#LongCalls Only trade today was adding to these positions:
BTO $TLT Sept 23rd 138 call for 1.40 Position cost basis 1.79.
BTO $TLT Oct 21st 140 call for 1.40. Position cost basis 1.69.
Author Archives: Jeff
Moved!
We are in our new house in North Portland… buried in boxes and unplaced furniture, but we are here!
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX 2140/2115 put spreads for .20. Sold for 3.35 on Aug 19th.
SPX put spread sold
#SPXcampaign Selling an extra spread in the Sept 21st (Wednesday) series since I sold some calls there yesterday. When SPX was at 2180, sold to open $SPX Sept 21st 2125/2100 put spreads for 1.90.
Rolling protection
BTO $VIX Oct 18th 14 call for 2.40. I’m holding Sept 14 calls which are draining of value, so I’m shifting the position to October. I will wait to sell the Septembers for less of a loss on any vol spikes we get.
SPX puts sold, then puts closed
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Oct 7th 2075/2050 put spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 2184.
Bought to close SPX Sept 15th 2075/2050 puts for .20. Sold for 1.60 on Aug 16th
NUGT stock sold
#ContangoETFs Sold to close NUGT stock for 25.00. Assigned via 22 puts on 8/26.
SVXY trade closed after 21 months
#VXXGame BTC $SVXY Jan 2017 40 puts for 1.80. Sold for 9.20, avg price, in Nov/Dec 2014.
SPX calls sold, puts closed
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Oct 7th 2240/2265 call spreads for 1.55.
Bought to close SPX Sept 15th 2065/2040 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.30 on Aug 24th.
NUGT calls added
#ContangoETFs Quite a different week shaping up for NUGT.
STO NUGT Oct 7th 30 calls for 1.50
TLT add
#LongCalls Earlier on the small morning dip, added to my TLT long calls:
BTO TLT Sept 23rd 138 call for 1.85
BTO TLT Oct 21st 140 call for 1.70
SPX ITM rolling
#SPXCampaign My weekly ITM roll-out continues, so far so good. My short has moved from 2130 to now 2150. If a correction doesn’t close the whole thing, I will eventually be able to roll out by moving up 5 points per week.
Bought to close $SPX Sept 9th 2145/2170 call spreads for 22.00. Sold for 17.50 on Aug 26th.
Sold to open $SPX Sept 15th 2150/2175 call spreads for 19.50, and to make up for the roll debit:
Sold to Open $SPX Sept 21st 2210/2235 calls for 3.25.
Options Expiration 9/2/16
— Expired —
$NUGT 17 puts
$PANW 122/127/155/160 iron condors
$SPX 2125/2100 put spreads
— Assigned —
$AVGO 177.5 puts, assigned stock
AVGO earnings
#Earnings Closed half of my $AVGO Sept 2nd 177.5 puts for 4.50 before the close, so a 2.20 loss (from 177.5/172.5 put spread sold yesterday for 2.30). Then I saw something shiny and didn’t close the other half on time, so I will be assigned some shares.
NUGT closing
#ContangoETFs BTC NUGT Sept 2nd 21 puts for .10, to avoid possible assignment.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Everyone was waiting for these job numbers; volatility is being drained out of positions and GTC orders are filling…
Bought to close $SPX Sept 9th 2210/2235 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.70 on Aug 26th.
TLT long calls
#LongCalls Started a $TLT position. This pullback is within the uptrend channel.
BTO TLT Sept 23rd 138 calls for 1.95
BTO TLT Oct 21st 140 calls for 1.82
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open SPX Sept 23rd 2210/2235 call spreads for 4.75
Sold to Open SPX Sept 30th 2235/2260 call spreads for 1.60
SPX closed trades in pre-market
#SPXcampaign A couple filled in middle of night, and more after the jobs number was released:
3:10am ET Bought to close SPX Sept 2nd 2175/2200 calls for 3.50. Sold for 14.40 on Aug 9th (as a roll).
3:24am ET Bought to close SPX Sept 15th 2235/2260 calls for .20. Sold for 1.45 on Aug 18th.
8:30am ET Bought to close SPX Sept 9th 2060/2035 puts for .20. Sold for 1.25 on Aug 10th.
8:33am ET Bought to close SPX Sept 2nd 2140/2115 puts for .20. Sold for 1.30 on Tuesday.
