SPY 03/01/2021 391/394 Bear Call Spread

Sold 1 SPY MAR 03 2021 $393.0 Diagonal Call @ 1.15.

The strike is at near term resistance in SPY

Bought to open UVXY Apr 16 2021 5.00 Puts / Sold to Open UVXY Mar 05 2021 8.00 Puts at $0.10 Credit.

UVXY is 8.65 and I have excess long puts from earlier spreads.

Short DTE = 4
Long DTE = 46

Sold to open 1 SPY MAR 01 2021 $389 Diagonal Call @ 1.06 after an 8 point bump in SPY in just 2 hours.

Turns my short put spread into an Iron Condor Spread

30.82 high today before pulling back and closing down on the day.
Pretty nice double top and not quite as high as yesterday’s 31.16 peak

Expired:
SLB 02/26/2021 28.50 Diagonal Calls
SLB 02/26/2021 29.50 Diagonal Calls
SPY 02/26/2021 386.00 Diagonal Call
SPY 02/26/2021 387.00 Diagonal Calls
SPY 02/26/2021 390.00 Diagonal Call
SQQQ 02/26/2021 16.50 Covered Call
WFC 02/26/2021 38.00/40.00 Bear Call spreads

VXX 02/26/2021 18.00 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/26/2021 19.00 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/26/2021 19.50 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/26/2021 23.00 Diagonal Calls

AMC 02/26/2021 6.50 Diagonal Puts
AMC 02/26/2021 6.00 Diagonal Puts

Assignments:
None

Rolled down my last short put for this week.
Bought to close 1 TLRY Feb 26 2021 26 Put / Sold to Open 1 TLRY Mar 05 2021 25 Put @ 0.40 Credit

Closed out another diagonal spread I put on with profits on both sides
Bought to close TLRY 02/26/2021 26.0 Short Calls @ 0.01 – Sold @ 0.90 (avg price) on 02/23
Sold to close TLRY 04/16/2021 70.0 Long Calls @ 0.93 – Bought @ 0.61 (avg price) on 2/23

Closed out the diagonal spread I put on yesterday with profits on both sides
Bought to close AMC 02/26/2021 8.0 Short Calls @ 0.13 – Sold @ 0.79
Sold to close AMC 03/26/2021 12.0 Long Calls @ 0.91 – Bought @ 0.77

After several rolls laterally I’m finally able to roll this one up.
Bought to close 1 SPY Feb 26 2021 377.0 Call / Sold to Open 1 SPY Mar 03 2021 380.0 Call @ 0.38 Credit

Bought to close SLB Feb 26 2021 27.5 Calls / Sold to Open SLB Mar 05 2021 28.5 Calls @ 0.12 Credit plus another point higher for next week.

I’m expecting my SLB 28.50 and 29.50 short calls for today to expire.

Even though today’s VXX calls would have expired I couldn’t pass up the great premiums for next week while waiting for this weeks calls to roll off.
Bought to close VXX 02/26/2021 20.0 Calls @ 0.09. Sold these @ 0.23 earlier this week.
Bought to close VXX 02/26/2021 21.0 Calls @ 0.06. Sold these @ 0.19 earlier this week.
Bought to close VXX 02/26/2021 22.0 Calls @ 0.04. Sold these @ 0.15 earlier this week.

Replaced all the above with options 2 points higher in strike. (Hopefully that is enough)
Sold VXX 03/05/2021 22.0 Calls @ 0.61
Sold VXX 03/05/2021 23.0 Calls @ 0.58
Sold VXX 03/05/2021 24.0 Calls @ 0.56.

VXX peaked at 17.29

Bought to close VXX Feb 26 2021 15 Puts Limit at $0.01. Sold these on a rolldown last Friday at 0.50

Rolled all but 1 of my TLRY short puts to next week.

Also put on some bear call spreads to lessen the pain a bit.

Sold 02/26 26.0 Calls @ 27.0 Calls while buying April 70 calls to hedge.

Either my remaining put will expire or the calls will and I’ll roll what I need to tomorrow afternoon.

