#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 24th 2430/2455 call spreads for 1.45, with SPX hitting new all-time highs.
Bought to close SPX Feb 24th 2300/2275 put spreads for .20. Sold for 2.85 on Feb 13th.
Author Archives: Jeff
Econ Calendar for week of 2/20/17
This calendar is always quickly accessible in the menu at the top of the site (upper right).
Options Expiration 2/17/17
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #CoveredCalls #ShortStrangles #BullPutSpreads
— Expiring w/Max Profit —
ALK 95/90 put spreads
RGLD 75 & 80 covered calls
VECO 24/29 strangles
That’s it… have a good weekend all!
SPX trades today
#SPXcampaign
Bought to close $SPX Feb 22nd 2300/2275 put spreads for .20. Sold for 3.50 last Friday.
Bought to close $SPX March 3rd 2205/2180 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.30 on Feb 3rd.
Sold to Open March 16th 2255/2230 put spreads for 1.45, when SPX was at 2345.
#ITMroll Bought to close Feb 24th 2320/2345 call spreads for 18.80. Sold for 4.75 on Feb 9th.
Rolled to 2 spreads: Sold to Open Feb 28th 2325/2300 put spreads for 3.00, with SPX at 2345, AND Sold to Open March 10th 2330/2355 for 15.80, at end of day when SPX hit 2350.
Stock sold
#Earnings #StockTrades Sold more of my $SBUX stock, cost basis 56.75. Sold this morning at 57.05 and 57.36. Still have more on trailing stop.
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
It’s been a crazy week for SPX trades, and the chart reflects it… lots of rolling and arrows. Enjoy!
Only SPX trade of the day…
#SPXcampaign … and I would have canceled this order had I remembered to… Filled right after the close.
Bought to close $SPXPM Feb 17th 2320/2295 put spreads for .20. Sold for 3.45 on Monday.
Last minute Earnings fill
#Earnings Sold $VECO Feb 17th 24/29 strangles for .50. Biggest UP move: 13.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -12.3%, Average move: 6.6%. Strikes are 10.9% and 7.6% OTM respectively.
Order in since this morning, forgot about it as I didn’t think it would fill. Price moved up intraday so call side is a bit close, but manageable at such a low stock price. Never traded this symbol before.
PEP earnings trade closed
#Earnings Bought to close remaining $PEP Feb 17th 107 puts for .20.
History:
Sold 105/107/109 #IronButterfly on Tuesday for 1.33
closed 107 calls for .05 on Tuesday
closed half 107 puts for .66 Wednesday
closed remaining 107 puts for .20 today
Profit on trade: 0.85.
Orders in to sell long options. Sold 1 put yesterday for .08. Filled just now on 109 call for .05. Will get more fills if stock keeps moving up.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Another day, another call spread stopped. Or two.
Bought to close $SPX March 16th 2390/2415 call spreads for 4.20. Sold Monday for 1.55.
#CondorRoll: Sold to Open SPX March 16th (same date) 2260/2285/2415/2440 iron condor for 4.45.
#ITMRoll: Bought to close SPX Feb 22nd 2300/2325 call spreads for 23.75. Sold for 7.50 on Feb 9th.
#CondorRoll (although each side sold separately):
Sold to open SPX March 1st 2305/2330 call spreads for 21.00
Sold to Open SPX March 1st 2320/2295 put spreads for 3.00
REGN put side roll up
#Earnings #ShortStrangles Taking a cue from @fuzzballl and rolling up the good side,
BTC REGN March 17th 330 put for 1.50. Sold in the 330/400 strangle for 6.10 last Friday.
STO REGN March 17th 350 put for 3.80, so 2.30 credit on the roll.
Looking like the 400 call may have to be rolled UP. All biotech surging.
SBUX, some stock sold
#Earnings #StockTrades Sold $SBUX stock for 56.80. This is slightly above breakeven for this lot. Putting various limits, trail stops, etc, on the rest. No too interested in holding long term, and covered call premium is too weak.
Was assigned the stock via earnings #IronButterfly… sold the long puts to reduce cost basis to 56.76.
PEP partial closure
#Earnings Put a trail-stop on half my PEP Feb 17th puts… just filled for .66. Will wait the rest out for a lower price or expiration.
Also putting orders in to sell the long options, one for .05 and one for .10. If any fill I’ll try for higher prices.
PEP earnings trade
#Earnings Yesterday sold the $PEP Feb 17th 105/107/109 #IronButterfly for 1.33.
