Bought to close 1 SPY Nov 06 2020 345 Diagonal Call / Sold to Open 1 SPY Nov 11 2020 348 Call @ 0.02 Net Credit plus a 3 point bump in the short strike.
SPY @ 349.59

Bringing in $CASH. Buying more time

Bought to close VXX 11/06/2020 22.0 Diagonal Puts / Sold VXX 11/13/2020 21.0 Diagonal Puts @ 0.04 Credit.
Bought to close VXX 11/06/2020 21.5 Diagonal Puts / Sold VXX 11/13/2020 20.5 Diagonal Puts @ 0.12 Credit.
Dropped the strikes a full point.

I’m still holding out hope that my 21.0 puts can expire

Bought to close VXX 11/06/2020 28.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01 to release some margin. They won’t trade any lower.
Sold last Friday on a rollup @ 1.48.
Bought to close VXX 11/06/2020 26.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01 to release some more margin. They won’t trade any lower.
Sold last Friday on a rollup @ 2.18

Rolled some Puts down for next week:
Bought to close VXX 11/06/2020 23.0 Diagonal Puts / Sold VXX 11/13/2020 22.50 Diagonal Puts @ 0.17 Credit.
Paired off with long Jan strike 15 and 16 puts.
Bought to close VXX 11/06/2020 22.50 Diagonal Puts / Sold VXX 11/13/2020 22.0 Diagonal Puts @ 0.22 Credit.
Paired off with long Jan strike 15, 16 and 17 puts.

Looks much different than the last few months

Down another 8.5% pre-market

Google Searches For “Liquor Store Near Me” Hits All-Time High Amid Election Anxiety

Bought to close 1 SPY Nov 04 2020 338 Diagonal Call / Sold to Open SPY Nov 09 2020 340 Diagonal Call at $0.32 Credit plus two points higher on the short strike

SPY = 346.61

down 13% pre-market

Bought to Open 1 BIIB Jan 15 2021 180 Put / Sold to Open 1 BIIB Nov 06 2020 220 Put @ $3.00 Net Credit.

Hoping the 3 year low holds for 3 more days . BIIB is at 246

BTW: The put premium for Friday was $6.70

Playing for an eventual VIX collapse back into the 20’s and a return of VXX Contango.
Bought to open VXX 06/18/2021 7.0 Puts / Sold to open VXX 11/06/2020 21.50 Puts @ 0.08 Credit.
Bought to open VXX 06/18/2021 8.0 Puts / Sold to open VXX 11/06/2020 21.50 Puts @ 0.03 Credit.
I don’t think I have to worry about this week but the short can be easily rolled down is VXX drops from 25 to 21.50 by Friday.

btw: my short VXX 33.00 diagonal calls for this week are still trading @ 0.51 with VXX at 24.60.
Insane premium.
But that is why I’m loading up on the put side.

Sold SLB 11/06/2020 17.50 Covered Calls @ 0.09
Sold WBA 11/06/2020 37.50 Covered Calls @ 0.23
Sold WBA 11/06/2020 38.00 Covered Calls @ 0.17
Sold WFC 11/06/2020 24.00Covered Calls @ 0.08
Liquor run for election night covered 🙂

According to a study by Bloomberg’s quants Lily Gu and Bryan Liang, who looked at how options markets are positioned for the election, the market is split in two in terms of what it expects will happen on Nov 4: as shown in the chart below, the equity options market showed a 54% chance of a upside movement (+2.7%) between Nov. 2 and Nov. 4, and 45% chance of a larger drop (-3%).

If Biden wins the VIX falls
If Trump wins the VIX falls
If it’s not settled we are in for some fireworks for a while.

http://vixcentral.com/

Bought to close 1 VXX Oct 30 2020 26.5 Call @ $0.32. Sold @ 0.45
Bought to close 1 VXX Oct 30 2020 27.0 Call @ $0.05. Sold @ 0.39.

Covered just minutes before the SPY exploded higher and VXX fell @ 3:56

So I sold 1 VXX 11/06/2020 23.0 Put @ 0.54. (positive cash flow)

My VXX short calls and short puts are now almost in balance for next week’s fireworks.
(Short Calendar Iron Condor Spreads)
Calls from 26.50 up to 33.0. Puts from 23.0 down to 21.50

Bought to close ADS 10/30/2020 51.00 Diagonal Calls / Sold to open ADS 11/06/2020 55.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.55 Credit plus 4 points on the strike for one more week.
ADS is at 51.16 so the 51 call is in the money

Bought to close ADS 10/30/2020 52.00 Covered Calls @ 0.05. They won’t trade any lower.
To replace those I sold ADS 11/06/2020 55.00 Covered Calls @ 0.87 plus 3 points on the strike for one more week.
ADS is at 51.60

Bought to close 1 SPY Oct 30 2020 333 Call at $0.01 to release some margin. It won’t trade any lower.
Sold this on a rollout @ 11.99

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/vix-getting-close-critical-level

Bought to close VXX 10/30/2020 24.0 Puts @ 0.01. They won’t trade any lower.
Sold these @ 1.99 & 2.00 last Friday on a rolldown.
Done with covering VXX puts for this week.

