#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Apr 3rd 2380/2405 call spreads for .15. Sold as a #CondorRoll for 7.80 on March 21st.
Sold to Open SPX May 5th 2440/2465 call spreads for 1.45, with SPX at 2365.
Author Archives: Jeff
Econ Calendar week of 4/3/17
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” above to keep features in the right-hand column updated.
JOBS report on Friday.
VIX Indicator and SPX Chart updated
#Market A long overdue update of my SPX positions (at right). Also, good article from Robert J. Shiller about the market: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/upshot/trump-bull-market-stocks.html?ref=business&_r=0
Options Expiration 3/24/17
–Expiring–
SVXY 110 put
UVXY 28 calls
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign Still dealing with a few #ITMroll call spreads, since our drop was not far enough or long enough. At least now they have become #ATMrolls
Bought to close $SPX Apr 7th 2365/2390 call spreads for 9.15. Sold for 8.35 last Friday.
Sold to Open SPX Apr 13th 2370/2395 call spreads for 9.30.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Apr 28th 2260/2235 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2365.
SPX more trades
#SPXcampaign
Bought to close $SPX Apr 7th 2265/2240 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.40 on Mar 6th
Sold to Open SPX Apr 28th 2435/2460 call spreads for 1.35
Bought to Close SPX Apr 7th 2275/2250 put spreads for .20. Sold for 4.10 on Mar 23rd
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Yesterday:
Sold to Open $SPX April 10th 2320/2295 put spreads for 1.75
Bought to close Apr 7th 2255/2230 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 on March 9th
Bought to close Apr 5th 2360/2335 put spreads for 6.45. Sold as #ITMroll for 9.20 on March 23rd
#ATMroll: Sold to Open Apr 12th 2350/2325 put spread for 5.50 (10 points lower)
Today:
Sold to Open SPX Apr 5th 2350/2325 put spreads for 4.50. Expires Monday.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to open $SPX Apr 26th 2255/2230 put spreads for 1.35, with SPX at 2354.
SPX stop and roll
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Apr 28th 2410/2435 call spreads for 4.00.
#CondorRoll Sold to Open May 5th 2225/2250/2430/2455 iron condors for 4.15
SPX calls stopped
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 31st 2340/2365 call spreads for 14.00. Sold yesterday for 6.00. Considering roll strategy.
Bought to close $SPX April 3rd 2350/2375 call spreads for 10.15. Sold last week for 17.10.
#ITMroll Sold to Open $SPX April 10th 2360/2385 cal spreads for 8.60. Will add another spread to make up to the roll debit.
SPX closed spreads
#SPXcampaign No fills while trying to sell new put spreads near the open, but these spreads closed today:
Bought to close $SPX April 20th 2445/2470 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 last week.
Bought to close $SPX March 31st 2285/2260 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 on March 2nd.
Always buyers
#SPXcampaign Seems there are always buyers in this market. No doubt getting whipsawed in last couple weeks… still manage to profit overall from the expiring OTM spreads, but the closer-in aggressive spreads have been thrashed in both directions. Now I have to roll yesterday’s supremely ill-timed call spread, 2340/2365 call spread expiring this Friday. Will look for next intraday pull back to exit and determine roll strategy later.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX April 3rd 2325/2300 put spreads for 5.05. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll last Tuesday for 7.80.
The call spread I sold this morning will act as a roll for this spread. I stopped it since it started the day ITM, so I’m not giving it another chance to explode.
SPX put roll, calls closed
#SPXcampaign 3.00 stop hit on one spread.
STOPPED: Bought to close $SPX April 20th 2265/2240 put spreads for 3.20. Sold last Tuesday for 1.35.
#CondorRoll Sold to Open SPX Apr 28th 2125/2150/2420/2445 iron condors for 2.15, 1.5x position size.
Also, closed SPX April 13th 2435/2460 call spreads for .20. This one was not closing as a spread, even with a bid of .25, so I closed the legs manually for .35 and .15.
SPX call spreads sold
#SPXcampaign Sold these call spreads this morning after the open…
Sold to open $SPX March 31st 2340/2365 call spreads for 6.00. Expire this Friday.
Sold to Open $SPX April 28th 2410/2435 call spreads for 1.75.
Econ Calendar week of 3/27/17
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SPX call spreads closed
#SPXcampaign At the pre-market open, just after midnight ET…
Bought to close $SPX Apr 7th 2430/2455 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.55 on March 10th.
