SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
Author Archives: Jeff
Options Expiration 8/25/17
— Expiring w/Max profit —
ADSK 103 puts. Sold yesterday for 1.07
AVGO 245/240 put spreads. Sold yesterday for 1.20
See y’all Monday!
SPX extra spread
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 6th 2375/2400/2460/2485 #IronCondor for 6.65.
VXX rollers
#VXXgame
#LongPutDiagonals #CoveredPuts #Rolling
BTC $UVXY Sept 1st 30 puts for 1.44. Sold for 1.10 on Aug 18th.
Sold to Open Sept 8th 29 puts for 1.77.
#StrangleRoll
BTC $SVXY Sep 15th 77.5 put for 4.20. Sold for 3.70 on July 27th.
STO $SVXY Oct 20th 55/90 strangle for 4.64 (legged in)
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sep 22nd 2345/2320 put spreads for 1.40. I was waiting for a flush but got impatient. Of course, my trade signaled that the flush could begin.
Also, closed on GTC order: Sep 14th 2520/2545 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.45 on Aug 14th.
Long Call Diagonals
I have added this to the “Hashtag Strategies” selection in the Menu at the top of the Bistro site.
ULTA earnings closed
#Earnings Closed $ULTA Aug 25th 217.5/212.5 put spreads for 4.40. Sold in the #IronCondor yesterday for 2.20. Reduced loss by .60 per lot by closing early and avoiding exercise.
PLCE covered calls
#CoveredCalls #LongStock
Sold to Open $PLCE Sep 15th 110 call for .95
Sold to Open $PLCE Oct 20th 115 call for 1.50
Assigned long stock at 108.00 cost basis.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sep 22nd 2505/2530 call spreads for 1.60.
DUST closed
#ContangoETFs Closed on GTC order: $DUST Jan ’18 85 call for .35. Sold for 4.00 on April 26th.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sep 8th 2475/2500 call spreads for 3.10. With the indecision I am now looking to sell spreads on either side, offsetting existing spreads to make new condors. Since I had puts but no calls existing for Sep 8th expiry, I sold these calls.
Earlier, closed on GTC order: Sep 6th 2300/2275 put spreads for .20. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 2.85 on Aug 10th.
ULTA earnings
#Earnings Selling a condor at its average move and close to a 1:1 risk/reward. Took awhile to get filled. Only selling a 2-lot as I like to limit my max loss to $500-600 on earnings spread trades.
Sold to open $ULTA 212.5/217.5/252.5/257.5 iron condors for 2.20. Biggest UP move: 17.9%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.1%, Average move: 6.9%. This trade is -6.7% and +8.3% OTM.
AVGO earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $AVGO Aug 25th 245/240 put spreads for 1.20. Biggest UP move: 14.7%, Biggest DOWN move: -2.2%, Average move: 6.4%. This trade is -3.7% OTM.
I’m playing these two bullish even though NDX under pressure. Historical performances on ADSK and AVGO are very positive on earnings, and both of my trades are outside their 12-quarter/one-day negative max move.
ADSK earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $ADSK Aug 25th 103 puts for 1.07. Biggest UP move: 14.7%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.4%, Average move: 5.0%. This trade is -7.1% OTM.
SVXY rolls
#VXXGame $SVXY Taking a cue from @optioniceman‘s move yesterday, rolling some ITM puts:
BTC SVXY Sept 1st 80 put for 5.35. Sold for 2.80 on July 27th.
BTC SVXY Sept 15th 77.5 put for 5.45. Sold for 3.70 on July 27th.
#Rolling both to: Sold to Open SVXY Oct 20th 68 puts for 5.55.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 22nd 2330/2305 put spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 2445.
CRM closed
#Earnings Bought to close $CRM Aug 25th 90 puts for .10. Sold yesterday in the 90/85 put spread for 1.00. I will keep the longs as lottery tickets.
SPX closures
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC orders:
$SPX Aug 25th 2380/2355 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.40 on July 27th.
$SPX Aug 28th 2385/2360 put spreads for .20. Sold yesterday as part of a #CondorRoll for 4.40 (the call side has gone above 7.50, however).
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign Is this a head-fake rally? Quite possibly. But that has not been the case in the last several volatility spikes. When the market starts going up strongly, it keeps going. So I’m forced to roll this second #ITMroll.
Closed $SPX Aug 25th 2450/2475 call spreads for 8.25. Sold for 16.25 on Aug 14th.
Rolled to Sep 1st 2460/2485 call spreads for 7.85.
Rolled up 10 points for only a minor debit. Will be looking for the direction tomorrow.
Volatility release
#VXXGame Closing some profitable short vol positions:
BTC $SVXY Sep 15th put for .41. Sold for 1.90 on Aug 10th
BTC $UVXY Sep 15th 68 call for .45. Sold for 4.70 on Aug 10th.