Just now, closed the 107 calls for .05. Now looking for a rise back toward 107 into Friday. Currently this trade is closable for breakeven, but I’m in it to win it.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Yesterday, STOPPED, bought to close $SPX March 10th 2365/2390 call spreads for 3.80. Sold for 1.30 last Thursday. (4.00 stop was hit at the highs yesterday)
#CondorRoll this morning… bringing in to a closer expiration date with 1.5x position size.
Sold to Open SPX Feb 27th 2275/2300/2375/2400 iron condors for 2.85, with SPX at 2335.
Also yesterday:
Bought to close SPX Feb 16th 2300/2275 put spreads for .20. Sold for 4.50 last Thursday.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 16th (monthlys) 2405/2430 call spreads for 1.40, w/SPX at 2335. (standard weekly position)
#ITMrolling Dealing with three of these now, so I am rolling each one week before expiration.
Bought to close $SPX Feb 21st 2300/2325 call spreads for 18.50. Sold for 5.40 on Feb 1st.
Rolled one week further, 5 points higher: Sold to Open Feb 28th 2305/2330 call spreads for 16.50, w/SPX at 2327.
I sold that roll after we started recovering from this morning’s whipsaw. I intended to sell some puts to make up the 2.00 debit, but we kept going higher. Since I’m fairly heavy on aggressive put spreads, I felt better adding calls, believe it or not. So I added an extra call spread on the same expiry. I intend this one to expire while the one above will likely roll again:
Sold to Open $SPX Feb 28th 2365/2390 call spreads for 2.05, w/SPX at 2335.
PEP earnings
#SPXcampaign Taking another shot at an #IronButterfly. PEP rarely moves much on earnings. With stock at 106.30 this is slightly bullish placement… the chart is in a small uptrend; plus if it does drop or stay flat after the report it will have until Friday to rise back into range. Risking .67 to make 1.33.
Sold to Open $PEP Feb 17th 105/107/109 iron butterfly for 1.33.
Over last 12 reports, FIVE day moves: Biggest UP move: 3.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -4.2%, Average move: 2.0%. Breakevens on Friday are 105.67 and 108.33. -0.6% and +1.9% OTM.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to open $SPX March 16th (monthlys) 2220/2195 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2325.
More stops, more rolls
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 16th 2335/2360 call spreads for 4.25. Sold for 1.40 on Jan 20th.
#ReverseRoll Sold to Open $SPXPM Feb 17th 2320/2295 put spreads for 3.45, 1.5x position size. I keep daring the market to have kind of pullback… it’ll work one of these times.
Bought to close SPX March 10th 2360/2385 call spreads for 3.90. Sold for 1.45 last Tuesday.
#CondorRoll Sold to Open SPX March 16th 2200/2225/2400/2425 condors for 2.80, 1.5x position size
SPX busy morning
#SPXcampaign As we sail up higher I am stopping out on some standard call spreads. Using a 4.00 stop, and #Rolling into puts or condors
Bought to close $SPX Feb 16th 2330/2355 call spreads for 4.05. Sold for 1.45 on Jan 18th.
#ReverseRoll Sold to Open $SPX Feb 24th 2300/2275 put spreads for 2.85, 1.5x position size.
Bought to close $SPX March 3rd 2345/2370 call spreads for 4.30. Sold for 1.40 on Feb 1st.
#CondorRoll Sold to open SPX March 3rd 2250/2275/2380/2405 iron condors for 3.00, 1.5x position size.
Also, bought to close SPX Feb 21st 2250/2225 put spreads for .20. Sold for 3.60 on Feb 1st.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign In overnight session, bought to close $SPX Feb 24th 2200/2175 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 on Jan 25th.
Right after the bell, Sold to Open $SPX March 16th 2390/2415 call spread for 1.55, with SPX at 2322.
And another SPX all-time high……
And another SPX all-time high… good morning all!
Econ Calendar for week of 2/13/17
This always is available all week on the menu at the top of the Bistro page (upper right)
Options Expiration 2/10/17
#OptionsExpiration #SPXcampaign #Earnings #VXXGame
— Expiring w/100% of max profit —
ATVI 36 and 36.5 puts
EXPE 117 puts
NVDA 108 puts
UVXY 39 calls
SPX 2275/2250 put spreads
Post close put spread sold
#SPXcampaign 14 minutes after the close, Sold to Open $SPX Feb 22nd 2300/2275 put spreads for 3.50. This gives me an #IronButterfly at the 2300 strike for this expiry. One or both will likely be rolled.