Up 33 % and Hit 31.16

Sold AMC Feb 26 2021 6.5 Puts @ 0.10 & AMC Feb 26 2021 6.0 Puts @ 0.05 against some left over Jun 2.0 long puts I already own.

Also Sold Feb 26 2021 8.0 Calls while buying AMC March 26 12.0 Calls @ 0.02 Credit.

So I have 6.0/8.0 and 6.5/8.0 short strangles expiring tomorrow.. Waiting to see what kind of opening we get Friday.

Bought to open VXX Mar 26 2021 32.0 Calls / Sold to Open VXX Mar 05 2021 20.5 Calls @ 0.07 Credit.
VXX is at 16.65.

I’ve already rolled most of my short puts to next week (way to early) but I’m liking my chances that my short VXX 02/26/2021 15.0 Puts will expire. That didn’t look likely this morning.

Despite the 30% move in the VIX today I am still expecting all my short VXX Calls for this week to expire tomorrow or be covered at a penny.
So I’m tiptoeing into next week’s expiration.
Bought to open VXX Mar 26 2021 32.0 Calls / Sold to Open VXX Mar 05 2021 19.0 Calls @ 0.04 Credit.

Once I start covering this week’s calls to free up some buying power, I’ll be selling more for next week.

VXX at 16 right now

Bought to close UVXY Feb 26 2021 9.0 Puts at $0.51. Sold these @ 0.63 last Friday.
Sold to Open UVXY Mar 05 2021 8.5 Puts @ 0.56 to replace them.

Bought to open SPY Mar 24 2021 350 Put / Sold to Open SPY Mar 05 2021 377 Put @ 0.07 Credit.
I’ve been rolling a SPY 377 short call forward every few days for a while, so this is an offset to that.
Gives me an Iron Condor at that strike price.

Hit 200 dollars after hours

Up 46 points
Here we go again 🙂

From Barrons:
The key inflection point in the GameStop saga last month — when brokers suddenly limited trading in the stock — could have been avoided if the systems designed to settle trades moved faster , according to Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev . Now, the CEO of the online broker may get his wish, at least partially.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced on Wednesday that it expects to be able to shorten the time between when a trade takes place and when it is finalized — known as settlement — to one day from two. The DTCC is the most powerful clearinghouse in the market, and serves as a hub where buyers and sellers go to finalize and record their trades.
Robinhood, which relies on a subsidiary of the DTCC called the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) to clear its trades, stopped all buying in shares of GameStop (ticker: GME), AMC Entertainment (AMC) and other stocks on January 28 . Other brokers also placed limits on some transactions. Shares of the impacted companies mostly fell that day and some did not regain their prior highs afterwards. Investors blamed the brokers — and Robinhood in particular — for the shift.
Robinhood said that it was forced to take drastic action because of demands from the NSCC for more capital. Brokers need to deposit capital with their clearinghouses in case there’s some problem during the trade-settlement process. During the GameStop frenzy, those deposit requirements rose because of the large amounts of shares being traded and leverage being used. Robinhood deposited $124 million on January 25 , but the NSCC asked for $3 billion on Jan. 28 , Tenev said in testimony for a congressional hearing last week. The deposit requirement eventually fell to $1.4 billion that day, Tenev said, but Robinhood’s operations were impacted for days, with limits placed on buying and options.
At the hearing, Tenev said that he thinks the best way to solve this issue is to reduce the time to settlement to zero. “The existing two-day period to settle trades exposes investors and the industry to unnecessary risk and is ripe for change,” he said. The DTCC said it cannot comment on the Robinhood episode.
However, the DTCC has been working for years on shortening the time from trade to settlement — and in 2017 reduced that time span to two days from three. DTCC executives now say they can get to T+1, or finalizing a trade one day after it takes place, within two years — which could allow the DTCC to reduce margin requirements on brokers and other market participants.
The delay between when a person hits “Buy” on an investing app and the trade being fully recorded has less to do with technology and more to do with industry practice and risk management. The DTCC says it has the technology to move to one-day or possibly even same-day settlement right now, but that it will depend heavily on the various parties that use its system to sign on.
The delay between trades and settlement also serves a purpose, and reducing that time could impact other processes. For instance, investment firms that trade one stock multiple times during a day tend to net those trades at the end of the day. That way, they don’t have to go through the same process for each trade. Making sure all of those trades are settled and financed in real time, or in a very short period, would likely be impossible given current market dynamics.
The DTCC has been experimenting with blockchain technology to clear and settle trades. Some of today’s processes could theoretically be automated under that system, which would store trading data in encrypted files and allow market players to hook into the database. But blockchain tech isn’t fast enough to keep up with the current volume of trading. The DTCC is working on a prototype of a system, dubbed Project Ion, that could one day put clearing and settlement on a blockchain.
For now, the DTCC expects to be able to move forward with its current technology. One client is already weighing in.
“T+1 is a welcome stepping stone to real-time settlement,” Tenev said in reaction to the DTCC announcement. “We look forward to working with lawmakers, regulators and the industry to make this a reality.”

