Taking it on the chin today
UNM -6.9%
LNC -7.4%
PRU -5.5%
AIG -4.5%
All pay nice dividends

Reversed the bad assignment from Friday on the 36.50 Call by rebuying the stock @ 36.44 on the open.
Sold 1 WBA 09/25/2020 37.0 Covered Call @ 0.42 & Sold 1 WBA 09/25/2020 37.50 Diagonal Call @ 0.34.

Sold WDC 09/25/2020 33.50 Puts @ 0.17. The strike is about equal to the post-earnings low.
Hedged with October 30 puts already long.

Forty minutes on hold to get to a trader at Fidelity. 😦
Bought to close 2 VXX 09/18/2020 24.50 Puts @ 0.15 two minutes after the close.
Originally sold @ 0.91

A quick rally in VXX up to 24.98, so I added a couple more calls for next week.
Sold 1 VXX 09/25/2020 28.50 Diagonal Call @ 0.58
Sold 1 VXX 09/25/2020 30.50 Diagonal Call @ 0.38

I’ve used up all my extra long calls, so I will have to cover something for this week if I want to sell any more.

Another roll
Bought to close 09/18/2020 25.5 Puts / Sold 09/25/2020 24.5 Puts @ 0.03 Credit plus a one point lower strike for next week.
VXX at 24.34

Now left with just the 24.0 and 24.50 puts for today

Bought to close VIAC 09/18/2020 30.0 Diagonal Calls / Sold VIAC 09/25/2020 31.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.18 Credit plus a big point higher on the short strike.

I have short VIAC 31.0 Diagonal Calls expiring today as well

Sold VXX Sep 25 2020 29.0 Calls @ 0.37 for next week.
VXX @ 24.30

Letting similar calls for today expire.
Paired with Oct/Nov/ Dec long calls

First of my Put rolls today
Bought to close 09/18/2020 26.50 Puts / Sold 09/25/2020 26.00 Puts @ 0.08 Credit plus a half point lower strike for next week.
VXX at 24.12

Edit:
Another roll
Bought to close 09/18/2020 25.0 Puts / Sold 09/25/2020 24.0 Puts @ 0.04 Credit plus a one point lower strike for next week.
VXX at 24.18

Bought to close 1 WBA 09/18/2020 36.0 Covered Call / Sold 1 WBA 09/25/2020 36.50 Covered Call @ 0.07 Credit plus a half point better short strike

An unwelcome surprise this morning.
Assigned on 09/18/2020, 09/21/2020 and even 09/25/2020 short diagonal calls on SPY because of an Ex-Div on the ETF.
Now I have to cover the short stock.
Always a messy business.
Plus I have to figure out how to make back the dividend I now owe the guys that exercised me.

AND today is triple witching day in the options market.
SIGH 😦

Bought to open Jun 18 2021 10.0 Puts / Sold Sep 25 2020 23.50 Puts @ 0.07 Credit.

Looking to add to my stable of “free” 2021 long puts

Bought to open 12/18/2020 80.0 Call @ 0.70
Bought to open 12/18/2020 70.0 Call @ 0.90

So I guess the 09/18/2020 calls I sold this morning covers part of the cost of these.

Sold VXX Sep 18 2020 28.5 Calls @ 0.23
Sold VXX Sep 18 2020 29.0 Calls @ 0.17
VXX open 25.73

Sold ADS 09/18/2020 51.0 Covered Calls @ 0.10. It’s all the market would give me.

In an effort to coax my WBA puts to stay out of the money I sold a new Bear Call Diagonal
Bought to open WBA Oct 30 2020 41 Calls / Sold WBA Sep 18 2020 36.50 Calls @ 0.05 Credit.
If the puts expire, I’ll be happy to roll the short Calls.