BTC $UVXY Sep 15th 91 call for .18. Sold for 1.85 on Aug 17th.
BTC $UVXY Sep 1st 68 call for .15. Sold for 1.50 on Aug 17th.
CRM earnings
#Earnings Sold to open $CRM Aug 25th 90/85 put spreads for 1.00. Bullish trade due to historical perfomance and current trend.
Biggest UP move: 11.7%, Biggest DOWN move: -4.5%, Average move: 5.0%. This trade is -2.4% OTM.
More SPX
#SPXcampaign. Closed $SPX Aug 23rd 2445/2470 call spreads for 1.15. Sold for 19.50 on Aug 9th as an #ITMroll. Finally out of one… one more to go.
Also, Stopped out of Aug 30th 2425/2400 put spreads for 8.60. Sold for 6.00 last Thursday as a roll. I would normally watch this one longer but I won’t be at my computer most of today. I will look to sell and aggressive roll later this week.
bailing on NVDA
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign. Closed on GTC order: $SPX Sep 8th 2510/2535 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.75 on Aug 10th.
#CondorRoll. Sold Aug 28th 2360/2385/2455/2480 iron condors for 4.40, as a roll from a put spread stopped last week. This one will be on a tight leash; one week to expiry.
Sold to Open Sept 25th 2500/2525 call spreads for 1.60, with SPX at 2421.
Times the eclipse begins by time zone
Econ Calendar for week of 8/21/17
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
#SPXcampaign — it’s been awhile since I was able to catch up, but the chart is now up to date. Ask questions anytime.
Options Expiration 8/18/17
#OptionsExpiration #ContangoETFs #VXXGame #Earnings
— Expired w/Max Profit —
DRIP 35 call
UVXY 68 call
— #Assignment —
PLCE 110 puts, taking stock with 108.00 cost basis.
I will check in Monday from our Eclipse campsite in Dallas, Oregon!
WMT earnings closed
#Earnings BTC $WMT Aug 18th 81.5 puts for 2.09. Sold in the #BrokenWingButterfly for 2.00 on Wednesday. Small loss; could have been a medium winner had I closed on this morning’s peak, but didn’t anticipate such a pullback.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Aug 30th 2465/2490 call spreads for 3.25, as a #ReverseRoll from puts stopped earlier today.
TOS question
When looking at the options chain and selecting Vertical or Iron Condor, etc, how do I change the width of the spread or wings? Thanks.
SPX puts stopped
Bought to close $SPX Sep 14th 2350/2325 put spreads for 2.75. Sold for 1.50 on Monday. Will roll later, likely #ReverseRoll into calls.
UVXY puts
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY Sep 8th 28 puts for 1.10. Very possibly will be breached, but easy to roll.
Plus, cleared a few positions with profits to keep my short volatility volume controllable should things get uglier:
Closed $SVXY Sep 15th 50 put for 1.50. Sold as part of the 100/180 strangles for 18.95 in March.
Closed $SVXY Sep 15th 52 put for 1.65. Sold for 1.90 on 8/10
SPX puts stopped and call-roll sold
#SPXcampaign STOPPED, closed $SPX Aug 23rd 2410/2385 put spreads for 4.35. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 7.15 on Aug 10th. Will roll later.
#ReverseRoll Sold Sep 1st 2465/2490 call spreads for 3.30. This is a roll from put spread stopped yesterday after the closing bell.
SPX next-day closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Aug 11th 2420/2395 put spreads for 3.40. Sold yesterday for 2.20. A morning low less than 3 points OTM too close for comfort. Managing three stops, so I got out earlier than I wanted on this current bounce.
TICKS holding lower trend channel UP so far
This is something I look at when $SPX is wavering… until TICK trend channel is broken, SPX will likely trickle up.
Now that I finish typing this, to looks like TICK channel is breaking.
What percentage will you see on Monday?
SPX puts stopped
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Sep 1st 2375/2350 put spreads for 2.90. Sold for 1.30 on July 31st. This hit my 3.00 stop before the close, so I closed it on the bounce after the close. I will roll tomorrow.
Ugly close so I wanted at least one put spread out of the way if we gap down in the morning.
Also after the bell, closed on GTC order: Aug 23rd 2480/2505 call spreads for .20. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 7.15 last Thursday.
SVXY calls closed
#VXXGame Closed $SVXY Sept 15th 90 call for .40. This is the last call I had from the 100/180 strangles I sold for 18.95 back in March. I have one SVXY put remaining. That was sold as a roll, and I got out of most of it at decent prices. But I also rolled some into Sep 15th 77.5 puts, now underwater. #Rolling never ends!
Earnings Update
#Earnings #LongStock Sold to close some of my $HCA stock for 78.50 and 78.26. I had these on Trail stop orders… I was assigned with cost basis of 82.30. I will ride on with the balance of shares… prefer this smaller position if I have to hold through a correction.