Bought to Close VXX Oct 30 2020 25.5 Calls / Sold to open VXX Nov 06 2020 32 Calls @ 0.32 Credit plus 6.50 bump in the short strike price.

Bought to Close VXX Oct 30 2020 25.5 Call / Sold to open VXX Nov 06 2020 33 Call @ 0.27 Credit plus 7.50 bump in the short strike price.

Writing the new calls against the long December calls I bought yesterday because some of my long hedges are expiring today.

Partial rollup
Bought to close VXX Oct 30 2020 25 Calls Net Credit / Sold to Open VXX Nov 06 2020 29 Calls @ 0.22 Net Credit plus a 4.00 point bump in the short strike for election week.
VXX at 26.51

Edit: Finished off the last of these 25 calls:
Bought to close VXX Oct 30 2020 25 Calls Net Credit / Sold to Open VXX Nov 06 2020 30 Calls @ 0.12 Net Credit plus a 5.00 point bump in the short strike for election week.
VXX at 26.36

Sold 1 SPY 10/30/2020 335.0 Diagonal Call @ 1.02.
I already have one of these so I’m betting on a flat or down day tomorrow.

Bought to Close some of my VXX Oct 30 2020 24.50 Diagonal Calls / Sold to Open VXX Nov 06 2020 27.5 Calls @ 0.40 Net Credit plus a BIG 3 point bump in the strike price, pushing them out of the money.

Took that cash and bought some VXX Dec 18 2020 90.0 Calls @ 0.39

Partial rollup:
Bought to close VXX Oct 30 2020 24.00 Diagonal Calls / Sold to Open VXX Nov 06 2020 26.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.02 Net Credit plus a 2.50 bump up in the short strike.
With the stock at 26.22, this moves the short position back out of the money.

Bought to close VXX Oct 30 2020 21.5 Puts / Sold to Open VXX Nov 06 2020 21.5 Puts @ 0.32 Net Credit.

Bought to close VXX Oct 30 2020 23 Puts at $0.01. They won’t trade any lower.

This was my biggest VXX short put position. Sold Friday on a roll down @ 1.43.

Replacing these with much smaller positions for next week:
Sold VXX Nov 06 2020 22.50 Puts @ 0.58
Sold VXX Nov 06 2020 22.00 Puts @ 0.44

Bought to close 1 SPY OCT 28 2020 $337 Diagonal Call @ 0.01. It won’t trade any lower.
Sold this on Monday at 5.37 as a roll up.

Bought to close 1 SPY OCT 28 2020 $343 Diagonal Call @ 0.01. It won’t trade any lower.
Sold this on Friday at 4.16 as a roll up.

I’ve rolled my put position that is farthest in the money out a week, and down 2 whole points, to get it out of the money post-election.
Bought to close VXX Oct 30 2020 25 Puts Net Credit / Sold to Open VXX Nov 06 2020 23 Puts @ 0.07 Net Credit.

This was the short put that caused me to be so aggressive on the calls sales for this week. With this one rolled down I can quit worrying about carrying so may short calls as an offset.

Buy/Write
Bought INTC / Sold INTC Nov 13 2020 46.5 Call @ $44.68 Net Debit
YTD low is 43.63, and the next XDiv date is 11/05

Since I’ve got almost all my SPY short calls bunched into tomorrow’s expiration I’ve decided to roll the one with the lowest strike price UP and out 2 days to Friday.
Bought to close SPY Oct 28 2020 334 Call Net Credit / Sold to Open SPY Oct 30 2020 335 Call @ 0.12 Net Credit.

If all goes as planned most of my short positions will be gone tomorrow or at least be rolled significantly higher.