Jumping on the REGN train
#ShortStrangles Sold to Open $REGN March 17th 330/400 strangle for 6.10
AMZN stock sold
#Earnings #StockTrades Sold the $AMZN 810/840/870 #IronButterfly last Thursday for 26.10. Took assignment of the shares on Friday at 840.00. Put a 1.00 trailing stop on the stock today around 11am ET; just stopped out for 826.36. Profit on trade: $1,035
Thanks, @fuzzballl for the original trade idea!
SPX long call spread, small win
#SPXcampaign Keep missing the correct time windows for these long call spreads. But at least I got a double on this small one…
Sold to close $SPX Feb 13th 2330/2355 call spreads for .80. Bought for .35 on Jan 31st
FB covered call
#Earnings #StockTrades #CoveredCalls
This is an earnings trade that started in January 2016. I was assigned short stock at that time, held that most of the year (painfully), selling puts against it, then switched it to a long stock position in October. It is finally in profit territory above 133.00. I still like the stock long so I’m going to keep it as long as it holds up.
STO FB March 10th 140 call for .80
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 10th 2225/2200 put spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 2311.
RGLD covered call
#Earnings #StockTrades #CoveredCalls
STO RGLD April 77.5 covered call for 1.85. Replacing calls that will expire next week.
YELP trade closed
#Earnings #LongStraddle Sold to close $YELP Feb 10th 41.5 put for 4.75. Bought yesterday as part of the 41.5 straddle for 4.45. Order filled on the low tick 6 minutes after open. Small profit is good enough for me.
Earnings
#Earnings Looks like I picked the correct week to drop the Iron Butterflys. 5 for 5 on earnings trades this week, winners for ALK, EXPE, NVDA, and ATVI. All bullish trades. Guess it’s easy when the market keeps going up. YELP will be a small win or break-even, my first ATM long straddle in a couple years.
SPX put spread hedge
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Feb 16th (monthlys) 2300/2275 put spreads for 4.50.
YELP and EXPE
#Earnings Had to pay up for YELP by waiting until now… was 4.00 early, but I was filled for 4.45
Bought to open $YELP 41.5 straddle for 4.45.
EXPE, premium dropped to much on the 123/120, so I went naked:
Sold to Open $EXPE Feb 10th 117 puts for 1.25. 4.9% OTM.
EXPE earnings
#Earnings Been waiting for a fill on the $EXPE Feb 10th 123/120 put spread for 1.40. Hasn’t happened yet, but that and YELP long straddle are the two I’m looking to fill by day’s end.
EXPE is a bullish ATM trade. Chart is bullish and they usually react positively:
Oct. 27, 2016 AC 4.12%
July 28, 2016 AC -2.19%
April 28, 2016 AC 8.20%
Feb. 10, 2016 AC 9.56%
Oct. 29, 2015 AC 7.27%
July 30, 2015 AC 12.85%
April 30, 2015 AC 7.91%
Feb. 5, 2015 AC -11.51%
Oct. 30, 2014 AC 5.25%
July 31, 2014 AC 6.34%
May 1, 2014 AC -3.68%
Feb. 6, 2014 AC 14.29%
ATVI earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $ATVI Feb 10th 36 puts for .36. Will add more or perhaps some 36.5 puts if premium rises. Biggest UP move: 14.4%, Biggest DOWN move: -7.9%, Average move: 6.1%. This trade is 8.7% OTM.
YELP earnings
#Earnings I am considering BUYING a YELP straddle at the end of the day. Right now, it would cost me 4.00, which would require a 9.1% to breakeven. Over last 12 earnings, Yelp’s Biggest UP move: 23.7%, Biggest DOWN move: -25.2%, Average move: 15.1%.
With such a high average move, it is worth a shot. I will see which strike it ends the day at and what the premium is.
NVDA earnings
#Earnings #ShortPuts Sold to Open $NVDA Feb 10th 108 puts for 1.20. Over last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 29.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -7.4%, Average move: 9.7%. This trade is 8.1% OTM.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 13th 2270/2245 put spreads for .20. Sold for 2.30 on Monday.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign A standard campaign trade, and a more aggressive roll trade…
Sold to Open $SPX March 10th 2365/2390 call spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2305
Sold to open $SPX Feb 24th 2320/2345 call spreads for 4.75, with SPX at 2306 #Rolling
NFLX strangle
#ShortStrangles My only remaining $NFLX position was the short June 175 call. So to hedge it…
Sold to Open NFLX June 120 put for 3.15.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Yesterday before the closing bell, I rolled a one-week out call spread:
Bought to close $SPX Feb 15th 2295/2320 call spreads for 6.75. Sold for 9.00 on Feb 3rd.