Bought to close $SPX March 31st 2400/2425 call spreads for .20. Sold for 4.40 on March 10th.
VIX Indicator signal fired
#VIXIndicator #Markets #spxcampaign
In the pre-market, the VIX peaked at 15.11 (so far) this morning and has fired a downside signal. This cancels the Upside Warning that’s been in effect since November. If we reach 16.20 today, that will fire a Downside Warning.
I will be rolling some put spreads today, selling some call spreads, and being cautious on placement of any new put spreads.
Futures down 0.75%
OptionsExpiration 3/24/17
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #Assignment
Only losers to post this week! Yay!
FDX 190/195/200 iron butterfly… max loss.. and it looked so pretty on Wednesday…
PANW April 21st 135 puts, assign stock on 3 puts; still holding 1 put.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sorry I haven’t been posting all trades last few days. Been pretty busy both trading and with other duties this week. In general, I have been rolling near-the-money put and call spreads, as well as selling some addition call spreads. This week was quite beneficial for me since I have been leaning short for a couple months. If we can stay in this range or go lower, I will be able to back out of all previously ITM call spreads next week.
Today:
Sold to Open $SPX April 20th 2420/2445 call spreads for 1.50
Bought to close March 31st 2355/2380 call spreads for 11.00. Sold for 16.75 on Tuesday.
#CondorRoll (wings sold separately): April 7th 2365/2390 calls for 8.35 and 2305/2280 puts for 3.10
Bought to close March 27th 2390/2415 calls for .20. Sold in a condor for 5.20 on Monday.
When you absolutely, positively have…
When you absolutely, positively have to lose your profits overnight
#Earnings FedX trade turned sour… the peril of choosing to hold onto an #IronButterfly that is perfectly centered on Wednesday, for hopes of more decay and bigger profits on Friday…. BUSTED!
Closed the short calls for .60 yesterday, which was meant to protect me from upside but instead increased my loss. Total loss on trade will now be 1.50 rather than .90. Oh well. Not interested in taking assignment with the market uncertainty.
VXX game plays
#VXXgame Just dabbling. I want to reserve cash for a really big vol pop, if we get one. I’d rather not start in the hole.
STO SVXY April 21st 90 puts for 1.00
STO UVXY April 21st 31 call for .91
Breaking News: no health care…
Breaking News: no health care vote today.
FedX earnings trade
#Earnings Closed the $FDX March 24th 195 calls for .60. Sold in the 190/195/200 iron butterfly for 4.10 on Tuesday. Now waiting for a rally back to 195 to get out of the short puts. Remnant order in to sell a long 200 call for .07, then higher prices if it keeps moving up.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign The good news: Bought to close $SPX March 24th 2370/2395 call spreads for 1.00. Sold for 13.65 on March 3rd. This is the kind of closure I’ve been waiting for with these ITM and ATM spreads.
And now for the bad news, bought to close March 24th 2340/2315 put spreads for 7.35. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 5.35 on March 1st. Got stopped at the bottom of the day (so far). Now I gotta roll this one too! (among others)
Market and SNAP
#Market – more weakness today and could get worse into Friday if the earth Care bill continues to struggle on the Hill.
Meantime, $SNAP doesn’t seem to care. May be time to go long.
SPX puts sold at open
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX April 20th 2225/2200 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2340. Even though mid-price showed .97, I was filled almost immediately at 1.30. Perhaps not a good sign!
FDX!!!
#Earnings… holy crap what a ride after hours… our bullish trades looked dead, now they’re alive and kicking hard!
FB trades, continued
#Earnings #StockTrades #CoveredCalls
As per my previous post, more stock sold at 138.80, and BTC March 31st 140 call for .90 (sold for 1.40 on 2/22).
more SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Rolled a put spread and a few call spreads closed…
STOPPED, bought to close $SPX March 27th 2355/2330 puts spreads for 7.60. Sold yesterday in a #CondorRoll for 5.20. Rolled into another condor…
Sold to Open SPX April 3rd 2300/2325/2380/2405 condors for 7.80
Closed March 24th 2385/2410 call spreads for .50. Sold yesterday for 3.75
Closed April 13th 2455/2480 call spreads for .20. Sold last week for 1.30
Closed March 31st 2420/2445 call spreads for .20. Sold for 2.65 on March 7th
SVXY roll
#VXXGame #StrangleRoll
#Rolling out some ATM calls to an OTM #ShortStrangles which requires much less margin to carry.
