Not letting this whippy market ruin a road trip. This is where we stayed last night. Heading to Jackson WY today.
Author Archives: Jeff
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign.
My #ITMroll for the day: Closed $SPX Oct 4th 2470/2495 call spreads for 21.95. Sold for 20.05 last Thursday. #Rolling to Oct 11th 2475/2500… missed the highs so waiting.
Sold a couple NTM put spreads to offset my call spread positions:
Sold Oct 6th 2485/2460 put spreads for 2.80
Sold Oct 9th 2500/2475 put spreads for 5.40
Stopped: Oct 9th 2510/2535 call spreads for 7.70. Sold for 7.50 on Sep 18th. At least that was almost break-even… will add to the list of rolls I need!
SPX woes
#SPXcampaign. Monday seems to have existed just to confuse everyone. Now Nasdaq is up after its stocks were in free fall. The VIX popped to multi-week highs, then settled quickly. My indicator shows an Upside Warning, but it seems we’re stuck in a range. A very tough market to call.
The standard SPXcampaign sells spreads with short strikes at around .10-.15 delta. Lately I have been carrying too many high-delta NTM, ATM, and ITM spreads, making me vulnerable to whipsaw. My mistake was not closing those aggressive positions in late August when my ITM call spreads all paid off and I reached account highs. What’s transpired since then would have been easy to manage if I was holding only the .10-.15 delta spreads. Instead, the market is Moe and I am Curly.
Closed REGN
#ShortStrangles Taking profits early only to release margin. I’m getting stretched to the upside on SPX.
BTC $REGN Oct 6th 412.5/447.5 strangles for 4.85. Started as Sept 29th 430/530, and then rolled, with 8.00 total credit, so profit in end is 3.15.
Good morning from Rigby, Idaho
No internet yesterday so I just updated the site now. Click “Home/REFRESH” above.
It was a nice day to be on a 12-hour drive, compared to Monday. No trades. I will be round for an hour or two at the open, then checking in later.
SPX pre-market
#SPXcampaign Just closed $SPX Sep 27th 2470/2445 put spreads for .35. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 9.90 on Sep 11th.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign $SPX Took several stops today on put spreads but only rolled one of them. I am lightening up on positions since I will be traveling. Was caught in the head fake high and then the plunge, resulting in crappy trades for the Oct 27th standard spreads and the #ITMroll.
In chronological order from this morning:
Closed on GTC order: Oct 2nd 2425/2400 put spreads for .25. Sold for 1.70 on Sept 1st.
Sold Oct 27th 2415/2390 put spreads for 1.50.
Closed Oct 2nd 2475/2500 call spreads for 19.85. Sold for 19.00 last Monday.
Rolled to: Oct 9th 2470/2495 for 17.75 (dropped DOWN a strike and lost 2.10 – horrible timing)
Stopped Sept 27th 2490/2465 put spreads for 5.25. Sold Friday for 2.00.
Sold Oct 27th 2545/2570 call spreads for 1.70.
Stopped Oct 9th 2480/2455 put spreads for 4.25; rolled to:
#CondorRoll Sold Oct 16th 2380/2405/2530/2555 condors for 2.90 (1.5x position size)
Stopped Oct 6th 2475/2450 put spreads for 4.35. Sold for 2.60 on Friday.
Stopped Oct 4th 2475/2450 put spreads for 3.30. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 9.25 on Sep 15th.
Sell off?
Got head-faked and made some long trades at the market top today. Sell-off now looks compelling, even though TICKs are not showing usual -600 readings. VIX is at day’s highs. Big failure on upside warning, but not surprised this time. VIX has not had usual correlation to SPX movement for much of this year.
AAOI puts
#ShortPuts Closed on GTC order: $AAOI Sept 29th 55 puts for .20. Sold for 1.90 on Sep 13th.
Replaced with:
Sold to open AAOI Oct 13th 55 puts for 1.90
Great premium on this one still. Perhaps someone is expecting a huge dump.
