Playing this like I would a biotech stock approaching a binary event
Sold 1 FRC 03/24/2023 6.0 Put at $0.25
Stock currently $17.35
Author Archives: Option Iceman
AMAT Stock
Exiting another low dividend payer
Liquidated the last of my tiny position in AMAT at $125.01, very near the YTD high.
Bought on 10/11/2022 at $75.00
#FormerFallingKnife #RaisingCash
VXX Put Ladder and SOXL Call
VXX: Calls yesterday, Puts today
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 44.0 Put at $0.10
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 44.5 Put at $0.10
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 45.0 Put at $0.12 and $0.22
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 45.5 Put at $0.14
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 46.0 Put at $0.17, $0.25 and $0.36
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 46.5 Put at $0.26, $0.33 and $0.40
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 47.0 Put at $0.22, $0.45 and $0.60
Sold 1 VXX Mar 24 2023 47.5 Put Limit at $0.35 and again at $0.70
Should be easy to roll if necessary. Paired up with an equal number of short calls.
#VXXContango
Sold 1 SOXL Mar 24 2023 18.0 Call at $0.42
#OnlySpreads
SPY OptionsExpiration
Expired:
1 SPY 360/387 Bull Put Spread
1 SPY 390.0 Put
1 SPY 395.0 and 1 SPY 396.0 Calls
#OnlySpreads
SPY Strangle 1DTE
One last position before Wednesday’s fireworks
Sold 1 SPY Mar 21 2023 398.0 Call at $0.27
Sold 1 SPY Mar 21 2023 386.0 Put at $0.21
#OnlySpreads
AAPL
No longer an attractive dividend payer, I’m selling my tiny position in AAPL near it’s YTD high
Sold AAPL at $157.38. Bought on the first trading day of the year at $125.00.
With it’s one dividend payment included, made a respectable 26% 🙂
#FormerFallingKnife #RaisingCash
VXX Call Ladder
Finally moving away from the pre-split contracts
Sold to Open:
1 Contract VXX Mar 24 2023 60 Call at $2.48
1 Contract VXX Mar 24 2023 59 Call at $2.74
1 Contract VXX Mar 24 2023 58 Covered Call at $2.93
1 Contract VXX Mar 24 2023 57 Covered Call at $3.30
1 Contract VXX Mar 24 2023 56 Covered Call at $3.70
SPY 0DTE
Sold 1 SPY Mar 20 2023 396.0 Call at $0.25
Added a sale of 1 SPY Mar 20 2023 390.0 Put at $0.28
0 DTE scalp trade
#OnlySpreads
Stocks
Interesting that 100% of the stocks in my mini high yield portfolio are all up this morning
Doesn’t happen often and it doesn’t last very long
LABU
Sold LABU Mar 24 2023 6.0 Call at $0.06
Sold LABU Mar 24 2023 4.5 Puts at $0.15 and $0.16
#OnlySpreads
Weekend Charts
OptionsExpiration
LABU 6.0 Covered Call
LABU 4.5 Diagonal Put
SOXL 12.5 Diagonal Put
SOXL 12.0 Diagonal Put
UVXY 8.5/6.5 Bear Call Spreads
UVXY 9/7 Bear Call Spreads
VFC 20.5 Cash backed short put
SPY 370/388 Bull Put Spread
SPY 425/400 Bear Call Spread
SPY 407/398 Bear Call Spread
No SPY short puts or calls going into next week
Stocks
To fund my buys of more high yield stocks I’m selling some no-yield/low yield positions
Sold all my GOOGL at $102.00. Started buying this in Sept 2022 at $101.88 and finished buying in November at $91.69.
Made about 5.5% overall.
Sold a tiny bit of my FDX at $225.00 on the jump up from earnings last night and at a 6-month high.
Bought on 03/08/2022 at $199.25.