BTC $SVXY June 135 calls for 18.35. Sold for 8.05 on Jan 20th.
STO $SVXY Sept 100/180 strangles for 18.95.
FB trades
#Earnings #CoveredCalls #StockTrades
With FB hitting all-time highs this morning, I first sold the April 28th 145 covered call for 2.00. I then put Trailing Stops on my stock position, at three levels: 2.00, 3.50, and 5.00 trails.
The 2.00 trail was hit, so sold one-third of the stock for 140.30. Cost basis 131.20.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold my first standard weekly put spread early when the drop got started:
Sold to Open $SPX April 20th 2265/2240 put spreads for 1.40, when SPX was at 2363
Stopped out of an #ITMroll a day early to take advantage of low price. I plan to sell a roll on a bounce above 2365. Bought to close SPX Karch 29th 2355/2380 call spreads for 12.05. Sold for 18.50 last Thursday.
Stopped and rolled a put spread since my 3.00 stop was breached. Waited for the bounce to make the trade. Was able to roll into a nicely OTM condor without increasing position size.
STOPPED: Bought to close SPX April 13th 2300/2275 put spreads for 2.60.
#CondorRoll: Sold to Open SPX April 28th 2200/2225/2440/2465 iron condors for 2.75.
FDX earnings
#SPXcampaign Going for a 1:4 r/r bullish #IronButterfly on $FDX
Sold to Open FDX March 24th 190/195/200 iron butterflys for 4.10. Max risk .90. Max profit near 4.00 if Friday pins near 195 on Friday. Call volume at 195 is ten times higher than surrounding strikes.
Over past 12 earnings, the 3-day results: Biggest UP move: 13.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -8.2%, Average move: 4.5%.
Divergence
All time highs today in FB, NFLX, AAPL, AMZN… and yet S&P down 15 from morning highs. Even with all of those tech highs, Nasdaq has gone negative.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Since March 1st SPX high, this has been a pattern… failed rallies. At the same time, there have been buyers when we hit lows.
Bought to close $SPX March 22nd 2350/2325 put spreads for .20. Sold for 3.55 on March 10th.
Sold to Open SPX April 20th 2445/2470 call spreads for 1.35, with SPX at 2374.
Sold to Open SPX March 31st 2355/2380 call spreads for 16.75. #ITMroll for spread that was stopped on Friday.
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator…
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
SPX call spreads sold
#SPXcampaign
Sold to Open $SPX April 3rd 2350/2375 call spreads for 17.10, as an #ITM roll from speed closed earlier
Sold to Open SPX March 24th 2385/2410 call spreads for 3.50, to make up the debit in the roll.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 22nd 2395/2420 call spreads. Sold for 2.20 on Thursday.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 20th 2370/2345 put spreads for .20. Closing to avoid any last minute plunge in the market. These were sold on March 1st as part of a #CondorRoll for 9.55
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 31st 2250/2225 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 on Feb 27th.
Bought to close SPX March 27th 2345/2370 call spreads for 21.35. Sold as an #ITMRoll for 18.50 on March 15th. Looking to sell a replacement for April 3rd expiry.
Sold to Open SPX March 27th 2330/2355/2390/2415 iron condors for 5.20, with SPX at 2377.
Chart update coming later today.
Options Expiration 3/17/17
#OptionsExpiration #SPXcampaign #Earnings #IronCondor #ShortStrangles #VXXGame
— Expired —
AZO 670/680/780/790 iron condors
REGN 350 put
SPXPM 2340/2315 put spreads
SPXPM 2350/2325 put spreads
SVXY 100, 110, and 120 puts
UVXY 32 calls
–Assignment–
SVXY 100 call – assigned short stock. This was assigned a couple days ago. Will probably roll into ITM options if no correction starts soon.
–Exercised–
SPXPM 2385/2360 put spreads — got whipsawed this week, and tried to ride this one out today, but got crushed at day’s end. Looks like a 6.87 loss. Will add it to my list of rolls.
FB call closed
#CoveredCalls Bought to close $FB March 17th 140 Covered Call for .10, to avoid possible assignment. Sold for 1.00 on Jan 10th.
