It’s happening again

VIX up 4%
S&P up 1.3%

Arrrggg 🙂

Sold to Open SPY Oct 09 2020 340 Diagonal Calls at $2.22 & 2.66
Sold to open SPY Oct 07 2020 339 Diagonal Calls at $1.83 & 2.27
Sold to open 1 SPY Oct 05 2020 338 Diagonal Call at $0.90

Sold these to replace the 10/02/2020 335 calls that expired and the 10/02/2020 336 Calls I covered for a penny on Friday.

Bought to Open 1 SPY Nov 20 2020 360 Call /Sold to Open 1 SPY Oct 07 2020 335 Call @ 0.58 Net Credit
Bought to Open 1 SPY Nov 20 2020 355 Call /Sold to Open 1 SPY Oct 09 2020 335 Call @ 0.14 Net Credit

Bought to close SPY Oct 02 2020 336 Calls at $0.01. (Tried to cancel the order but was too late)
Sold these at 4.52 last week.

Bought to Close SPY Oct 02 2020 334 Call / Sold to Open SPY Oct 07 2020 338 Call @ 0.82 Net Credit plus a 4 point higher strike for Next Wednesday.

The SPY high for the last 10 days has been 338.74.

Bought to close VXX Oct 02 2020 25.5 Calls @ 0.09. Sold these last Friday at 0.32 and 0.41.
Replaced them with some VXX Oct 09 2020 31.0 Calls @ 0.12.
VXX is at 25.40. Not chancing a bounce in the last 20 minutes that could put them back in the money.

I’m pretty confident that my VXX 26.0 Calls will expire though.

Sold another VXX 10/09/2020 25.0 Put at 0.71 – adding to my position
Also
Sold VXX 10/09/2020 24.0 Puts at 0.24 – also adding.

I have a huge bunch of 24.0 and 24.50 puts expiring in an hour.
VXX is at 25.35

Sold KSS Oct 09 2020 21 Diagonal Calls at $0.16 for next week.
Waiting on 20 & 20.50 calls to expire today.

added some for next week:
Sold VXX Oct 09 2020 30 Call at $0.42
Sold VXX Oct 09 2020 29.5 Call at $0.46
Sold VXX Oct 09 2020 29 Call at $0.55

Sold VXX Oct 09 2020 24.5 Puts at $0.44
Sold VXX Oct 09 2020 24.0 Puts at $0.26

All these are hedged with VXX Nov/Dec long positions for the Calls and 2021/2022 long positions for the puts

The first of many potential rolls for today’s expiration
Bought to Close SPY Oct 02 2020 330 Call / Sold to Open SPY Oct 05 2020 331 Call @ 0.42 Net Credit plus a one point higher strike for Monday.
Bought to Close SPY Oct 02 2020 331 Call / Sold to Open SPY Oct 05 2020 332 Call @ 0.43 Net Credit plus a one point higher strike.
Bought to Close SPY Oct 02 2020 333 Calls / Sold to Open SPY Oct 05 2020 335 Calls @ 0.19 Net Credit plus two points higher (and currently out of the money for the moment).

Still have 334, 335 and 336 Call to deal with by the close.

Sold 1 VXX 10/09/2020 28.50 Call @ 0.68 & 1 VXX 10/09/2020 25.0 Put at 0.66 for a net credit of 1.34.

Sold to open KSS Oct 02 2020 20 Covered Calls @ $0.17
Sold to open KSS Oct 02 2020 20.5 Diagonal Calls @ $0.07.
The stock is up a point today partly due to the surprise move in BBBY after a blowout earnings report.

I’ll roll these tomorrow if necessary.

Bought to close 1 WBA 10/02/2020 36.0 Put @ 0.28.
Sold this on 09/09/2020 @ 1.33.

Still short a WBA 10/16/2020 35.0 Put that was also sold on 09/09 @ 1.39

New Diagonals leading up to the election date
Bought to Open VXX Nov 06 2020 50 Call / Sold to Open VXX Oct 09 2020 27.5 Call @ 0.03 Net Credit.
Bought to Open VXX Oct 30 2020 39 Call / Sold to Open VXX Oct 09 2020 27.0 Call @ 0.03 Net Credit.

Also started new positions for next week:
Sold to open VXX Oct 09 2020 29 Call at $0.32
Sold to open VXX Oct 09 2020 28.5 Calls at $0.36

Sold these against existing Nov and Dec long Calls.

The VIX is making a bit of a run today in the face of an up market.
With these trades I’ve balanced out all my short calls and short puts.
All the positions are now “Short Calendar Iron Condor Spreads” according the Fidelity’s site until tomorrow’s expiration.

Bought to close VXX 10/02/2020 23.50 Puts @ 0.01.
They won’t trade any lower.

Dividend yield now 10.5 %.
I’m guessing a cut is in the future.
The question is, how far might it drop?

Puts earlier, now calls (or at least call spreads) to help balance out the positions.
Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 25.5 Calls at $0.33 and $0.40.
Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 26.0 Calls at $0.24 and $0.32.
These all filled with VXX between 24.75 and 25
Bought Oct 30 2020 42, 45, 47 and 50 calls as a hedge with small net credits overall.