9:01am ET Bought to close SPX Sept 9th 2080/2055 puts for .20. Sold for 1.30 on Aug 12th.
I still think down on…
I still think down on SPX today, but likely up on Gold/NUGT
VIX Indicator and SPX Chart are updated
#Market Tomorrow, my guess we’ll get a decent job number, and it will give us an initial pop in the pre-market…. but I believe it will fade and we will end the day down. I don’t have a ton of conviction in it, however; will be ready to play either direction. But I believe near-term risk is more to downside.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 30th 2010/1985 put spreads for 1.30, when SPX was at 2157. I bottom-picked this one nicely, and I wasn’t even home at the time!
More NUGT rolling
#ContangoETFs BTC NUGT Sept 2nd 21 put for 2.10 and Sept 16th 23 put for 4.60.
STO Sept 30th 25 calls for 1.35. More rolling to come.
NUGT rolls
#ContangoETFs BTC Sept 2nd 21 put for 2.60, and Sept 16th 23 put for 5.00. These are ITM and starting to unwind them. I had 5 contracts on each (from the split), doing one at a time. Will look to #ReverseRoll or #StrangleRoll.
NUGT popping up
NUGT popping up
AVGO and AMBA
#Earnings AVGO: Going for a Sept 2nd 177.5/172.5 put spread for 2.30. Will need some intraday down movement for the fill.
AMBA: Trying the old fashion naked strangle: Sept 2nd 65/79 are outside it’s max historical moves. Asking .95, no fill yet.
Earnings today
#Earnings $AMBA and $AVGO on deck… AVGO has been pretty bullish on recent earnings; I’ve had winning put credit spreads last 2 quarters. AMBA less predictable. What are you considering for trades?
VIX Indicator and SPX Chart are updated
It looks like we could be “creeping” up on a downside warning. This happens when we have no days that are violently volatile but the VIX slowly rises and hits 50% increase over its most recent low.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 2nd 2140/2115 put spreads for 1.30, w/SPX at 2169. Short-termer expiring Friday.
CRM earnings
#Earnings CRM on deck after the close… fairly bullish moves over last three years. Share your trade ideas!
Average move: 6.4%
May 18, 2016 AC 4.13%
Feb. 24, 2016 AC 11.03%
Nov. 18, 2015 AC 4.25%
Aug. 20, 2015 AC 1.96%
May 20, 2015 AC 3.91%
Feb. 25, 2015 AC 11.72%
Nov. 19, 2014 AC -4.45%
Aug. 21, 2014 AC 7.34%
May 20, 2014 AC -5.10%
Feb. 27, 2014 AC -5.81%
Nov. 18, 2013 AC -4.99%
Aug. 29, 2013 AC 12.55%
VIX Indicator and SPX position…
VIX Indicator and SPX position chart have been updated
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 30th 2050/2025 put spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 2174.
PANW earnings trade
#Earnings Thanks to Bobbie for helping find the strikes….
Sold to Open $PANW Sept 2nd 122/127/155/160 iron condor for 1.25. Over last 3 years, Biggest UP move: 10.6%, Biggest DOWN move: -12.4%, Average move: 6.1%. My short strikes are 11% and 8.6% OTM respectively. Definitely more risk to upside, can try the 157.5/162.50 as an alternative.
PANW earnings
#Earnings If the indices and gold look boring again, maybe we can find something in $PANW earnings. It’s average move has been about 6%, although last quarter it had an outlier -12% move DOWN. Considering a condor with shorts at 135 and 148, giving me 1.83, risking 3.17. Breakevens about 6% up or down.
Any other thoughts?
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Aug 31st 2140/2115 put spreads for .20. Sold for 2.45 on Aug 12th.
More SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 15th 2215/2240 call spreads for 2.40, with SPX at 2178. This is the second part of my ITM roll from Friday; I needed an extra 1.60 to make up for the debit that the roll required to move up a strike. I usually fill that gap with puts, but since we are up today and call spreads have been working brilliantly, I replaced the call spread that closed early this morning with this roll.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 30th 2245/2270 call spreads for 1.35, with SPX at 2177.
Perfect time to be selling call spreads. I had the same spread close this morning for .20 with 18 days to expiration, then able to sell one two weeks further out a couple hours later with only a small move in the underlying.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign In pre-market, Bought to close $SPX Sept 15th 2245/2270 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.65 on Aug 15th.
