3.55.
Earnings are Jan 31st. I will look into strangles on the day before.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC order in pre-market:
$SPX Jan 17th 2730/2705 put spreads for .40. Sold for 6.50.
SPX calls sold (he said meekly)
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Jan 26th 2800/2825 call spreads for 3.60.
I decided to dip my toe in since we had such a strong surge at the end of the day. If we get any pullback or consolidation over next couple of days, I can close this for under a dollar. If not, I’ll stop it at 5.00 or 6.00.
Riding the Wave
Other than one option sold in $GUSH, just riding the wave today as the Upside Warning brings us higher. I’m going to sell my long $SPX Jan 12th 2750/2775 call spreads today for 13.75 or best I can get before the close. It may go higher tomorrow, but for that I have the same spread with Tuesday’s expiration.
I gotta believe we’re due for a consolidation period soon, but it’s hard to pick a top. Rather than my typical 5-weeks-out, I will probably try selling some shorter term call spreads, as they will lose their value very fast once we consolidate.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 9th 2660/2635 put spreads for 1.55.
Using the dip, 2
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Jan 22nd 2740/2715 put spreads for 7.50 (wish I’d waited 10 minutes).
#VXXGame Sold to Open $SVXY March 16th 130/110 put spread for 8.05. That cost me 2K in margin as opposed to a naked March 120 put, for which they wanted 12K. I guess that means I’m long the market.
Using the dip
#SPXcampaign Bought to open $SPX Jan 19th (Friday PM) 2765/2785 call spreads for 3.20. Also orders in to sell some put spreads.
#VXXGame Bought to CLOSE $SVXY Jan 19th 125 call for 11.15. Sold for 3.75 on Oct 26th. Looking for roll options.
Sold partial of SPX long
#SPXcampaign Sold a third of my LONG $SPX Jan 12th 2750/2775 call spreads for 10.45. These were bought for only .45 back on Dec 11th. I’m keeping the rest until Friday’s expiration.
SPX closures
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC orders:
$SPX Jan 26th 2605/2580 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.45.
$SPX Jan 16th 2700/2675 put spreads for .30. Sold for 4.75.
SPX closures
#SPXcampaign These closed this morning on GTC orders:
$SPX Jan 12th 2690/2665 put spreads for .25. Sold for 3.20 one Jan 3rd.
$SPX Jan 18th 2620/2595 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.60 on Dec 22nd.
Upside Warning working… this morning’s minor drop another entry opportunity.
SPX more puts sold
#SPXcampaign Earlier sold my standard, 5-week-out, campaign trade (Feb 9th expiry). Here I’m selling an aggressive, ATM, shorter timeframe as it looks like the morning weakness is ending. This one will be on a shorter leash, and if we haven’t moved higher by this Friday I will likely roll it.
Sold $SPX Jan 19th (Friday PM expiration) 2740/2715 put spreads for 6.95.
Announcement…
I’m changing the name of my site to Options Blockchain Bistro-Coin. I’m selling only 100 shares, opening ask is $1.6 million each.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 9th 2650/2625 put spreads for 1.60.
Econ Calendar for week of 1/8/18
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” to keep Bistro features updated.
SVXY roll
#VXXGame Doing a @fuzzballl style #ReverseRoll on this one. My naked call was bound for #EarlyAssignment any day now so I finally closed it. Getting some of that premium back with an ITM put spread. If we have a significant drop before June, I can sell the long put and take assignment of the stock at a decent cost basis.
Closed $SVXY Jan 16th 97.5 call for 38.35. Sold as the 195 call for 6.25 on 1/6/17, exactly a year ago…. cost basis 3.125, so not a great trade!
Sold SVXY June 150/110 put spread for 18.40. So for instance if SVXY dips to 80 at June expiration, I would get the stock at 101.60 cost basis. I’ll be looking for another roll on the next pullback.
Bespoke’s List of the Most Volatile Stocks on Earnings
#Earnings https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/bespokes-list-of-the-most-volatile-stocks-on-earnings-2/
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Here are the $SPX trades I made on the Great Market Dip of 2018 (the 3-point drop between 9:30 and 9:55 PT)
Sold Feb 2nd 2660/2635 put spreads for 1.55
Sold Jan 17th 2730/2705 put spreads for 6.50
BOUGHT Jan 16th 2750/2770 call spreads for 2.80
AVGO call added
#ShortStrangles Sold another $AVGO Feb 16th 290 call for 3.75. Why do I get the feeling I will have to roll it?