SPX trades, chart updated
#SPXcampaign
Two rolls sold yesterday near the close:
Sold to Open $SPX March 22 2395/2420 call spreads for 2.20
Sold to Open $SPX March 29th 2355/2380 call spreads for 18.50 #ITMRoll
Today:
Sold to Open $SPX April 13th 2300/2275 put spreads for 1.40, with SPX at 2379.
TIF earnings
#Earnings Bought to close $TIF March 17th 91 calls for .88. Looks like we may have hit the intraday low so closing the upside risk. Still short 91 puts and I will close cheaply or frantically if we drop further. Sold the 88/91/94 #IronButterfly yesterday for 2.15.
REGN break
#ShortStrangles – after following @fuzzballl‘s lead and squeezing in my strangle to be 350/380, my short call flew above 15.00 this week… but now getting a welcome pullback on expiration day so I can exit cheaply and throw on the next one for April. Which strangle do you have for April 21, Fuzz?
SPX trades, and Chart is updated
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#SPXcampaign trades from afternoon yesterday:
Bought to close $SPX March 20th 2320/2295 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.60 on March 7th.
Bought to close SPX March 22nd 2345/2370 ITM call spread for 22.40. Sold for 15.50 on March 8th.
Partial Roll: Sold to open March 29th 2360/2335 put spreads for 3.25. Looking for a call spread #ITMroll today.
STOPPED: Bought to close SPX March 16th 2390/2415 call spreads for 2.91. Sold for 2.50 on March 8th.
This morning:
Sold to Open SPX April 13th 2455/2480 call spreads for 1.30, when SPX was at 2386.
I was expecting more strength today, but with the downward move I got stuck closing call spreads at the top yesterday.
TIF earnings
#Earnings $TIF not a big mover, with a 3.82% average move and a positive 2.73% bias. Biggest UP move: 10.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -4.0%
Sold an #IronButterfly, March 17th 88/91/94 for 2.15. Max risk .85. Slightly bullish lean to the trade.
Reverse Roll
#SPXcampaign And we’re off to the races once again. As this kind of strength seems to carry through, at least for a day or two, I just reversed myself when a trade was almost ATM.
Bought to close $SPXPM March 17th 2390/2415 call spreads for 4.25. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 6.50 on March 10th.
#ReverseRoll Sold to Open SPXPM March 17th 2385/2360 put spreads for 4.65.
SPX calls stopped
#SPXcampaign Before the Yellen pop, bought to close $SPX March 20th 2385/2410 call spreads for 4.55. Sold yesterday for 2.75.
Pretty foolish move to sell ahead of the FOMC decision. All signs pointed to a quarter-point raise and that the market would accept it. At least I saw my error before 2pm!
SPX chart updated
See all current positions on the chart to the right.
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 27th 2345/2370 call spreads for 18.50, #ITMroll from spread I stopped on Monday.
Econ Calendar week of 3/13/17
Sorry, forgot to post this on Monday.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Last night after the bell:
Sold to open $SPX March 20th 2385/2410 call spreads for 2.75
Sold to open SPX April 13th 2435/2460 call spreads for 1.60
Today:
Bought to close SPX March 24th 2255/2230 put spreads for .30. Sold for 1.35 on Feb 22nd.
Bought to close SPXPM March 17th 2410/2435 call spreads for .35. Sold for 1.60 on March 6th.
Dabbling in the game
#VXXGame STO $SVXY March 17th 120 puts for .65 (expire Friday)
STO SVXY March 31st 110 put for 1.50
STO $UVXY April 7th 31 calls for .54
CBOE free webinar
http://www.cboe.com/education/webcasts
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX April 13th 2260/2235 put spreads for 1.45, with SPX at 2363.
Also yesterday, bought to close SPX March 20th 2335/2360 call spreads for 21.50. Tried but didn’t manage to get filled on the roll, so I will wait for some strength to do it today.
Options Expiration 3/10/17
#OptionsExpiration #Earnings #CoveredCalls #BullPutSpreads
Would have been a much happier Friday if I hadn’t gotten shaken out of an expiring put spread at the lows of the day.
— Expiring —
FB 140 covered call
ULTA 255/245 put spreads
UVXY 28 calls
I will be posting SPX trades and updated chart later
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 24th 2435/2460 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.30 on Feb 23rd.
Bought to close SPX March 10th 2365 calls for 2.00. Sold as the 2365/2340 put spread for 2.90 on March 1st… this one sucked, as it could have been closed cheaply this morning. Damn me and my predilection for expiring options!