Strike 45 Puts are looking interesting

I’m done selling straight calls but adding some diagonal call spreads
Bought to Open VXX Jan 15 2021 65 Calls / Sold to Open VXX Oct 30 2020 24.5 Calls @ 0.07 Net Credit
Bought to Open VXX Jan 15 2021 60 Calls / Sold to Open VXX Oct 30 2020 24 Calls @ 0.07 Net Credit

Because some of my short calls and puts have the same strike, I’ve turned them into “Short Calendar Iron Butterfly Spreads”

With these trades I’ve almost finished pairing up all my short puts, some of which are still in the money.
The VIX is up 13% so I’ll wait to see if the market finds a floor before doing more.
VXX 10/30/2020 26.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.39
VXX 10/30/2020 25.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.44
VXX 10/30/2020 25.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.54
VXX 10/30/2020 24.50 Diagonal Call @ 0.64
VXX 10/30/2020 24.00 Diagonal Call @ 0.74

Also, this move is helping my SPY bear call spreads too.

Sold ADS Oct 30 2020 52 Calls @ 0.55

Bought to close SPY Oct 26 2020 336 Call / Sold to Open SPY Oct 28 2020 337 Call @ 0.02 Net Credit plus an extra point higher on the short strike
Bought to close SPY Oct 26 2020 337 Calls / Sold to Open SPY Oct 28 2020 338 Calls @ 0.06 Net Credit plus an extra point higher on the short strike.

No more expirations for today

With VXX @ 23 , I Sold the following, replacing similar calls that expired Friday.
VXX 10/30/2020 25.50 Diagonal Call @ 0.34
VXX 10/30/2020 25.00 Diagonal Call @ 0.39
VXX 10/30/2020 24.50 Diagonal Call @ 0.44
VXX 10/30/2020 24.00 Diagonal Call @ 0.54

Bought to Close KSS Oct 23 2020 23.0 Calls / Sold to Open KSS 10/30/020 23.5 Calls @ 0.07 Credit
Bought to Close SPY Oct 23 2020 344 Calls / Sold to Open SPY Oct 28 2020 346 Calls @ 1.02 Credit

Bought to close VXX 10/23/2020 22.5 Puts / Sold VXX 10/30/2020 21.5 Puts @ 0.07 Credit plus a full point lower strike price., which moved them out of the money for now.

I’ll either let my VXX 10/23/2020 22.0 Puts expire or try to cover them for a penny, depending how the last hour goes.

Sold WBA Oct 30 2020 39 Covered Call at $0.26 and @ 0.29 for next Friday

Bought to close SPY Oct 23 2020 341 Call / Sold to Open SPY Oct 28 2020 343 Call @ $0.27 Credit plus a 2 point bump in the short strike.

Probably should have waited but a stimulus deal /no deal announcement would spike SPY one way or another

Buying more time – bringing in $cash

Bought to close VXX 10/23/2020 25.0 Puts / Sold VXX 10/30/2020 25.0 Puts @ 0.32 Credit

Bought to close VXX 10/23/2020 24.5 Puts / Sold VXX 10/30/2020 24.0 Puts @ 0.02 Credit plus a 0.50 lower strike.

Bought to close VXX 10/23/2020 23.5 Puts / Sold VXX 10/30/2020 23.0 Puts @ 0.14 Credit plus a 0.50 lower strike. (my largest position in VXX puts)

I have lots of short VXX calls expiring today too.

Bought to close KSS Oct 23 2020 22.0 Covered Calls/ Sold to Open KSS Oct 30 2020 22.5 Covered Calls at $0.20 Net Credit plus a 0.50 bump on the short strike price.

Starting my call selling for next week.
Sold to open VXX Oct 30 2020 25.5 Calls at $0.32

Bought to Open VXX Jan 15 2021 13 Puts / Sold to Open VXX Oct 30 2020 21 Puts at $0.22 Net Credit.
It’s certainly possible that the VIX structure collapses after the election, no matter what the result.

Some of my longer dated 2021 and 2022 excess long puts are starting to show a decent profit.
Plus. I’ve got a bunch of short calls for tomorrow

Flipped a long call
Sold to close WDC Oct 30 2020 47.5 Calls @ 0.40.
These were the leftover long side hedge of a diagonal spread I put on 9/23
i.e. (Bought to Open WDC 10/30/2020 47.50 Calls / Sold 09/25/2020 40.50 Calls @ 0.12 Credit)
I have written against the long calls several more times since then.

Then … Sold to open WDC Oct 30 2020 47.5 Calls @ 0.41.
Sold these against another leftover long call (Nov 50’s).
The stock is only 42.90.
Pretty good premium for only 6 days.

AT&T Earnings Were Good Enough to End a 10-Day Losing Streak.

Bought to Close SPY Oct 21 2020 344 Calls at $0.04 – sold for 6.72 on 10/16 and 4.08 on 10/19
Sold to Open SPY Oct 23 2020 346 Calls at $1.06.