#Rolling: Sold to Open $SPX Feb 22nd 2300/2325 call spreads for 7.50.
This will be managed as an ITM spread… I will decide whether to roll based on the SPX price one week before expiration.
SPX, new all-time high
SPX, new all-time high
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator…
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 16th 2165/2140 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.30 on Jan 20th.
Sold to Open $SPX March 10th 2360/2385 call spreads for 1.45, with SPX at 2298.
ALK earnings
#Earnings Taking a bullish position as airlines have been performing well and chart is bullish.
STO $ALK Feb 17th 95/90 put spreads for 1.80. Max risk 3.20.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold an extra put spread, $SPX Feb 13th 2270/2245 for 2.30, with SPX at 2289 and one week to expiration.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 10th 2190/2165 put spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 2294.
Econ Calendar week of 2/6/17
VIX Indicator and SPX Chart…
VIX Indicator and SPX Chart have been updated
Options Expiration 2/3/17
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #SPXcampaign #IronButterfly #CoveredCalls #Assignment #ShortPuts #ShortCalls #VXXGame #StockTrades #ShortStrangles
–Expiring w/max profit–
FB 123, 126, 129 puts
FB 138 covered calls
REGN 340/400 strangle
UVXY 32 and 40 calls
SPX 2260/2235 put spreads. Sold for 3.35 on Jan 24th
SPX 2245/2220 put spreads. Sold for 1.35 on Monday
— Assignment ?? —
AMZN 840 put… was going to let the 810 long put cancel it out, but looks like I may get stock instead
— Expired w/Max loss —
AAPL 118/121/124 iron butterfly
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to open $SPX 2205/2180 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2297. Not usually selling put spreads on up days, but this fulfills my basic campaign strategy of 2 call spreads and 2 put spreads per week. Next week I’ll be selling the March 10th expiry.
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign #Rolling a roll
Bought to close $SPX Feb 6th 2290 calls for 8.70. Sold as 2290/2315 call spreads for 4.10 on Wednesday. (saving the 2315 long calls for Monday in case we get a strong pop)
Sold to Open $SPX Feb 15th 2295/2320 call spreads for 9.00. Will roll this again off it is ATM or ITM next week (one week before expiration.
Busted earnings trades
#Earnings Well, this quarter has been quite dismal for #IronButterflies and #IronCondors. I’m taking losses on FOUR this week. Naked options or one-sided credit spreads, meanwhile, have all been winners. Even though these losses are small (by design), I’ll have to rethink this strategy; although one win can make up for several losses, it doesn’t matter much if no wins are to be had!
BTC ANTM Feb 3rd 155 calls for 4.20. Sold as part of IB for 3.75
BTC MRK Feb 3rd 62 calls for 1.97. Sold as part of IB for 1.19.
Also looking at max losses on AAPL (.66) and AMZN (3.90).
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Feb 16th 2150/2125 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.50 on Jan 17th.
SPX calls sold, puts closed
#SPXcampaign At the open, bought to close $SPX Feb 10th 2180/2155 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.45 on Jan 13th.
One hour, 49 min after the open, Sold to Open $SPX March 3rd 2350/2375 call spreads for 1.50, when SPX was at 2296.
January Jobs report
+227,000 in January
Unemployment rate 4.8%, up .1%
UE6 unemployment 9.4%, up .2%
Labor Force participation 62.9%, up .2%
Wages up 0.1%, slowing from +0.2%
AMZN down initially
Looks pretty good for neutral plays as it should come back by morning or midday.
CMG also looks good for neutral plays.
VIX Indicator and SPX Chart…
VIX Indicator and SPX Chart have been updated
SPX stuck
#SPXcampaign It seems we may like to stay in consolidation. Last week we had a small push up that never amounted to much, and this week we’ve had the same thing down. In the end, we’re still stuck. Maybe jobs report Friday will unstick us, but I’m not waiting.