#FormerFallingKnife
Added a tiny bit on VNO at $14.77
#SP500 #FallingKnife
SOXL and LABU
Rolled 1 SOXL Mar 17 2023 14.0 Diagonal Call to SOXL Mar 24 2023 14.5 Call at $0.02 Credit
Rolled SOXL Mar 17 2023 16.0 Diagonal Calls to SOXL Mar 24 2023 17.0 Calls at $0.13 Credit
Bought to close LABU Mar 17 2023 6.0 Diagonal Calls at $0.01
#OnlySpreads
VXX Calls & Puts
Bought to close VXX1(adjusted) 03/17/2023 13.0 Puts at $0.32. Sold last week on a roll at $2.07
Rolled them to VXX1 03/24/2023 12.5 Puts at $0.36 and lowered the short strike $0.50
Rolled 1 VXX 03/17/2023 49.0 Call to 1 VXX 03/24/2023 51.0 Call at $0.04 Debit(fat finger mistake – should have been entered as a credit) and raised the short strike 3 points
Rolled 1 VXX 03/17/2023 50.0 Call to 1 VXX 03/24/2023 54.0 Call at $0.53 Credit and raised the short strike 4 points
Rolled 1 VXX 03/17/2023 51.0 Call to 1 VXX 03/24/2023 56.0 Call at $0.41 Credit and raised the short strike 5 points
Stocks
A few tiny trades early in the day at new lows:
LNC at $21.34
TFC at $29.79 and $30.00
USB at $34.29
#SP500 #FallingKnife
UVXY
Partial position roll
Rolled this week’s UVXY 03/17/2023 5.0 Covered Calls to next week at $0.13 Credit
I will try to roll the rest of them up for a credit if UVXY falls again tomorrow
SPY OptionsExpiration
All expired:
1 SPY 424/400 Bear Call Spread
1 SPY 405/397 Bear Call Spread
1 SPY 370/388 Bull Put Spread
and
1 SPY 03/16/2023 390.0 Diagonal Put (sold on a roll Tuesday at $4.29)
#SPYDailyLadder #OnlySpreads
SPY Put Rolldown
Bought to close 1 SPY Mar 16 2023 392.0 Put at $1.78. Sold this at $4.61 on a rolldown yesterday
Rolled it to tomorrow’s SPY Mar 17 2023 388.0 Put at $1.84 for a $0.06 Credit
Dropped the short strike 4 points
Also sold 1 SPY Mar 17 2023 398.0 Call at $0.43 for tomorrow’s expiration
Stocks
Tiny buys at new lows for some high yielders:
WU at $10.14
HBAN at $10.20
PRU at $80.10
PNC at $124.00
#FallingKnife
SPY OptionsExpiration
1 SPY 405/395 Bear Call spread expired
1 SPY 405/397.0 Bear Call spread expired too.
Short a 397 Call and a 400 Call for tomorrow
#OnlySpreads
Stocks
Dumped all my META at $197.16, a new recovery high for this year.
Bought this one 12 times during the 2022 meltdown, getting in at $245.0 to start and ending with a buy at $98.00.
Made about 4% overall and it wasn’t worth the aggravation. 🙂
UVXY Puts
Bought to close UVXY Mar 17 2023 6.0 Puts at $0.14. Sold on a roll last week at $1.33
Rolled to short UVXY Mar 24 2023 5.5 Puts at $0.18 and picked up $0.50 on the short strike
#OnlySpreads
SPY Put rolled
Rolled today’s SPY Mar 14 2023 390.0 Put to Thursday’s SPY Mar 16 2023 388.0 Put at $0.02 Credit
Dropped the short strike 2 points
#OnlySpreads
VXX
Throwaway long puts to write against
Bought 1 VXX May 19 2023 31.0 Put at $0.05
Bought 1 VXX May 19 2023 32.0 Put at $0.05
Bought 1 VXX Jun 16 2023 10.0 Put at $0.02
Bought 1 VXX Jun 16 2023 15.0 Put at $0.03
Bought 1 VXX Jun 16 2023 20.0 Put at $0.04
Bought 1 VXX Sep 15 2023 10.0 Put at $0.04
Bought 1 VXX Sep 15 2023 15.0 Put at $0.05
These are highly illiquid with wide bid/ask spreads
#VXXContango
SPY OptionsExpiration
1 SPY Mar 14 2023 420/396 Bear Call Spread expired. Sold the short yesterday at $0.85
Have a short 395.0 and a short 397 Call for tomorrow
SPY Put rolled
Once SPY broke 388 I had to act before the close (my earlier roll from this morning looks good now)
Rolled today’s SPY Mar 14 2023 392.0 Put to Thursday’s SPY Mar 16 2023 390.0 Put at $0.24 Credit
Dropped the short strike 2 points
#OnlySpreads
PNC KSS Puts rolled
Some more “black hole” trades needed to be rolled after yesterday
Rolled 1 PNC 03/17/2023 141.0 Put to 1 PNC 03/24/2023 139.0 Put at $0.45 Credit
Rolled 1 KSS 03/17/2023 23.0 Puts to 1 KSS 03/24/2023 22.5 Put at $0.07 Credit
SOXL
Sold SOXL Mar 17 2023 16.0 Calls at $0.29 and $0.34, replacing similar calls that expired on Friday
#OnlySpreads
SPY
Rolled the put the I sold yesterday out another day:
Bought to close 1 SPY Mar 14 2023 394 Put at $2.81. Sold at $9.54
Sold to Open 1 SPY Mar 15 2023 393.0 Put at $3.11 for a $0.30 Credit
Took the credit and bought 1 SPY Mar 21 2023 365.0 Put at $0.28 that will allow me to keep rolling the short down for a few more days
$SPX needs to close above 3940 before I’d even consider this drop over.