Bought to Close 1 SPY Oct 21 2020 340 Call / Sold to Open 1 SPY Oct 23 2020 341 Call @ 0.36 Credit with SPY at 343.91
Bought to Close SPY Oct 21 2020 342 Calls / Sold to Open SPY Oct 23 2020 344 Calls @ 0.53 Credit with SPY at 343.82.

Hoping to cover my 344.0 Calls @ 0.01

New Diagonal Spread
Bought to Open 1 CINF Mar 19 2021 95 Call / Sold to Open 1 CINF Nov 20 2020 85 Call @ 0.40 Net Credit.
The stock is at the top of a big 5.5% run today @ 84.25

Rolled all my short Calls with strike prices below 340 forward a few days and up $100.

Still waiting to see how my 340 / 342 / 344 calls end the day.
Stock range 342.50 – 345.67 So far today.
If we stay down or fall further it could be VERY profitable

There we have it! The Oct $VIX futures contract has expired and the front month “contango” is gone. Term structure remains very flat, waiting for the elections to either spike higher or collapse in a heap. I have no idea which one.

Sold AAL Oct 23 2020 13.50 Calls @ 0.24
Sold SLB Oct 30 2020 18.0 Calls @ 0.11

Playing around a bit with diagonal call spreads
Bought VXX Jan 15 2021 85.0 Calls / Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 24 Calls @ 0.02 Net Credit.
Because of all the short puts I have I would like the stock a point higher by Friday.

Also sold some VXX Oct 23 2020 26.50 Calls @ 0.23.
This strike price is almost outside the 20 day( 1 month) trading range for the stock

Sold 1 KSS 11/20/2020 25.0 Covered Call @ 0.68
Sold SLB 11/06/2020 18.0 Covered Calls @ 0.13

VXX
Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 24 Call at $0.63
Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 24.5 Call at $0.51
Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 25 Call at $0.42

Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 25.5 Calls at $0.33
Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 26 Calls at $0.27

Replacing similar calls that expired Friday and turning existing short PUT spreads into Short Calendar Iron Condor Spreads

Sold WDC Oct 23 2020 41 Calls Limit at $0.11

Rolled all today’s short diagonal calls to the Wednesday expiration for small credits.
Too numerous to list but I did roll up the 341 Calls up to 342 and the 343 Calls up to 344.

If SPY gets below 341.50 it could get ugly

Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 24 Calls at $0.39
Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 24.5 Calls at $0.32
Sold VXX Oct 23 2020 25 Call at $0.26

An unexpectedly large move today through the strike price forced me into this roll.
Bought to close ADS Oct 16 2020 55.00 Covered Calls / Sold to open ADS Nov 20 2020 60.0 Covered Calls @ 2.05 Net Credit plus a generous 5 point bump in the strike price.

Buying more time – bringing in $cash

Bought to close VXX 10/16/2020 25.0 Puts / Sold VXX 10/23/2020 25.0 Puts @ 0.19 Credit
Bought to close VXX 10/16/2020 24.50 Puts / Sold VXX 10/23/2020 24.50 Puts @ 0.22 Credit
Bought to close VXX 10/16/2020 23.50 Puts / Sold VXX 10/23/2020 23.50 Puts @ 0.39 Credit
Bought to close VXX 10/16/2020 23.0 Puts / Sold VXX 10/23/2020 22.50 Puts @ 0.02 Credit plus a 0.50 lower strike.
Bought to close VXX 10/16/2020 23.0 Puts / Sold VXX 10/23/2020 22.50 Puts @ 0.15 Credit plus a 0.50 lower strike.

I have lots of short VXX calls expiring today too.

Done with worrying about VXX for this week.

Bought to close ADS Oct 16 2020 52.50 Covered Calls / Sold to open ADS Oct 23 2020 53.0 Covered Calls @ 0.44 Net Credit.

Bought to close ADS Oct 16 2020 53 Diagonal Calls / Sold to open ADS Oct 23 2020 54 Diagonal Calls @ 0.25 Net Credit.
Used 0.05 of the credit to buy a hedge (Oct 23 65.0 Calls) as my old hedge is expiring today

Brought in cash on the rolls and ramped the short strikes prices up a bit.

On the opening spike @ 22.91
Sold 1 VXX 10/16/2020 23.50 Call @ 0.38
Sold VXX 10/16/2020 24.00 Calls @ 0.23 – adding to my position
Sold VXX 10/16/2020 24.50 Calls @ 0.17

I still have twice as many short puts as short calls so higher is better for this week.