Econ Calendar for week of 9/25/17
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” above to keep Bistro features updated
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
#RiskReversal Bought to Open $SPX Sep 29th 2515/2530 call spreads for 2.00
Sold to Open SPX Sep 27th 2490/2465 put spreads for 2.00
Closed Sep 29th 2480/2505 call spreads for 17.15. Sold for 17.45 last Friday.
#ITMroll Sold Oct 6th 2485/2510 call spreads for 16.50.
Sold Oct 6th 2475/2450 put spreads for 2.60.
Closed on GTC order: Oct 6th 2365/2340 put spreads for .25. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 3.18 on Aug 31st
Sold Oct 19th 2545/2570 call spreads for 1.70. Standard spread sold just before the week closes.
No expirations tonight!
Upside Warning
#VIXIndicator We are heading into an upside warning with a third consecutive close below 9.96. This signal rarely is false.; while recent Downside warnings have often been head fakes, the Upsides have been good for at least a small rally before stopping, which in this case would mean 10-30 points higher on SPX next week. Hard to believe that will happen with the recent range-bound, dull movement. And weekend news could derail it as well.
VXX rolling
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals #Rolling #StrangleRoll
As $VXX and $UVXY continue to bleed out, I’m rolling my last ITM puts into strangles.
BTC VXX Sep 22nd 47 puts for 5.75.
Sold VXX Oct 20th 44/50 strangle for 5.86
Sold VXX Oct 20th 43/46.5 strangle for 5.45
I’ll see another next week. Managing the weeklys on this long trade has gotten messy, but it keeps me busy!
Health care stocks rally
John McCain announced opposition to Graham-Cassidy bill and healthcare stocks are surging.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Sep 22nd 2205/2480 put spreads for 4.70. Sold yesterday for 4.90. As we head into the close, we’re looking pretty weak, so can’t risk an overnight gap down. This was only a hedge against the short 2505 call spread, which I closed this morning.
Also, sold to open Oct 4th 2470/2495 call spreads as an #ITMroll from spread stopped yesterday. I was unable to move short strike up.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Sept 22nd 2505/2530 call spreads for 2.95. Sold for 1.60 on Aug 25th.
This one slipped by me and should have been stopped when it hit my 4.00 stop. But I weathered through its peak around 9.00 and got out decently today. I sold the opposing 2505 put spread yesterday, and will look to exit today if possible. I am moderately bullish into tomorrow.
I am leaving on a 2-week trip on Tuesday so will be adding fewer aggressive positions. I’ll be trading during the trip but not at my computer as often.
SPX puts
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Oct 19th (monthly) 2415/2390 put spreads for 1.40.
Downside warning canceled
#VIXIndicator Well with a close finally below the 78.6% line, the Downside warning that started on Sept 5th is finally canceled. In the “correctionless” last 20 months, the Indicator has become more lagging than ever, so not sure what to make of it.
DUST call
#ContangoETFs Sold $DUST Dec 35 call for 1.25. My first new position in DUST since early July.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Closed on GTC order: $SPX Sep 22nd 2475/2450 put spreads for .40. Sold for 2.15 on Sep 13th.
#ITMroll Closed Sep 27th 2470/2495 call spreads for 21.70. Sold for 16.50 on Sep 11th.
Order in to sell Oct 4th 2745/2500 for 21.85… or whatever I can get before the close.
Sold to Open Sep 22nd 2505/2480 put spreads for 4.90. This is sold against the 2505/2530 call spreads, creating an #IronButterfly for Friday expiration. I will close whichever side I need to on Friday (unless we have a major move in either direction)
HCA covered calls
#Earnings #LongStock #CoveredCalls
This stinker cannot get back above 80. Was assigned stock back in July.
Sold $HCA Nov 17th 82.5 call for 1.05.
AZO closed, REGN rolled
Bought to close $AZO Sep 22nd 505/630 strangles for .55. Sold yesterday for 3.20. Didn’t want to wait and see if it decides to tank again.