Bought to close SPY Sep 16 2020 345 Call @ 0.02. There were 11,000 contracts bid at 0.01 ahead of me.
(This one worked although most have not in this endless bull market)

Replaced it with a Sep 23 2020 345.0 Diagonal Call @ 1.18
SPY is at 340.08

Rolled my 09/16/2020 340.0 Diagonal Call out 2 days to the 09/18/2020 341.0 Call @ 0.39 Credit plus another point higher on the short strike

Sold SLB 09/18/2020 19.50 Covered Calls @ 0.16 against a small part of my long stock.
SLB is 19.20

Rolled my 09/16/2020 334.0 Diagonal Call out 2 days to the 09/18/2020 334.0 Call @ 0.39 Credit.
Just waiting for a bigger pullback

Sold 1 AAL 09/18/2020 Covered Call @ 0.12
Sold 2 AAL 09/18/2020 Diagonal Calls @ 0.15 against half my long calls
AAL is 13.79

Just noticed the Jan 2023 Options are now trading for VXX and UVXY.

The next time the VIX doubles, the lowest strike puts will make for interesting buys.

Quote of the day:

Apple stumbled following the new iWatch and iPad launches y’day. Maybe it’s time they actually invented something new rather than just fleecing Apple Addicts with product upgrades every couple of years…

Sold the stock I was put on Friday at 35.50 (net cost after put premium of 34.97) just now @ 35.56.
Putting the cash back into my account.
I’m still short diagonal puts for this week so I won’t be upset if the stock keeps running.

Sold 1 VIAC 09/18/2020 31.0 Diagonal Call @ 0.36.
The long hedge is an October 30th 36.0 Call I was already long.

Sold VXX Sep 18 2020 30 Calls at $0.31
Sold VXX Sep 18 2020 30.50 Calls at $0.27
Sold VXX Sep 18 2020 31 Calls at $0.24.

Paired with a boatload of short puts for this week and hedged with Oct/Nov long calls
VXX is at 25.07

Bought to close all my VXX Sep 18 2020 80.00 Calls at $0.01.
During the last VXX run I liquidated a long in this contract and turned around and shorted it as a low risk sale against October/November longs.
I’m now free of this short and ready for another VIX spike.

Bought to close 1 SPY 09/14/2020 333.0 Diagonal Call / Sold 1 09/16/2020 334.0 Diagonal Call @ 0.04 Credit Plus one more point higher on the short strike.

The long side hedge is an October 16 2020 345.0 Call

Goes EX-Dividend for 0.60 tonight.
I’ve got CINF Sep 65.0 Covered Calls I suspect will be assigned early. Almost impossible to roll out a month for any premium so I guess I’ll take the cash influx and the profit on the stock.

I also have a Sep 70/75 Bull Call spread.
I did exercise the long side to prevent the short side getting assigned and costing me the dividend.

Edit:
The best outcome is if they don’t exercise the short 75.0 Call and I get the dividend on the long stock and they still take me out of the stock position at 75.0 on Friday.

Not only were my VIAC 09/11 23.00 Covered Calls assigned, but also my VIAC 09/18 23.00 Covered Calls, and even my 09/25 24.00 Diagonal calls (had to cover the resulting short this morning).

All that for 0.24

Bought to close VXX 09/11/2020 26.50 Puts / Sold VXX 09/18/2020 25.50 Puts @ 0.25 Credit
Bought to close VXX 09/11/2020 26.00 Puts / Sold VXX 09/18/2020 25.00 Puts @ 0.54 Credit
Bought to close VXX 09/11/2020 25.50 Puts / Sold VXX 09/18/2020 24.50 Puts @ 0.60 Credit

At least all my short calls will expire shortly 🙂

One of these finally worked.
Bought to close 1 SPY 09/11/2020 339.0 Call @ 0.02. Sold this on Wednesday @ 4.35 on a rollup.

Replaced it with a short 09/16/2020 340.0 Call @ 1.17.
The long call it is paired against is a 10/16/2020 346.0 Call.

Bought to close VIAC 09/11/2020 29.0 Calls / Sold VIAC 09/18/2020 30.0 Calls @ 0.02 Credit but another point higher on the short strike for just one more week
The new short is above the recovery high on the stock and the stock goes Ex-Div next week too which should help it down by next Friday.

Bought to close VXX 09/11/2020 27.0 Puts / Sold VXX 09/18/2020 25.50 Puts @ 0.08 Credit plus an additional 1.5 points lower on the short strike.

Filled when VXX hit 26.25

New Diagonal Put spread
Sold WBA 09/18/2020 35.0 Puts / Bought WBA 10/30/2020 32.0 Puts @ 0.18 Credit

Bought to close VXX 09/11/2020 27.50 Puts / Sold VXX 09/18/2020 26.50 Puts @ 0.12 Credit plus an additional point lower on the short strike.