05:53 AM EST, 02/24/2021 (MT Newswires) — Straddle prices for stocks expected to report quarterly results this week
Airbnb (ABNB) February weekly 187.50 straddle priced for a move of 12% into the expected release of quarterly results after the bell on Feb. 25.
AMC Entertainment (AMC) February weekly 7.5 straddle priced for a move of 22% into the expected release of quarterly results on Feb. 25.
Best Buy (BBY) February weekly 115 straddle priced for a move of 6% into the expected release of quarterly results before the bell on Feb. 25.

Some of the best credit investors we know always look at stock dividend yields vs. the company´s ten year corporate bonds. Interesting data here. These are the top 30 S&P 500 dividend yielders, but we also show their cost of debt. Many of the top dividend payers in the S&P are paying out much more than their cost of debt (average bond yield) and many of them have strong balance sheets as well. The top 3 highest spreads of dividend yield cost of debt are 1. Altria 2. Exxon Mobil and 3. AT&T. This speaks to how cheap true value names are.

Since I have been rolling a SPY short 377 Call forward for a few weeks I decided to take a chance on a 377 Put as a partial offset
Bought to Open 1 SPY Mar 15 2021 350 Put / Sold to Open 1 SPY Feb 26 2021 377 Put @ 0.06 Credit.
The short side is gone by Friday.
The long side is disaster protection and allows for a roll or rewrite of a new short.

Rolled today’s 385 Call to Wednesday’s 386 Call @ 0.06 Credit
Rolled today’s 386 Call to Wednesday’s 387 Call @ 0.42 Credit
Rolled today’s 387 Call to Wednesday’s 389 Call @ 0.12 Credit (now OTM for the moment)

Tanking – down 50

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/tesla-unexpectedly-halts-sales-standard-range-model-y-without-explanation

Sold VXX 02/26/2021 18.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.30
Sold VXX 02/26/2021 18.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.26.
VXX opened at 15.60.

Balances out my put exposure a bit

Lots of long calls and puts bought as part of old diagonal spreads expired today. Of course I wrote against them more than a few times.

Expirations:
SLB 02/19/2021 27.50/30.0 Bear Call Spreads

VXX 02/19/2021 21.0/38.0 Bear Call Spreads
VXX 02/19/2021 20.50/38.0 Bear Call Spreads
VXX 02/19/2021 20.0/38.0 Bear Call Spreads
VXX 02/19/2021 19.50/36.0 Bear Call Spreads
VXX 02/19/2021 19.0/33.0 Bear Call Spreads

GME 02/19/2021 5.0/35.0 Bull Put Spread

Assignments:
AAL 02/19/2021 17.0 Covered Call – bought 3/27/20 @ 17. Been writing covered calls for 11 months to get back to even on the stock. (not counting all the premiums)

MRO 02/19/2021 9.00 Covered Calls – bought 3/27/20 @ 8.45 Been writing covered calls for 11 months to get a small gain.