Sold to Open SPX March 31st 2400/2425 call spreads for 4.40. Partial roll of the put spread I closed yesterday for 98.75
Sold to Open SPX April 7th 2430/2455 call spreads for 1.55.
PANW calls
#Earnings #ShortCalls #Underwater
Sold to open $PANW March 31st 125 call for 1.00
Sold to open $PANW April 21st 130 call for .80
I put in these prices based on the early pop to 116, and that clearly was too soon, as the stock made it above 119. These are against my April 135 puts which were rolled after the earnings miss.
February Jobs Report
+235,000 non-farm jobs added in February, down 3,000 from January revised number
4.7% unemployment, down .1%
9.2% U6 unemployment, down .1%
63.0% labor force participation, up .1%
0.2% wage growth; January’s growth was 0.1%
VIX Indicator and SPX charts updated
Ended up positive on SPX despite notching a 3-week intraday low. VIX showed some life, but still nothing scary. Goldman Sachs has said that people are tired of buying protection after so many years of the market going up, so put prices are not going up.
#SPXcampaign Stopped: Closed $SPX March 16th 2370/2345 put spreads for 8.75. Since I have 3 put spreads slightly ITM, I needed to close one to ease the risk going into tomorrow’s Job’s report. Will look to roll based on the market’s reaction.
SPX downward channel
This is an hourly chart… John Carter was showing this earlier. It looked like we might break above it this morning, but it failed.
VIX finally moving a bit,…
VIX finally moving a bit, hitting highest level since March 2nd, but still not very impressive.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX April 7th 2255/2230 put spreads for 1.35, with SPX at 2360.
Bought to close SPX March 20th 2430/2455 call spreads for .20. Sold at part of a condor for 9.55 on March 1st. The put side has the short at 2370, so I will treat this as an ITM spread for rolling (first time I’ve done that with puts). Currently trying to exit the March 16th put spread with the same short so I won’t have to deal with two ITM.
ULTA earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $ULTA March 10th 255/245 put spreads for 1.15. Over last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 17.9%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.1%, Average move: 7.9%. This trade is -7.3% OTM.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign
Bought to close $SPX March 31st 2465/2490 call spreads for .20. Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 4.60 on March 1st.
#ITMroll Bought to close SPX March 15th 2325/2350 call spreads for 21.50. Sold on March 1st for 22.00.
Sold to Open SPX March 22nd 2345/2370 for 15.50, with 1.5x position size. I’m margin-weighted toward the short put side, so selling extra calls helps. So I increased size on this one which allowed me to move up 20 points. I also added:
Sold to Open $SPX March 16th (monthly) 2390/2415 call spreads for 2.50.
My positions have come closer in to the point that my portfolio resembles one giant iron butterfly on the market. If we can consolidate here for two weeks, it would be brilliant. More likelyI will have to adjust one way or the other.
Lowest TICK reading since October
On NYSE Tick, think or swim
PLCE earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to close $PLCE March 17th 95 puts for .05. Sold yesterday as the 95/90 put spreads for 1.10. Kept its recent trend of positive earnings results…. easy peasy.
VIX Indicator and SPX Charts have been updated
A weaker day and uglier close for the SPX, but still an anemic VIX with a lower higher and only a slightly higher close than yesterday.
SPX call spreads closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX March 31st 2470/2495 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.40 last Wednesday.
Bought to close SPX March 24th 2450/2475 call spreads for .20 (only half of position closed). Sold as part of a #CondorRoll for 5.35 last Wednesday.
PLCE earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $PLCE March 17th 95/90 put spreads for 1.10. Over last 12 earnings, PLCE has been negative only ONCE eight days after the report. 8-day moves: Biggest UP move: 20.0%, Biggest DOWN move: -6.1%, Average move: 7.4%. This trade is 4.7% OTM.
Going with a spread since I’m not feeling like being naked after the PANW burn last week.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Here are the trades I made earlier…
Sold to Open March 20th 2320/2295 put spreads for 1.60, to make up for the debit from #ATMroll made on Friday.
Sold to Open March 31st 2420/2445 call spreads for 2.65, to make up for the debit from #ITMroll made yesterday.
Sold to Open April 7th 2450/2475 call spreads for 1.40, when SPX hit 2375. Standard weekly trade.
SPX Chart and VIX Indicator have been updated
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