Closed REGN Sep 29th 430 put for 8.50. Sold in the 430/530 strangle for 7.40 on Aug 23rd. 530 call previously closed for .20.
#StrangleRoll: Sold Oct 6th 412.5/447.5 strangle for 9.30.
Another DRIP drops
#ContangoETFs Closed on GTC order: $DRIP Nov 40 call for .20. Sold for 2.10 on Aug 29th.
SPX trades
#SPXcmapiagn Sold to Open $SPX Oct 19th (monthly) 2420/2395 put spreads for 1.45.
Closed on GTC order: Sep 25th 2445/2420 put spreads for .25. Sold for 4.50 on Aug 31st.
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
Be sure to click “Home/REFRESH” above to update right-column features.
Rough day playing ATM put spreads; got whipsawed. The VIX downside warning has not been officially canceled because we have not closed below the Fib 78.6% from the small VIX spike on Sept 5th. So I’ve been hesitant to be aggressively bullish; but tried it out today on the open and got spanked.
VXX rolls
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals
BTC $VXX Sep 22nd 44 puts, #Rolling: Sold Oct 13th 42 puts, .24 credit
BTC $UVXY Oct 6th 27.5 puts, #Rolling: Sold Oct 27th 25.5 puts, .15 credit
Also,
BTC UVXY Dec 91 call for 1.15. Sold for 8.00 on Aug 17th.
Clear selling pressure
#SPXcampaign Looks like an unfortunate whipsaw. I should’t have gotten suckered in since the Downside Warning has not been canceled. Going into triage mode.
BBY earnings closed
#Earnings #LongStock
Sold my final 100 shares of $BBY for 57.74 as my one-dollar trailing stop was hit.
Original trade: Sold Sep 1st 57.5 puts on 8/28 for 1.06.
Assigned stock on Sep 1st
Waited for recovery and sold stock between 56.50 and 58.50.
Max profit on original trade: $738.50
Final profit in the end: $684.50
AZO earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles
Sold to Open $AZO Sep 22nd 505/630 strangles for 3.20. Biggest UP move: 5.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -11.8%, Average move: 2.7%. My trade filled at 569.00 as AZO dropped from its intraday high. Probably possible to get above 3.50 now.
AZO moved down -11.8% on the day after earning last quarter, but then bounced and hovered for a few weeks before dropping much lower. I was able to escape the trade with full profit before the bigger drop. That was before AZO added weeklys.
My strikes are -11.2% and +10.7% OTM. Position size is small.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Looks like more upside today and likely the week. Stopping call spreads, selling ITM put spreads…
Stopped: $SPX Sep 27th 2500/2525 call spreads for 12.00. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 9.90 last Monday. Partial #ReverseRoll: Sold Sep 18th 2510/2495 put spreads for 3.45. Expires today, hopefully worthless if we can close higher as I expect.
Stopped: Sep 25th 2510/2535 call spreads for 6.65. Sold last Tuesday for 3.50.
#ReverseRoll: Sold Sep 22nd 2510/2485 put spreads for 5.85.
Sold Oct 19th (monthly) 2555/2580 call spreads for 1.70.
Closed on GTC orders:
Sep 25th 2425/2400 put spreads for .20. Sold for 3.10 on Aug 31st
Sep 20th 2460/2435 put spreads for .20. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 10.50 on 9/6.
Econ Calendar for week of 9/18/17
Periodically click “Home/REFRESH” above to keep Bistro features updated.
SPX chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
Click Home/REFRESH on the menu above to update right-column features.
Options Expiration 9/15/17
#OptionsExpiration #ContangoETFs #VXXGame #SPXcampaign #Earnings #CoveredCalls
— Expiring w/max profit —
DRIP 35 call
KOLD 45 call
SVXY 75 put
SPX 2505/2530 call spreads (sold in a #CondorRoll for 3.95 on Tuesday)
— Expiring w/loss —
SPX 2420/2405 LONG put spreads, bought for 1.25 last Friday
— #Assignment —
PLCE 110 covered call, partial stock position being called away
SPX ITM roll
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Sep 22nd 2475/2500 call spreads for 17.95. Sold for 4.50 on Aug 29th.