Last trade today
Bought to close SLB Feb 19 2021 26 Calls / Sold to Open SLB Feb 26 2021 27.5 Calls @ 0.02 Credit
I was hoping the 26 calls would just expire …. but oh well …
Sold them @ 0.89 last week.

Bought to close 1 TLRY 02/19/2021 28.0 Put @ 0.01. Sold last week on a rolldown at 2.55

Didn’t want to chance the 29 puts expiring (it looks like they will) but with the open around 27.50 this morning I rolled those down to TLRY Feb 19 2021 26.0 Puts at a small credit.

Bought to close SPY Feb 19 2021 386 Call / Sold to Open SPY Feb 24 2021 387 Call @ 0.28 Credit plus the extra point on the strike price.

Rolled VXX 02/19/2021 16.50 Puts to VXX 02/26/2021 16.00 Puts @ 0.03 Credit
Rolled VXX 02/19/2021 16.0 Puts to VXX 02/26/2021 15.50 Puts @ 0.07 Credit
Rolled VXX 02/19/2021 15.50 Puts to VXX 02/26/2021 15.00 Puts @ 0.11 Credit

Rolled UVXY 02/19/2021 9.50 Puts to UVXY 02/26/2021 9.00 Puts @ 0.02 Credit.

The extra 0.50 lower on all the strike prices is more significant than the the cash inflow for 5 more trading days
But the cash is also nice.

The TLRY 02/19/2021 31.0 Puts I rolled down to from TLRY 02/12/2021 37.0 Puts last Friday had to be rolled again.
Rolled to TLRY 02/26/2021 29.0 Puts @ 0.14 Credit

Furious Aussies React To “Zero Warning” Facebook Ban On News Content
What Facebook has blocked in Australia so far:

• All news media (local and global)
• Health authorities (and their pandemic/vaccine updates)
• Police and emergency services
• Weather bureau (during bushfire/flood season)
• Domestic violence helpline
• Politicians’ accounts

FB has said “government pages should not be impacted” and will be re-instated. Some of the other non-news orgs hit:

• Fire services
• Universities
• Charities
• Unions
• State transport networks
• Major retail shops
• City councils
• Energy companies
• Sporting groups

Whatever you think about FB, this is likely to escalate

Reaching out to next week’s calls
Sold VXX 02/26/2021 23.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.22

Sold SPY Feb 19 2021 395 Calls / Bought SPY Mar 05 2021 403 Calls @ 0.19 Credit

Expired:
TLRY 02/12/21 80/100 Bear Call Spread
VXX 02/12/2021 18.00 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/12/2021 20.00 Diagonal Calls

GME 02/12/2021 19.50 Diagonal Puts
GME 02/12/2021 18.50 Diagonal Puts
GME 02/12/2021 18.00 Diagonal Puts

Assignments:
SLB 02/12/2021 21.50 Covered Calls. The last of this long stock from 2019 bought at at much higher prices. Glad to be out.

Bought to close MRO 02/12/2021 8.50 Covered Calls / Sold 02/19/2021 9.00 Covered Calls @ 0.02 Credit.
I’ll let the stock go next Friday if it is above 9.0

Rolled VXX 02/12/2021 17.00 Puts to 02/19/2021 16.50 Puts for 0.02 Credit
Rolled VXX 02/12/2021 16.50 Puts to 02/19/2021 16.00 Puts for 0.10 Credit
Rolled VXX 02/12/2021 16.00 Puts to 02/19/2021 15.50 Puts for 0.12 Credit

Rolled UVXY 02/12/2021 10.00 Puts to 02/19/2021 9.50 Puts for 0.06 Credit.

The extra 0.50 lower on all the strike prices is more significant than the the cash inflow for 4 more trading days
But the cash is also nice.