Bought to close $WMT 81.5 calls for .05. Sold the 78.5/81.5/84 #BrokenWingButterfly for 2.00 yesterday. Despite plunging market, WMT has been climbing today. Recovery any higher will turn me a profit.
$PLCE — will be assigned stock via 110 puts expiring tomorrow. I’m okay with that, as I feel it will recover. Stock held steady today, indicating 100 may be a support level.
More SPX
#SPXcampaign #Rolling Sold to Open $SPX Aug 30th 2425/2400 put spreads for 6.00. This is a delayed roll from the Aug 2435/2410 put spreads stopped a few days ago. I’ll watch this one closely, or may ride it ITM.
Earlier, closed on GTC order: Sep 8th 2525/2550 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 on Aug 7th.
SPX next-day
#SPXcampaign Looking to sell a put spread expiring tomorrow. Currently eyeing the 2420/2395. However, there’s still 47 minutes left in the day and no bounce seems to be coming. So I’ve also got the 2415/2390 up and watching for best entry before the close.
New multi-week low just hit.
VXXGame
#VXXGame #ShortCalls
Sold to Open $UVXY Sep 15th 91 call for 1.85, and Dec 91 call for 8.00
VXXGame synthetic
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals #SyntheticShortStock
Bought one of @fuzzballl‘s $UVXY trades for 17.20
Bought Jan 2019 30 put for 19.16
Sold Jan 2019 30 call for 23.91
Bought Jan 2019 40 call for 21.95
I did a study a few years back on buying UVXY LEAP puts to profit on the eventual drop. It’s hard to make much because downside can’t go past zero. So assuming a few reverse splits, the max the long puts can earn is 29.99 (with UVXY trading for .01 in today’s prices). Fuzzy’s trade knocks a couple bucks off entry price than buying the put outright.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 14th 2320/2295 put spreads for 1.60
Closed on GTC order: Sep 1st 2520/2545 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 on Aug 4th.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign This is a roll from spread closed this morning:
Sold $SPX Sept 15h 2500/2525 call spreads for 3.45.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Aug 17th (monthly) 2465 calls for 3.30. Sold as 2465/2490 call spread for 3.85 last Friday.
I was tracking this one for optimal exit. On the spike down I went to adjust my ask lower, but it filled at 3.30 before I could. Happy to be out with small profit since this was trading above 12.00 yesterday.
NUGT call
#ContangoETFs Sold $NUGT Dec 51 call for 2.20.
WMT earnings
#Earnings #BrokenWingButterfly
Slightly different… Sold $WMT Aug 18th 78.5/81.5/84 broken-wing butterfly for 2.00. Max loss downside is 1.00, max loss upside is .50. With stock at 81.00, can sustain a -1.9% move down and a +3.5% move up and remain profitable. Leans bullish with decent retail reports today from TGT and URBN.
Biggest UP move: 9.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -4.4%, Average move: 3.6%.
Gold, NUGT soaring
Gold, NUGT soaring
NVDA put sold
#Earnings Sold to Open $NVDA Sept 15th 160 put for 4.00. This will put me back into profit after trading this one since busted earnings in April.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sep 14th 2515/2540 call spreads for 2.40. A little higher delta than I usually sell for my standard campaign, but I already sold the 2520 short, and the 2525 short was not lucrative enough.
Also, closed on GTC order in pre-market: SPX Aug 17th 2395/2370 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 on July 20th.
JD Earnings closed
#Earnings BTC $JD Aug 18th 42 puts for .05. Sold last Friday for .62 (avg price)
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 14th 2350/2325 put spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 2462.
SPX roll sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Aug 25th 2450/2425 call spreads for 16.25. #ITMroll from the calls stopped this morning.
Also, closed on GTC order: Aug 17th 2375/2350 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.40 on July 17th.
Also, expired on Friday, Aug 11th 2495/2520 call spreads. Sold for 1.60 on July 13th.
SVXY put closed
#VXXGame BTC $SVXY Sept 15th 50 put for .70. Sold in the 100/180 strangle for 18.95 on March 21st.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 14th 2520/2545 call spreads for1.45.
Also closed the Aug 18th 2445/2470 call spreads for 16.65. Sold for 19.90 on Aug 4th. Will be rolling to Aug 25th 2450/2475
Econ Calendar for week of 8/14/17
SPX next-day closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Aug 11th 2425/2400 put spreads for .15 (closed shorts only). Sold yesterday for 2.00. Looks safe to expire but I have to leave my desk for remainder of day.
JD earnings
#Earnings JD.com reports Monday AM. They have a fairly bullish chart and bullish results on earnings.
Sold to Open $JD Aug 18th 42 puts for .60 and .67. May add a couple more if premium increases.