#ITMroll Sold Sep 29th 2480/2505 call spreads for 17.45.
Also, stopped Sep 29th 2500/2525 for 9.65. Sold for 2.75 on Sep 8th as part of a #RiskReversal. Had to take risk off going into Monday. Will figure out how to roll next week.
#LongCallSpread Finally, bought to Open Sep 22nd 2510/2525 call spreads for 2.75, after the bell. Another hedge against further upside on Monday.
SPX more trades
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Sep 15th 2500 calls for .25. Sold in the 2500/2525 call spreads for 3.45 on Aug 17th.
Sold Oct 13th 2540/2565 call spreads for 1.75.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign $SPX
TODAY:
Closed Sep 15th 2480/2455 put spreads for .20. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 3.95 on Tuesday.
Closed Sep 29th 2340/2315 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 on Aug 28th.
Sold Oct 13th 2420/2395 put spreads for 1.50.
BBY stock sold
#Earnings #Assignment #LongStock
Sold more shares today at 57.50 and 58.50, assigned at 56.44 basis. Now that the full position is nicely profitable I put my remaining shares on trail stops of .50 and 1.00.
AAOI closed
#PostEarnings #ShortPuts
Bought to close $AAOI Sep 15th 55 puts for .20. Sold for 1.25 on Aug 4th. Had I remembered this GTC order was in, I would have taken it off and let it expire worthless.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Bought to close $SPX Sep 13th 2490/2465 put spreads for .20. Sold yesterday for 2.45
Sold to Open $SPX Sep 22nd 2475/2450 put spreads for 2.15.
Rolling ITM
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals Most of us have long known the folly of selling puts on $VXX and $UVXY. It can work during volatile periods but as soon as market drifts higher, these go ITM very quickly. I’m rolling my diagonal weeklys to further dated but still ITM positions. The long term positions are fine, but as @fuzzballl says, these short-term puts won’t always be easy.
Rolled VXX Sep 22nd 45.5 puts to Oct 6th 44 puts for .02 credit
Rolled UVXY Sep 22nd 29 puts to Oct 6th 27.5 puts for .15 credit.
SPX rolls
#SPXcampaign
Closed: Sep 18th 2495/2520 call spreads for 5.30. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 6.75 on Sep 1st.
#Rolling: Sold Sep 25th 2510/2535 call spreads for 3.50.
Selling Sep 22nd 2470/2445 put spreads for 2.50 (no fill yet)
Closed: Oct 6th 2520/2545 call spreads for 3.70. Sold for 1.70 on Sep 5th.
#CondorRoll: Sold Sep 15th 2455/2480/2505/2530 condors for 3.95. Trying to thread the needle for expiry on Friday.
SPX close and roll
#SPXcampaign I closed this yesterday afternoon and sold the roll this morning:
STOPPED: $SPX Oct 4th 2515/2540 call spreads for 3.60. Sold for 1.45 last Thursday.
#CondorRoll: Sold Oct 11th 2385/2410/2535/2560 condors for 3.75.
Also: In pre-market, sold Sept 13 2490/2465 put spreads for 2.45. Expires tomorrow.
REGN closed call
#ShortStrangles BTC $REGN 530 call for .20. Sold in the 430/530 strangle for 7.40 on Aug 23rd. My mistake was not closing the put during the rally above 500. I’m not going to roll the call down with the stock so low. If it rallies in the next week or so, I may sell a new call.
BBY stock for sale
#Earnings #Assignment #LongStock
Sold shares of $BBY for 56.50, and 56.75. Cost basis 56.44 from 57.5 put assignment on 9/1.