Bought to close TLRY Feb 12 2021 37.0 Puts / Sold to Open TLRY Feb 19 2021 31.0 Puts @ 0.05 Credit.
Pushed the short strike down 6 points with the stock at 34.30

Bought to close VXX 02/12/2021 18.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01. Sold these at 0.16, 0.18 & 0.30

Bought to close VXX 02/12/2021 19.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01
Bought to close VXX 02/12/2021 19.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01

Since my puts are already rolled out I’m starting new call positions to pair up with them.
Bought to open VXX Mar 19 2021 50.0 Calls/ Sold to Open VXX Feb 19 2021 20.0 Calls at $0.15 Credit.

Once my buy orders for this week’s calls start filling at a penny, I’ll sell more for next week.

Rolled VXX 02/12/2021 22.00 Puts to 02/19/2021 22.00 Puts for 0.20 Credit
Rolled VXX 02/12/2021 21.00 Puts to 02/19/2021 21.00 Puts for 0.25 Credit
Rolled VXX 02/12/2021 19.50 Puts to 02/19/2021 19.50 Puts for 0.30 Credit
Rolled VXX 02/12/2021 19.00 Puts to 02/19/2021 19.00 Puts for 0.35 Credit.

Not enough strength in VXX to roll any of them down this week, but not a bad cash flow for only 5 more trading days (Presidents Day holiday next Monday)

I’m expecting to cover all this week’s paired up short calls by early tomorrow.

Sold to open TLRY 02/12/2021 80/100 Bear Call spreads @ 0.53 Credit.
TLRY at 43 and gave up all the 20 points it gained yesterday.
These pair off with the Put spreads I did yesterday giving me a short Iron Condor spread

Bought to close GME 02/12/2021 19.00 Puts @ 0.01. Sold these on 02/04 at 0.40 & 0.46
Bought to close GME 02/12/2021 20.00 Puts @ 0.01. Sold these on 02/04 at 0.52,0.54 & 0.83

Bought to open TLRY Mar 19 2021 14 Put / Sold to Open 1 TLRY Feb 12 2021 38 Put @ 0.05 Credit
Bought to open TLRY Mar 19 2021 13 Put / Sold to Open 1 TLRY Feb 12 2021 37 Put @ 0.10 Credit

TLRY up 20 @ 62
Just playing around a little with a new name

Will need strikes higher than 100 on the call side before I play those

Bought to close 02/12/2021 16.0 Diagonal Puts @ 0.01. They won’t trade any lower.
Sold these on 02/04 @ 0.46 & 0.47

Bought to close 1 SPY Feb 10 2021 385 Call / Sold to Open 1 SPY Feb 12 2021 386 Call @ 0.02 Credit but pushed the short up a point for only 2 more days to expiration.

Week ending 02/05:
Ethereum $ETH: +30%
Bitcoin $BTC: +14%
S&P 500 $SPY: +5%
Macerich $MAC: -17%
Tootsie Roll $TR: -21%
Bed Bath $BBBY: -25%
Nat. Beverage $FIZZ: -28%
Vol Index $VIX: -37%
New Concept $GBR: -39%
Express $EXPR: -48%
AMC $AMC: -48%
Koss $KOSS: -69%
GameStop $GME: -80%

$VIX futures contango settled at 10.58%
Headwind for $VXX and $UVXY

== Expired ==
GME 02/05/2021 520/530 Bear Call Spread
SLB 02/05/2021 25.50 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/05/2021 20.0 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/05/2021 21.0 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/05/2021 22.0 Diagonal Call
VXX 02/05/2021 24.0 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/05/2021 25.0 Diagonal Calls
VXX 02/05/2021 26 Diagonal Calls
WFC 02/05/2021 33.0 Diagonal Calls

GME 02/05/2021 8.0 Short Puts
GME 02/05/2021 9.0 Short Puts
GME 02/05/2021 10.0 Short Puts
GME 02/05/2021 11.0 Short Puts
GME 02/05/2021 40.0 Diagonal Put
SLB 02/05/2021 25.0 Short Puts

== Assignments ==
GME 02/05/2021 40.0 Covered Call (put the trade on this week for $38 debit)
SLB 02/05/2021 20.50 Covered Calls (dumping long stock purchased several years ago at much higher prices. Redeploying the resulting cash)