Options Expiration 8/26/16
— Expiring —
NUGT 36 & 40 calls
SPX 2150/2125 put spreads
— Assignment —
NUGT 22 put – one I forgot to close, so taking some stock
— Full Loss —
DG 93.5/95.5/97.5 call butterfly. Did I say bullish? I meant bearish. .30 loss.
Escrow closes in two weeks. Until then we are staying in a friend’s basement. See you Monday everyone!
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open Sept 9th 2210/2235 call spreads for 1.70.
SPX continuing ITM roll experiment
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Sept 2nd 2140/2165 call spreads for 19.10. Sold last Friday for 20.45. Sold to Open $SPX Sept 9th 2145/2170 calls for 17.50.
#Rolling myself out one week at a time, one strike higher each time. Making up the loss in the roll (in this case 1.60) by adding an extra put spread.
NUGT escape attempt
#ContangoEYFs was hoping to get out of these at expiration but having to pay a bit for it. Originally sold for 1.20, effective price (pre-split).
BTC NUGT Aug 26th 22 puts for .25, .70, and possibly more for the rest off it keeps dropping.
Meantime, STO NUGT Sept 23rd 18 puts for 1.50.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 23rd 2040/2015 put spreads for 1.40. Sold the second half of the weekly campaign today; calls earlier on the pop up and now the puts on the drop down.
SPX more calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Sept 9th 2240/2265 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 on Aug 9.
Bought to close $SPX Aug 31st 2210/2235 call spreads for .20. Sold for 3.60 on Aug 11.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Sept 2nd 2225/2250 call spreads for .20. Sold for 1.50 on Aug 2nd.
NUGT calls
#ContangoETFs Starting to replace the puts I closed earlier: STO NUGT Sept 23rd 30 calls for 1.70.
SPX calls sold, puts closed
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 23rd 2240/2265 calls for 1.65
Bought to close $SPX Aug 29th 2140/2115 put spreads for .20. Sold on Wednesday for 1.50.
Reaction…
After taking some initial hits, Gold, S&P, Bonds, and Financials are all up now.
Closing Losing Trade before Yellen’s speech.
Thanks, Robert, for helping me with my post’s title…
#ContangoETFs BTC NUGT Sept 9th 24 puts for 2.70. Sold for 1.18, effective price. I have a few short puts near the money, so just closing this strike before she speaks. NUGT has been known to go nuts after Fed.
Added to VIX
Bought another $VIX Sept 20th 14 call for 1.50, adding to my position.
Moving…
Sorry I’ve been MIA much of yesterday and today. We bought a house in north Portland and have been moving out of our rental house. Not trading much today.
DG earnings flop
#Earnings Well, looks like I was Wrong-Way McGee on this one. That’s why I keep the directional ones cheap.
SPX only .5% down… VIX…
SPX only .5% down… VIX up but not dramatically. Nothing like Aug 24th of last year!
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to open $SPX Sept 15th 2065/2040 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2175.
SPX short-term puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Aug 29th 2140/2115 put spreads for 1.50, with SPX at 2178. My first Monday-expiring SPX spread!
NUGT implodes
Wow, total panic selling… 20% down! GDX 6.9% down. GLD only 1.1% down.
NUGT call closed
#ContangoETFs BTC $NUGT Sept 16th 180 call for 1.50. Sold for 9.20 on 6/3.
Looking to #StrangleRoll my Sept 9th 120 put.
SPX puts sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 23rd 2050/2025 put spreads for 1.25, with SPX at 2183.
DG earnings
#Earnings Low cost BULLISH earnings trade on $DG. Bought to open DG Aug 26th 93.5/95.5/97.5 call butterfly for .30. Current price 91.70, expected move 4.05. This trade is at 4.2% up, which is the expected move and the average move on earnings. Max gain about 1.70.
Over last three years, Biggest UP move: 10.7%, Biggest DOWN move: -3.2%, Average move: 4.1%.
Well, things will get exciting…
Well, things will get exciting some day. Will you be ready?
TSLA rallying
TSLA rallying
SPX call roll sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to open #SPX Sept 9th 2200/2225 call spreads for 8.00. Last part of the condor roll from Friday’s stopped spread. Waiting a couple of days paid off as I was able to get much better position.