VXX SPY
Bought 1 VXX May 19 2023 30.0 Put at $0.05
Sold VXX Mar 17 2023 40.0 Puts at $0.12
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 42 Put at $0.17
#VXXContango
Bought 1 SPY Mar 17 2023 407.0 Call at $0.13
Sold 1 SPY Mar 16 2023 397.0 Call at $1.16
#OnlySpreads
Morning stocks
High yield #SP500 stocks at new lows at the open.
Tiny buys:
HBAN at $11.34
VFC at $20.88
FITB at 26.70 and $22.15
OGN at $22.50
LNC at $23.72
ZION at $26.06
BAC at $28.73
CFG at $29.72
TFC at $33.10
USB at $38.10
CMA at $42.59 and $30.00
BXP at $55.89
PNC at $128.25
KEY at $10.00
FRC at $25.00
#FallingKnife
SPY
Rolled today’s SPY Mar 13 2023 395.0 Put to tomorrow’s SPY Mar 14 2023 394.0 Put at $0.02 Net Credit
Short the SPY 396.0 Call for tomorrow too.
CMA ZION Puts
I stepped into a hornet’s nest with these two but was able to roll them out and down:
Bought to close 1 CMA Mar 17 2023 62.5 Put / Sold 1 CMA Apr 21 2023 60.0 Put at $0.20 Credit
Bought to close 1 ZION Mar 17 2023 42.5 Put / Sold 1 ZION Apr 21 2023 40.0 Put at $0.25 Credit
SPY
Sold 1 SPY Mar 14 2023 396.0 Call at $0.85
Sold 1 SPY Mar 15 2023 397.0 Call at $0.92
Sold 1 SPY Mar 15 2023 395.0 Call at $1.38
Paired with short Puts sold last week that I will probably have to roll
#OnlySpreads
VXX UVXY
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 60.0 Call at $4.20
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 59.0 Call at $4.35
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 58.0 Call at $4.80
Sold 1 UVXY Mar 17 2023 7.0 Call at $0.77
LABU SOXL
Sold 1 LABU Mar 17 2023 4.5 Put at $0.27
Sold LABU Mar 17 2023 6.0 Calls at $0.11 (paired with LABU 6.0 puts I rolled last week)
Sold 1 SOXL Mar 17 2023 12.5 Put at $0.52 (paired with 1 SOXL 14.0 Call I rolled last week)
Sold 1 SOXL Mar 17 2023 12.0 Put at $0.32
More Stocks
Afternoon tiny buys at new lows:
FITB at $29.67. Div = 4.1%
WU at $11.00. Div = 8.2%
BAX at $38.28. Div = 2.9%
BXP at $60.00. Div = 6.3%
#SP500 #FallingKnife
OptionsExpiration
What a fun week – he said sarcastically
==Expired==
LABU 11.5/7/5 Bear Call Spreads
LABU 7.5 Diagonal Calls
LABU 7.5 Covered Call
SOXL 19/17.5 Bear Call Spreads
SOXL 18.5/17 Bear Call Spreads
SOXL 18/16.5 Bear Call Spreads
SOXL 13.5 Diagonal Puts
SOXL 13.0 Diagonal Puts
SPY 415/402 Bear Call Spread
UVXY 4.5 Diagonal Puts
VXX 11.5 Diagonal Puts
VXX 10.5 Diagonal Puts
==Assignments==
Assigned on 5 VXX(Adjusted) 10.5 Covered Calls (represents 125 shares)
Couldn’t roll them out to next week or even out 2 weeks because of the gigantic bid/ask spreads.
I’ll take the loss on a small portion of my long stock, partially offset by the Put expirations in VXX above
SPY
The SPY went positive for a few minutes so I rolled my last SPY Put position for this week
Rolled today’s SPY Mar 10 2023 396.0 Put to Monday’s SPY Mar 13 2023 395.0 Put at $0.21 Credit.