Filled when VXX hit 26.15

Bought to close WBA 09/11/2020 36.0 Puts / Sold WBA 09/18/2020 36.0 Puts @ 0.17 Credit.

Bought to close WDC Sep 11 2020 40 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01.
They won’t trade any lower

Both higher on the start of the NFL season tonight
Are people so starved for entertainment?

Up 23% on earnings
How do analysts keep getting this one wrong?

Jeff, I hope you are OK where you are

Gov. Kate Brown said the communities of Blue River and Vida in Lane County had been devastated by wildfires this week, while Phoenix and Talent, in the southern part of the state, have reported “significant damage,” the Portland Tribune reported.

Brown said, “this could be the greatest loss of life and structures due to wildfire in state history. ”

The state’s fires remain largely unchallenged Thursday morning as emergency personnel continues to evacuate thousands of people to safety. Doug Grafe, with the Department of Forestry, said the fire situation in the state is “zero percent containment.”

“The largest blaze is the Santiam/Beachie Creek Fire, at 132,450 acres burned east of Salem. It is zero percent contained. The Lionshead Fire has burned 109,222 acres. Fire officials said they expected the fires in the Santiam River area to combine into one large blaze about 3,000 firefighters are deployed,” The Tribune said.

Sold to open 1 VXX 09/18/2020 30.0 Call @ 0.98 against a long October 70.0 call left over from an old diagonal spread.

Took the money and bought a speculative December 90 call @ 0.86 ( Election hedge).
VXX @ 27.20

I’m adding to my long in a new expiration month with this spread.
Bought to open VXX 03/19/2021 14.0 Puts / Sold VXX 09/11/2020 26.50 Puts @ 0.07 Credit.
VXX is 26.65

Bought to close 1 SPY 09/09/2020 337.0 Call / Sold 1 SPY 09/11/2020 339.0 Call @ 0.14 Credit
Got a 2 point better strike on the short for just 2 more days.
Did the switch with SPY @ 341.28

First new position in a while as I add to my spreads
Bought 1 SPY 10/23/2020 360.0 Call / Sold 1 SPY 09/16/2020 345.0 Call @ 0.22 Credit.
The real money is not made on the first write, but on the follow on writes if the first short expires.
SPY at 341.50 when this was put on.

Adding one more:
Bought to open WBA 10/23/2020 30.0 Puts / Sold WBA 09/11/2020 35.50 Puts @ 0.17 Credit

Sold 1 VXX 09/11/2020 26.0 Put @ 0.37

plus:
VXX Diagonal Calendar Put
I’m adding a new long in a new expiration month with this spread
Bought to open VXX 03/19/2021 14.0 Puts / Sold VXX 09/11/2020 27.0 Puts @ 0.12 Credit.

Mirror image of last week.

SPY down
VIX Down

Sold 1 VXX 09/11/2020 27.0 Put @ 0.58
Sold VXX 09/11/2020 26.50 Puts @ 0.39
Sold these against existing long puts in 2021 and 2022

Even though I have a boatload of long (Fully paid for) Puts for 2021 and 2022 I’m adding a new long with this spread
Bought to open VXX 01/15/2021 17.0 Puts / Sold VXX 09/11/2020 27.50 Puts @ 0.03 Credit.

This puts my VXX Short Strangle positions more in balance for the coming week

Sold 1 KSS 10/16/2020 25.0 Covered Call @ 1.09

Bought to open AAL 10/16/2020 23.0 Calls / Sold AAL 09/11/2020 14.50 Calls @ 0.03 Credit.

Also sold 1 AAL 09/11/2020 14.50 Covered Call @ 0.25, replacing the strike 14 call from last week.

Bought to open WBA 10/16/2020 30.0 Puts / Sold WBA 09/11/2020 36.0 Puts @ 0.12 Credit
Bought to open WBA 10/23/2020 30.0 Puts / Sold WBA 09/18/2020 35.50 Puts @ 0.16 Credit

The stock is 36.61 with the Low YTD of 36.50 and a big dividend yield. I’m hoping it holds here in a weak market.