Covered Call premium not attractive enough to play with this one. I don’t trust the business either with Amazon devouring all retail in sight. Will sell out of remaining shares as it moves up or down from here.
SPX update
#SPXcampaign Rough day yesterday, not just because the market went against me but also because TOS has decided to crap out on my PC, freezing my trading at various points yesterday. Now I’ve got it up on my Mac and it’s running smoothly.
Too many stops and rolls to count yesterday. I’m weathering this drawdown as the last one… getting pretty short the market and holding it until we get a pullback. New all-time highs this morning and VIX plunging… I will be truing some short term put spreads as well as the rolls.
Any questions please forward them. I should post an updated chart tonight, but too many trades to type in here.
VXX puts
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals
Sold $VXX Sept 22nd 44 puts for .73. Also short 47 and 45.5 puts. If rally continues tomorrow I will be looking to roll.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Oct 13th 2535/2560 call spreads for 1.50.
Two weekends in a row I got caught on the wrong side. Leaned bearish going into the weekend. It was NOT an Irma bet… I feel the market is still weak. But it seems weekend news (Korea then Irma) is highly influencing Monday action.
Econ Calendar for week of 9/11/17
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator…
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
Options Expiration 9/8/17
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals
— Expiring —
RH 36 puts
UVXY 28 & 29 puts
To Bistro-ites in Florida… stay safe!
VXX Game
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals
Sold $VXX Sep 22nd 47 puts for 1.57
Sold $UVXY Sep 22nd 29 put for 1.59
BTC $SVXY Oct 20th 68 put for 3.85. Reducing exposure. Sold for 5.55 on Aug 23rd.
SPX going bearish
#SPXcampaign Making several moves to bear myself up.
Sold to Open $SPX Sep 13th 2465/2490 call spreads for 7.65. This is a spread I sold Tuesday, covered yesterday, and now I’m selling again. Sounds nuts, but I really look at opportunities on a day to day basis. Each day told me something different in this uncertain market. Other than the commissions, I have no qualms about appearing erratic at times.
#RiskReversal Bought put spreads in two different expiries and sold one call spread to cover cost of both (almost). They are all different widths, based on what I expect to be able to profit, and what premium I want to spend.
Bought to open Sep 15th 2420/2405 put spreads for 1.25 (15 puts)
Bought to open Sep 29th 2400/2380 put spreads for 1.90 (20 puts)
Sold to Open Sep 29th 2500/2525 call spreads for 2.75 (25 puts)
Correction ahead?
Wall Street strategist Tom Lee sees the S&P 500 falling 5% in the next 30 days
#Market I rarely post CNBC talking heads, but this guy is always sensible and rarely wrong.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/fundstrat-strategist-tom-lee-sees-the-sp-500-falling-5-percent-in-the-next-30-days.html
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Closed $SPX Sep 8th 2450/2425 put spreads for .75. Sold last week for .75, as part of a Risk/Reversal. Closed the long 2480/2495 spread for .20.
Sold to Open Oct 4th 2515/2540 call spreads for 1.45. Used the Wednesday series since Oct 6th is crammed with too many spreads already.
VXX puts sold
#LongPutDiagonals Same deal as below with $VXX…
Sold VXX Sep 22nd 45.5 puts for 1.19. This is against my Jan 2019 position (long 20 puts, short 50/60 call spreads). I only sold three so I leave myself open to selling more, since my position is a 10-lot.
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign Closing a reverse roll I sold on Tuesday’s drop. Don’t have any idea which way we’re headed but I’m leaning on the downside.
Closed $SPX Sept 13th 2465/2490 call spreads for 9.25. Sold for 6.75 on Tuesday
#Rolling
Sold Sep 18th 2445/2420 put spreads for 3.00
Sold Sep 25th 2480/2505 call spreads for 6.30
UVXY put
#LongPutDiagonals Sold $UVXY Sep 22nd 29 put for 1.85. This is against my Jan 2019 position (long 30 puts, short 30/40 call spreads). It is replacing the Sep 8th 29 puts expiring tomorrow. I only sold one so I leave myself open to selling another, since my position is a 2-lot.