Somebody made a buck or two getting out
Ticker Top Insider Trading Date Transaction Value($)
OTLK Sukhtian Ghiath M. Feb 02 Buy 8,360,000
BDGE BASSWOOD CAPITAL MAN Feb 02 Buy 6,915,225
MSM JACOBSON MITCHELL Jan 29 Buy 5,290,780
AMC Silver Lake Group, L Jan 27 Sale 534,752,119
DCT Disco (Guernsey) Hol Feb 02 Sale 273,264,840

Bought to close 02/05/2021 17.50 Diagonal Puts / Sold VXX 02/12/2021 17.0 Puts @ 0.01 Credit
Bought to close 02/05/2021 17.0 Diagonal Puts / Sold VXX 02/12/2021 16.50 Puts @ 0.06 Credit

Bought to close 02/05/2021 18.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01. Sold on a rollup last Friday @ 2.42

Letting all the other VXX short calls expire

Bought to close GME FEB 05 2021 $23 PUTS @ 0.01. They won’t trade any lower.
Sold these yesterday for 0.18 and 0.21

Sold to close SPY 02/05/2021 385.0 Calls @ 3.25 on the open. Bought these @ 2.67
These were excess longs from earlier bear call spreads where the short expired.

Then I rolled one of the shorts expiring today.
Bought to close Buy to Close 1 SPY Feb 05 2021 382.0 Call / Sold to Open 1 SPY Feb 16 2021 385.0 Call @ 0.03 Credit but bumped the strike up 3 points.

Sold To Open GME FEB 05 2021 $40 PUT @ 1.77 while buying the GME MAR 19 2021 $10 PUT @ 0.50 to lower the margin requirements a bit.
The short expires today

Bought to close GME FEB 05 2021 $15 PUTS @ 0.01. They won’t trade any lower.
Sold these for of 0.40 on 01/29

Bought to close AMC FEB 05 2021 $5 PUTS @ 0.01. They won’t trade any lower.
Sold these for an average of 0.36
That leaves me with long March and June strike 2 puts that are fully paid for as “lottery tickets”

New diagonal
Bought to open GME Mar 26 2021 10.0 Put/ Sold to Open GME Feb 12 2021 20.0 Put at $0.15 Credit.
Fido calculates the Breakeven price is GME @ 17.17 (at the expiration date of the short I’m assuming)
GME Currently at 59.

For Thursday
GameStop (GME) – 121.07% Short Interest
AMC Entertainment (AMC) – 78.97%
Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE) – 71.95%
FuboTV (FUBO) – 71.91%
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) – 65.48%
Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) – 64.88%
National Beverage Corporation (FIZZ) – 62.62%
SunPower Corporation (SPWR) – 57.49%
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT) – 52.41%
GSX Techedu (GSX) – 50.32%
Tootsie Roll Industries (TR) – 45.91%
Gogo Inc (GOGO) – 43.95%
Accelerate Diagnostics (AXDX) – 43.08%
Beyond Meat (BYND) – 42.89%
Ontrak (OTRK) – 42.56%
Clovis Oncology (CLVS) – 42.13%
Rocket Companies (RKT) – 40.72%
Seritage Growth Properties (SRG) – 38.69%
iRobot Corporation (IRBT) – 38.45%

SPY Feb 03 2021 383 Short Diagonal Call

Bought to close Buy to Close GME Feb 05 2021 12 Puts at $0.01 taking out of the rest of this position.
Sold these on 01/29 @ 0.38

I pulled my orders to close 8, 9, 10 & 11 short puts as they look to expire Friday. Still short some 15 puts that I’m trying to close.

Bought to close SPY Feb 03 2021 376.0 Call / Sold to Open SPY Feb 08 2021 377 Call @ 0.06 Credit but bumped the short strike up a point..

SPY = 382.85

Still have a short 383 call for today that I am letting run to the close to see if it expires

Bought to close GME 02/05/2021 12.0 Puts @ 0.01. It won’t trade any lower.
Sold this lot on 01/27 at 0.30