Bought to close WDC 09/04/2020 38.0 Covered Calls / Sold WDC 09/11/2020 40.0 Covered Calls @ 0.02 Credit plus and extra $2 on the short strike.

Since this was stock put to me after a disastrous earnings trade, they can have my stock next week..

Meanwhile the strike 37.0 puts I also sold as part of earnings week will expire today.
Yay!

Jekyll and Hyde market here.
Selling calls earlier, now puts
Sold VXX 09/11/2020 27.0 Put @ 0.48
Sold VXX 09/11/2020 26.50 Puts @ 0.33
Sold VXX 09/11/2020 26.00 Puts @ 0.22

Bought to close 1 VXX SEP 04 20 $32 Call @ 0.01.
Sold @ 0.33 on 8/31

Some more VXX Diagonal rolls
Bought to close 1 VXX 09/04/2020 28.00 Diagonal Call / Sold 1 VXX 09/11/2020 29.50 Diagonal Call @ 0.12 Credit plus 1.50 higher on the short strike

Bought to close VXX 09/04/2020 27.00 Diagonal Call / Sold VXX 09/11/2020 28.0 Diagonal Call @ 0.22 Credit plus 1.00 higher on the short strike.

I still have VXX 30.50, 31.0 and 32.0 short calls that should expire in an hour if I don’t cover them.

Bought to close ADS 09/04/2020 51.0 Covered Call / Sold 1 ADS 09/11/2020 51.0 Covered Call @ 0.50 Credit
Bought to close ADS 09/04/2020 51.0 Covered Calls / Sold ADS 09/11/2020 51.0 Covered Calls @ 0.65 Credit (different account)
Bought to close ADS 09/04/2020 50.0 Covered Calls / Sold 1 ADS 09/11/2020 52.0 Covered Calls @ 0.38 Credit

Bought to close KSS 09/04/2020 23.0 Calls / Sold KSS 09/11/2020 23.50 Calls @ 0.32 Credit plus an extra 0.50 on the strike price.

Bought to close KSS 09/04/2020 24.0 Calls / Sold KSS 09/11/2020 24.00 Calls @ 0.27 Credit

Bought to Open VIAC Oct 16 2020 33 Calls / Sold to Open VIAC Sep 11 2020 29 Calls @ Net Credit of $0.09.
I’m long excess September 32.50 Calls from earlier spreads but they expire in 2 weeks and I want to sell them soon.

The high for this move since earnings is 29.02 set yesterday morning.

Bought to close VXX 09/04/2020 30.0 Diagonal Calls / Sold VXX 09/11/2020 34.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.22 Credit.
Added 4 BIG points to the short strike

Since this was my biggest short call position I’m just playing it safe.
I have other calls short today with higher strikes (and some lower) that I will monitor until 3:45

All is forgiven. Nothing to see here.
VIX drops from 38.28 to 32.28 in less than 2 hours and is down 4% from yesterday’s close.

Sold more VXX 09/18/2020 80.0 Calls @ 0.42 against long November calls

Bought to close 5 TSLA Sep 04 2020 560 Calls Limit at $0.01 to release margin for other trades.
It won’t trade any lower.
This was the short side of a single 2800/3000 Bear Call Spread sold last Friday @ 7.60

Playing the eventual contango loss in VXX over time.
First trade in this expiration – a year out – 378 DTE
Bought 1 VXX SEP 17 2021 $10 PUT @ 0.70

Bought back half of my AAL 09/04/2020 15.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.01 to release a bit of margin.
They won’t trade any lower.

Just to force me to stay long and not bail too soon:
Liquidated my long VXX September 18 2020 80.0 Calls and also shorted them @ 0.25.
Sold against long October and November 70.0 Calls so no upside risk.

Probably a nice bounce if it gets here

@DAN is right is will be the 3rd day down (ie: Tuesday)

Bought to Close 1 Contract SQQQ Sep 04 2020 19 Put @ $0.01. It won’t trade any lower.
Sold earlier this week @ 0.22

Thursday’s levels to watch: The Upside Warning will be canceled with an intraday VIX high of 30.42.

WE ARE THERE 🙂

Good time to have 10 excess long calls in VXX

Misleading headline of the day

“The Nasdaq Has Given Up All Of September’s Gains”