NUGT roll
#ContangoETFs Bought to close NUGT Aug 26th 100 put for .15. Sold for 7.18 on July 20th.
Sold to Open NUGT Sept 16th 115 put for 5.50.
Much like @fuzzballl, I am trying to sell one call and one put each week in NUGT.
Bistro
FYI, the number that pops up on the orange tab at bottom represented new posts, but sometimes it will show a large number as “new” when they are not. This occurs when I am categorizing past posts… when I update old posts it sometimes shows them as “new” on the counter.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 23rd 2245/2270 call spreads for 1.35, with SPX at 2182.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Aug 24th 2140/2115 put spreads for .20. This is the other half of the call spread closed an hour ago, sold for 1.60 on Aug 12th.
SPX calls closed
#SPXcampaign Bought to close $SPX Aug 24th 2200/2225 call spreads for .20. Sold for 2.80 on Aug 3rd.
Trying to get a fill on new spreads but missing the fills before each reversal.
LOW stock
#Earnings #SpreadConversion Sold to close $LOW stock for 78.25. Cleared out half of my position, salvaging failed iron butterfly into a profitable trade. Will look for higher prices to sell the remainder, with a stop at 77.50. I don’t want to hold the stock long-term.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign In pre-market, bought to close $SPX Sept 2nd 2040/2015 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.35 on Aug 1st.
LOW and RGLD earnings
#Earnings #SpreadConversion That’s a new hashtag I just made up for converting an ITM credit spread into a stock position.
LOW original position: 79.5/81.5/83.5 iron butterfly for 1.48. Exited some more LOW stock at 77.75 (cost basis 77.10). Closed remaining long puts, so will be assigned on more with cost basis of 77.50.
RGLD original position: 87.5/85 put spreads for 1.25. Sold my long 85 puts for 1.82 (avg price). Will be assigned stock via 87.5 puts, cost basis will be 84.43.
Won’t take much to recover with profits from both positions, despite having a max loss if I’d allowed to expire as spreads.
SPX rolling
#SPXcampaign Using market timing this morning to execute some rolls. Closed spreads near the lows, now waiting for higher levels to sell the rolls.
Bought to close $SPX Aug 26th 2175/2200 call spreads for 11.00 (in pre-market). Sold for 12.10 on 7/22.
Partial roll: Sold to Open SPX Sept 9th 2140/2115 put spreads for 3.35
2nd half of roll: Will sell SPX Sept 9th 2200/2225 call spreads for 7.75, if it can fill today. If not, will add a contract or come down a strike.
Bought to close $SPX Aug 26th 2135/2160 for 22.25. Sold last Friday for 21.50. This is my continued experiment of rolling out a fully ITM spread, one week and one strike higher at a time. Looking to sell the Sept 2nd 2140/2165 spread for 22.40. Probably can’t get that price, so I will take what I can get and add a put spread to make up the difference.
Crazy LOW trade
#Earnings While selling naked is preferred with a large account, using spreads can give you an effectively naked position… you don’t have to wait for expiration and just take the loss if your spreads end up completely ITM.
Sold partial $LOW stock position for 77.25. Assigned vis 81.5 puts Wednesday night with a 77.10 cost basis.
Also, sold one of my remaining 79.5 puts for 2.25. Will be assigned tonight via my 81.5 puts, cost basis on that batch will be 77.34.
By selling your ITM long puts, you leave yourself to be assigned on your newly naked puts, but at a very low cost basis. I’ve already exited some of the trade with a small profit… will wait for more recovery to take better profits on the rest of the stock.
Expired SPX
#SPXcampaign #OptionsExpiration Expired at this morning’s open: $SPX Aug 18th 2110/2085 put spreads. Sold for 2.50 on Aug 1.
Correction time?
Today, we had SKEW above 135 again… third time since Brexit. Will it mean something this time?
VIX daily chart in a squeeze
SPX in a daily squeeze
SPX monthly chart in a squeeze… that doesn’t happen often, but previously it was followed by corrections, like the 2001-2003 decline and the 2008 crash; or followed by sustained rallies, 2012-2015, 2005-2007, and 1995-2000 massive rally.
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX Sept 15th 2235/2260 call spreads for 1.45, with SPX at 2185.