Adding an extra condor, each side sold separately:
Sold to Open $SPX Feb 21st 2300/2325 call spreads for 5.40
Sold to Open $SPX Feb 21st 2250/2225 put spreads for 3.60
VIX tick
Looks like the FOMC 2pm ET volatility resulted in a bad VIX tick, down to 9.97, which would be lowest level since February 2007. I’m not buying it… look for it to be adjusted in a day or two.
MRK earnings
#Earnings #IronButterfly Not a big mover on earnings, so playing for little to no movement.
Sold to Open $MRK Feb 3rd 60/62/64 iron butterfly for 1.19. Max risk .81.
Oct. 25, 2016 BO 1.97%
July 29, 2016 BO 0.39%
May 5, 2016 BO -1.31%
Feb. 3, 2016 BO -0.71%
Oct. 27, 2015 BO 1.05%
July 28, 2015 BO 0.92%
April 28, 2015 BO 5.04%
Feb. 4, 2015 BO -3.22%
Oct. 27, 2014 BO -2.01%
July 29, 2014 BO 1.05%
April 29, 2014 BO 3.59%
Feb. 5, 2014 BO 0.03%
Avg move = 1.8%
FB earnings
#Earnings #StockTrades #ShortPuts #CoveredCalls
Already long stock, short 138 and 140 covered calls, short 126 and 129 puts.
Today, sold to open $FB Feb 3rd 123 puts for .65. Will add more if price goes up.
Biggest UP move: 15.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.1%, Average move: 5.6%. This trade is 6% OTM.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 3rd 2345/2370 call spreads for 1.40, with SPX at 2281. Missed fills on the early pop up.
#Rolling Sold to Open $SPX Feb 6th 2290/2315 call spreads for 4.10. It seems we are having trouble getting higher. So I am hedging my long trades with aggressive short trades. I will roll this if we break above 2290 before Monday’s expiration.
#OptionsExpiration Expired last night: SPX Jan 31st 2225/2200 put spreads. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 4.60 on Jan 6th.
ANTM puts closed
#Earnings Bought to close $ANTM Feb 3rd 152.5 puts for .35. Now need a pullback below 155 to get out with profit. (Sold 145/152.5/155/162.5 #IronCondor yesterday for 3.75).
AAPL puts closed
#Earnings Bought to close $AAPL Feb 3rd 121 puts for .02. Now looking for a pullback below 124 by Friday’s close. (Sold the 118/121/124 #IronButterfly yesterday for 2.44)
SPX long
#SPXcampaign Bought to open $SPX Feb 13th 2330/2355 call spreads for .35 earlier. Another cheap long shot, but the kind of trade that can explode if a rally pushes through. I have the same spread expiring this coming Monday, Feb 6th, that is now unlikely to do much. I am trying for another week since both yesterday and today failed to get ugly and ended with a rally.
New 5-day low on the…
New 5-day low on the Dow, but not SPX
AAPL iron butterfly
#Earnings Can’t choose whether to be bullish or bearish, and not liking OTM premium anyway, so going with a neutral ATM #IronButterfly that will have 3 days to find its center. Max risk .56
Sold to Open #$AAPL Feb 3rd 118/121/124 iron butterfly for 2.44.
ANTM earnings condor
#Earnings #IronCondor This is a 1:1 iron condor, tight wingspan, almost an iron butterfly. Breakevens are 158.75 and 148.75.
Sold to Open $ANTM 145/152.5/155/162.5 for 3.75. Max loss 3.75. Biggest UP move: 5.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -4.7%, Average move: 2.5%.
Breakevens are about 2.9%-3.5% OTM.
UA and UAA tank… wow
UA and UAA tank… wow
Double down, risk-reversal
#SPXcampaign Considering this pullback as an opportunity. I doubled down on a #LongCallSpread… Bought to Open $SPX Feb 6th 2330/2355 call spreads for .25. Bought the first batch for 1.35 last week. Cost basis now .85.
Then, sold to open SPX Feb 3rd 2245/2220 put spreads for 1.35. This turns the long spreads into a #RiskReversal, reducing my cost to only .30 for a double-sized long spread. If we start to rally into Friday’s job report, the long spread could get back to 2.00 or 3.00. If not, my loss is minimal. Of course, if this is beginning a correction, then it’s not so pretty.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 3rd 2165/2140 put spreads for 1.35, with SPX at 2277.
Econ Calendar for week of 1/30/17
Blue star = Market Moving Indicator; Yellow square = Merits Extra Attention; Pink Circle = Other Key Indicator
Options Bistro 