Biggest UP move: 11.4%, Biggest DOWN move: -7.4%, Average move: 4.8%. This trade is 8.5% OTM.
TTD earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to close $TTD Aug 18th 45/40 put spreads for .20. Sold yesterday for .80.
NVDA put closed, and other earnings
#Earnings BTC $NVDA Aug 11th 155 put for 2.37. Sold yesterday for 2.27. Small loss, but nice profits on the multiple 150 puts, so all’s good. Don’t feel like taking assignment in this market, even of only 100 shares.
PLCE is another story. Got until next Friday for recovery to 110. Will keep an eye but no plans to close today.
HCA may have bottomed out this week. Up over 1% today in a weak market. I was assigned shares, recovery above 81 for breakeven.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign I have a couple ATM call spreads and and one ATM put spread expiring next week. I’ve been watching to see which I should roll (maybe both). At the moment I feel we have topped out for the day and will close lower, so I closed:
$SPX Aug 18th 2435/2410 put spreads for 5.85. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 6.70 on July 19th.
I will look to roll to another put spread when put premium increases.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Replacing calls that closed yesterday:
Sold $SPX Aug 17th 2465/2490 call spreads for 3.85. These are monthlys that expire next Friday morning. If they get threatened they will be easy to roll.
NVDA earnings
#Earnings A pretty good earnings report, but going with the market… 1-min cart so far matches the SPX 1-min chart. I will be closing early with profits.
SPX closures at open
#SPXcampaign Closed on GTC orders:
$SPX Aug 18th 2500/2525 call spreads for .20. Sold for 4.50 on June 1st.
$SPX Sept 1st 2525/2550 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.50 on July 31st.
VIX dropping
#VIXIndicator #Market The VIX topped at 17.28 a few hours ago but is now dropping on lower than expected inflation numbers. Looks like indices will open flat or positive.
To me it looks like an opportunity to short, but this market has been killing the dreams of bears for years.
SPX wild ride
#SPXcampaign $SPX What a fun day! Lots of action. Ended up rolling 4 put spreads: 2 into condors, one into further puts and one into calls. Here are trades that I did not post earlier:
Closed on GTC orders:
Aug 25th 2520/2545 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.90 on July 27th
Aug 18th 2505/2530 call spreads for .20. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 6.70 on July 19th
Stop and Roll:
Closed Sep 8th 2375/2350 put spreads for 2.95. Sold for 1.50 on Tuesday.
#Rolling Sold Sep 15th 2310/2285 put spreads for 2.05 (1.5x position size).
Closed Aug 25th 2395/2370 put spreads for 3.40. Sold for 1.35 on July 25th.
#ReverseRoll Sold Aug 25th 2480/2505 call spreads for 3.50.
Standard Campaign Spread:
Sold Sep 8th 2510/2535 call spreads for 1.75.
Taking Profits
Bought to close Aug 21st 2480/2505 call spreads for 2.20. Sold for 8.90 on Monday. This was an extra spread I threw on, and I decided to close it now in case we’ve seen the bottom. I have two spreads that were sold ITM and are now just OTM that I will watch as I don’t want them to fall back way-ITM again.
VXX gaming
#VXXGame BTC $SVXY Sept 90 call for 1.80. Sold for 4.65 (effective price)
STO $UVXY Aug 25th 68 call for 1.33
SPX next-day
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Aug 11th 2425/2400 put spreads for 2.00, as SPX hits a new low of 2443
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign Since this one started going ITM with less than a week to expiry, rolled into a somewhat tight condor.
Closed $SPX Aug 16th 2450/2425 put spreads for 6.65. Sold last week for 2.25
#CondorRoll Sold Aug 23rd 2385/2410/2480/2505 condors for 7.15
Short Vol sales
#VXXGame. Dipping in…
Sold $UVXY Sept 15th 68 call for 4.70 (highest strike)
Sold $SVXY Sept 15th 52 puts for 1.90
Sold $SVXY Jan 2018 25 put for 3.50
TTD earnings
#Earnings I don’t know this stock and it’s a fairly new issue. It has moved steadily up since IPO. Only three earnings reports; two positive, one slightly negative but recovered within a week. I am using a spread because it is too new and unknown to risk naked.
Sold to Open $TTD Aug 18th 45/40 put spreads for .80. Biggest UP move: 30.1%, Biggest DOWN move: -2.8%, Average move: 13.9%. My short strike is -11.8% OTM, with stock at 51.00.
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SVXY stops
#VXXGame BTC $SVXY Sep 15th 90 call for 2.75. Scaling out of this position, this one at a 1.90 gain.
BTC Aug 18th 80 put for 5.65. Sold for 1.95 on July 27th. I want to avoid carrying a lot positions ITM. I will likely keep a few but will be rolling out others.
I plan to replace both with new positions, but first want to wait to see if this becomes an actual correction this time, rather than another head-fake.