My SPY Daily Put ladder for next week is:
Monday: 395
Tuesday: 392
Wednesday: 390
#OnlySpreads
VXX and UVXY Calls
Going to the moon???
Sold UVXY Mar 17 2023 6.0 Calls at $0.30, $0.33, $0.35 and $0.42
Sold UVXY Mar 17 2023 6.5 Calls at $0.33, $0.41, $0.44 and $0.60
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 54.0 Call at $1.29
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 55.0 Call at $1.35
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 56.0 Call Net at $1.58
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 57.0 Call Net at $2.53
#OnlySpreads
Stocks
Decent yields all around as a bunch of tiny old orders fill on the opening
LNC at $26.36. Div = 6.5%
HAS at $50.00. Div = 5.4%
MTB at $125.10. Div = 3.9%
MMM at $105.00. Div = 5.6%
SCHD at $72.50. Div = 3.5%
TFC at $38.70. Div = 5.0%
VNO at $17.35. Div = 8.3%
ZION at $37.61. Div = 3.8%
#SP500 #FallingKnife
SPY
My short puts are being pressured so jumped in on a short call
Sold 1 SPY Mar 10 2023 402.0 Call at $0.48
The strike is above the range for the last few days
VXX Call Ladder
For next week:
Sold VXX Mar 17 2023 47.0 Covered Calls from $0.32 up to $0.42
Sold VXX Mar 17 2023 48.0 Calls at $0.35 and $0.40
Sold 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 49.0 Call at $0.37
Stocks
Tiny trades
Bought VNO at $18.25. Div = 8.0%
Bought PNC at $142.50. Div = 4.1%
Bought VFC at $23.41. Div = 5.0%
Bought WU at $11.70. Div = 7.9%
#SP500 #FallingKnife
BTW: Regional banks are really under pressure
SPY OptionsExpiration
1 short Mar 08 2023 409.0 Call expired. Sold at $1.05 on 03/03
1 short Mar 08 2023 406.0 Call expired. Sold at $1.95 on 03/06 as a rollup from Monday’s 403.0 Call
1 short Mar 08 2023 398.0 Put expired (barely). Sold on 03/06 at $0.54
1 short Mar 08 2023 375.0/392.0 Bull Put Spread expired
#SPYDailyLadder
VXX Puts
First trades in the new strike prices
Bought to Open 3 VXX Apr 21 2023 32.0 Puts at $0.05.
Sold to Open 1 VXX Mar 17 2023 40.0 Put at $0.15 to cover the cost of the buy.
Waiting to see how VXX options trade once the quotes settle down.
The current bid/ask spreads are way too wide.
#VXXContango
CVS Stock
Started a tiny new position in CVS at $80.00. Div = 3.00%
#SP500 #FallingKnife
SPY OptionsExpiration
1 Mar 07 2023 411.0/ 404.0 Bear Call Spread
(rolled to the short 404 Call last Friday up from my original 402.0 Call)
1 Mar 07 2023 380.0/396.0 Bull Put Spread
Both expired.
#SPYDailyLadder
SPY Put Rolldown
Rolled today’s SPY Mar 07 2023 400.0 Put to Friday’s SPY Mar 10 2023 396.0 Put at $0.44 Credit
#OnlySpreads
VNO Stock and Put
Added to my tiny VNO position at $19.00. Div = 7.5%
Also sold 1 VNO Mar 17 2023 17.5 Put at $0.15
#FallingKnife
SOXL Puts
Sold SOXL Mar 10 2023 13.0 Puts at $0.11 and $0.12
Sold 1 SOXL Mar 10 2023 13.5 Put at $0.17
Turning more short calls into short strangles
#OnlySpreads
VXX
1 for 4 reverse split is effective today
SPY OptionsExpiration
1 SPY Mar 06 2023 373.0/397.0 Bull put Spread expired
#SPYDailyLadder
SPY Call Rollup
Rolled today’s SPY 403.0 Call to Thursday’s SPY 406.0 Call at $0.33 Credit
#OnlySpreads
SPY Put Ladder