NUGT and DUST
Sold $NUGT Nov 17th 60 call for 2.10
Closed $DUST Dec 50 call for .20. Sold for 4.75 on July 7th.
Like a friend who stays longer than you expected…
#Earnings #StrangleRoll Looks like I am committing to a longer term relationship with $RH. Not happy about my sloppy exit, but what’s done is done.
BTC RH Sep 8th 64.5 calls for 7.05
STO RH Oct 20th 65/75 strangles for 6.70. Sold an extra 65 put for 3.90, to give me a roll credit of .43 on the whole trade. I will manage this similarly to #PerpetualRollingStrangles
REGN dropped
#ShortStrangles I guess not adjusting is working out for my Sep 29th 430/530 strangle.
RH earnings blowout
#Earnings Sold 64.5 calls, 28% OTM… and got slammed. Up 43%! The previous day-after earnings max intraday move was only 27%. Considering options to roll.
RH earnings
#Earnings #ShortStrangles
Sold each side separately: $RH Sep 8th 36 puts for .50, and 64.5 calls for .60. Over last 12 earnings, the 3-day moves: Biggest UP move: 21.7%, Biggest DOWN move: -26.4%, Average move: 11.4%. My strikes are each about 28.4% OTM.
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign I rolled this one earlier as the downside risk is too great this close to expiration.
Bought to close $SPX Sep 8th 2480/2455 put spreads for 13.50. Sold last week for 6.80.
#CondorRoll Sold to Open Sep 20th 2435/2460/2485/2510 condors for 10.50, 1.33x position size.
EDIT: I closed PUT spreads, not call spreads.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Oct 6th 2520/2545 call spreads for 1.70.
SPX reverse roll
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Sep 18th 2455/2430 put spreads for 7.65. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 6.75 on Friday.
#ReverseRoll Sold Sep 18th 2465/2490 call spreads for 8.00.
SPX reverse roll
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Sep 13th 2455/2430 put spreads for 6.60. Sold for 4.70 last Thursday as a roll.
#ReverseRoll: Sold $SPX Sep 13th 2465/2490 call spreads for 6.75. Was able to move up 10 points and still get a credit on the roll.
Downside Warning!
#VIXIndicator — Downside warning is in effect.
That was quick.
Downside Signal fired
#SPXcampaign #VIXIndicator It is a rare occurrence for a new downside signal to fire so soon after a previous Warning was canceled, but it just happened today. If VIX reaches 13.26, we’ll have a full-fledged Downside Warning.
NUGT call
#ContangoETFs Sold $NUGT Mar 16 2018 60 call for 5.50. Highest strike.
VXX long game
#VXXgame #LongPuts
Added some more to Friday’s $VXX position and also threw out a few different strikes. These are just straight purchases, not paid for by selling call spreads.
Bought VXX Jan 2019 20 puts for 1.75, adding to my position.
Bought VXX Jan 2019 15 puts for .60
Bought VXX June 2018 25 put for 1.32
Will add more. Barring a 2008-style multi-month correction, these will profit easily.
SRPT position closed
#Earnings BTC $SRPT Sep 15th 35 put for .20. Sold for 1.20 on July 27th. Overall a losing trade from the original iron condor, since I took a loss on half at expiration. The second half fared better by covering the short stock at lower prices, but not enough to make up for the first half.
PLCE stock sold
#Earnings #Assignment #LongStock
Sold to close one-fourth of my $PLCE stock position at 108.50. Assigned on Aug 11th with 108.00 cost basis. Holding the rest with #CoveredCalls already established.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Oct 6th 2355/2330 put spreads for 1.55.
Econ Calendar week of 9/4/17
Options Expiration 9/1/17
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #Assignment
Only one this week:
Assigned stock on $BBY 57.5 puts