Sold 1 SPY Mar 07 2023 400.0 Put at $0.52
Sold 1 SPY Mar 08 2023 398.0 Put at $0.54
Sold 1 SPY Mar 09 2023 396.0 Put at $0.54
Sold 1 SPY Mar 09 2023 395.0 Put at $0.39
#SPYDailyLadder
#OnlySPreads
LABU SOXL
Taking what the market will give me
Sold LABU Mar 10 2023 7.5 Calls at $0.06
Sold SOXL Mar 10 2023 17.5 Calls at $0.17
#OnlySpreads
OptionsExpiration
Expired
BOIL 5.5 Diagonal Puts
BOIL 6.0 Diagonal Puts
LABU 7.0 Covered Call
LABU 11.5/8.5 Bear Call Spread
LABU 10/7 Bear Call Spreads
SOXL 18/16 Bear Call Spread
SPY 377/389 Bull Put Spread
UVXY 6.0 Covered Calls
UVXY 5.5 Covered Calls
UVXY 8/6 Bear Call Spreads
UVXY 7.5/5.5 Bear Call Spreads
UVXY 7/5 Bear Call Spreads
VXX 13.5 Covered Calls
VXX 13.0 Covered Calls
VXX 12.5 Covered Calls
VXX 16.5/14 Bear Call Spreads
VXX 16/13.5 Bear Call Spreads
VXX 16/13 Bear Call Spreads
SOXL Calls
Sold 1 SOXL Mar 10 2023 16.5 Call at $0.38
Rolled today’s SOXL Mar 03 2023 15.5 Calls to SOXL Mar 10 2023 17.0 Calls at $0.09 Credit
A small overall gain on the 15.5 Calls
#OnlySpreads
SPY Roll + one more
Rolled today’s SPY Mar 03 2023 402.0 Call to Tuesday’s SPY Mar 07 2023 404.0 Call at $0.80 Credit
Sold 1 SPY Mar 08 2023 409.0 Call at $1.05
#OnlySpreads
SPY Call and Put
Sold 1 SPY Mar 07 2023 408.0 Call at $0.71
Sold 1 SPY Mar 08 2023 392.0 Put at $0.60
#SPYDailyLadder
#OnlySpreads
SPY OptionsExpiration
1 SPY 380/390 Bull Put spread Expired
1 SPY Mar 02 2023 393.0/401.0 Short Strangle expired too 🙂
#SPYDailyLadder
SPY Call
Sold 1 SPY Mar 06 2023 403.0 Call at $0.52
#OnlySpreads
SPY Call
Sold 1 SPY Mar 03 2023 402.0 Call at $0.24
#OnlySpreads
PPG Stock
Liquidated my tiny PPG position at $135.01
Bought last March at $125.00 and again at $119.00
I will get the latest dividend on 3/10 too
#FormerFallingKnife #RaisingCash
SOXL Call
Sold 1 SOXL Mar 10 2023 16.5 Call at $0.15
#OnlySpreads
Short Puts
Sold 1 PNC 03/10/2023 143.00 Put at $0.50. 52W Range = 143.52 – 199.43
Sold 1 CMA 03/17/2023 62.50 Put at $0.28. 52W Range = 62.83 – 97.52
VXX Long Puts
Bought VXX Sep 15 2023 6.0 Puts at $0.13 and $0.12.
Further hedges for short VXX Puts I am rolling every week
#VXXContango
SOXL Call Rollup
Bought to close 1 SOXL Mar 03 2023 13.5 Call at $0.75. Sold on a roll last week at $1.88
Replaced it with a sale of 1 SOXL Mar 10 2023 14.0 Call at $0.83
#OnlySpreads
SPY Options Expiration
1 SPY Mar 01 2023 380/391 Bull Put Spread expired
#SPYDailyLadder
VXX Calls for next week
Sold VXX Mar 10 2023 13.0 Calls at $0.19 and $0.20
SPY Puts and Call
Sold 1 SPY Mar 02 2023 401.0 Call at $0.43
Sold 1 SPY Mar 02 2023 390.0 Put at $0.53
#OnlySpreads
Sold 1 SPY Mar 03 2023 389.0 Put at $0.65
#SPYDailyLadder
SPY Options Expiration
1 SPY Feb 28 2023 385/394 Bull Put Spread is expiring. Sold yesterday at $0.33 Credit
1 SPY Feb 28 2023 405.0 Diagonal Call is expiring. Sold yesterday at $0.29
BOIL SOXL
Sold BOIL Mar 03 2023 6.0 Put at $0.23 and $0.28
Sold BOIL Mar 03 2023 5.5 Puts at $0.10 replacing similar puts that expired Friday
Sold 1 SOXL Mar 03 2023 16.0 Call at $0.17
SPY Put
Sold 1 SPY Mar 02 2023 393.0 Put at $0.95
#SPYDailyLadder
Options Bistro 