Except in the overnight market I didn’t get the hoped for SPY pullback. So I’m beginning to roll up for Friday’s expiration instead.
Bought to Close SPY Sep 30 2020 334 Calls / Sold to Open SPY Oct 02 2020 336 Calls @ 0.37 Net Credit
Bought to Close SPY Sep 30 2020 333 Calls / Sold to Open SPY Oct 05 2020 335 Calls @ 0.12 Net Credit .

I got a two point higher strike for Friday with SPY trading at 336.50.

Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 23.5 Puts at $0.11
Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 24.0 Puts at $0.33
Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 24.5 Put at $0.64.
Sold against 2021 and 2022 puts already long from earlier diagonal spreads.

Somebody thinks the VIX is going to drop tomorrow. All these filled near the end of the day and went even higher.
Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 23.5 Puts at $0.10
Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 24.0 Puts at $0.21
Sold VXX Oct 02 2020 24.5 Put at $0.48

What if the VIX doesn’t go up?

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/crash-risk-what-if-election-not-doomsday-event-vix-expects-it-be

If you intend to watch, remove all sharp objects and fragile home furnishings from your TV room. Start drinking at least one hour in advance. Consider a small dose of horse tranquilizer.

Sold to open WDC Oct 02 2020 41 Calls at $0.31

Covered up part of my long stock yesterday
Sold SLB 10/02/2020 17.0 Calls @ 0.25
Sold SLB 10/02/2020 17.5 Calls @ 0.13

Bought to Close SPY Sep 28 2020 330 Calls / Sold to Open SPY Sep 30 2020 331 Calls @ 0.20 Net Credit

Bought to Close SPY Sep 28 2020 331 Calls / Sold to open SPY Sep 30 2020 333 Calls @ 0.04 Net Credit.
Bought to Close SPY Sep 28 2020 332 Call / Sold to open SPY Sep 30 2020 334 Call @ 0.42 Net Credit.
Two points better off on the short strike on both.

Bought to open 1 SPY 10/26/2020 346.0 Call / Sold 1 SPY 09/30/2020 334.0 Call @ 0.04 Credit
Betting on some downside volatility after tomorrow’s debate.
Hoping to get re-write opportunities all though October

Sold WFC OCT 16 2020 $27 CALLS @ 0.18

Sold 1 WBA OCT 02 2020 $37.50 Covered Call @ 0.17
Sold WBA OCT 02 2020 $38.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.12
The stock range is 35.83 to 36.36 so far today

Sold 1 SPY Sep 28 2020 330.0 Diagonal Call at $0.61

Also set up a new diagonal spread:
Bought to Open 1 SPY Oct 16 2020 348 Call / Sold to open 1 SPY Sep 28 2020 330 Call @ 0.22 Net Credit

Bought to close WDC Sep 25 2020 40.0 Diagonal Calls at $0.01. It won’t trade any lower.
Replaced these with WDC Oct 02 2020 40.0 Diagonal Calls at $0.43

Bought to close SPY Sep 25 2020 334 Call at $0.01. (Sold Wednesday @ 1.15)
Bought to close SPY Sep 25 2020 333 Call at $0.01. (Sold last Friday @ 5.12)
They won’t trade any lower.

Replaced them:
Sold 1 SPY Sep 28 2020 329.0 Diagonal Call at $0.55
Sold 1 SPY Sep 30 2020 329.0 Diagonal Call at $1.34

Bought to close VXX Sep 25 2020 26.0 Puts at $0.22. Sold last Friday on a roll down at $2.46.

Replaced them with short VXX Oct 02 2020 24.5 Puts at $0.29 for a 0.07 Net Credit.

With VXX bouncing around on both sides of the strike price yesterday, I’m not waiting for expiration.

Squeezing some lunch money out of this one for tomorrow
Sold SLB Sep 25 2020 17.5 Covered Calls at $0.05

Covered up my last long call for a diagonal spread when SPY sprinted to 325.50.
Sold 1 SPY Sep 28 2020 332 Call at $0.52.

I have two short calls expiring (I hope) tomorrow at 333 and 334.

Looking at a 6 month chart.
Support seems to be in a band from 320 to 322.
We are testing that now.
If SPY breaks 320, not much support until 300 or so.
And the VIX could easily spike 10 -20%

Western Digital has given back almost all of yesterday’s big up move.
Two pieces of news yesterday:

Craig-Hallum analyst Christian Schwab upgrades Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) from Hold to Buy and raises the price target from $44 to $62.

Western Digital shares have sprung to life amid speculation that a corporate reorganization announced on Tuesday could be a prelude to a split into two companies, one focused on disk drives and the other on flash memory products.
Western Digital (ticker: WDC) said late Tuesday that it had created two separate business units, one focused on drives and the other on flash. The company also announced that it had hired a former Symantec and Cisco executive, Robert Soderbery , as general manager of the flash unit — and that it was looking for a leader for the hard drive business.
The company gave no indication that it planned to divest or spin either of the two businesses, but some analysts think CEO David Goeckeler may be laying the groundwork for major structural change at the company.

The puts get interesting around the $40 area.
A double bottom there in June and in August.
Trying for a 40/30 diagonal Bull Put Spread.

Sold VXX Sep 25 2020 30.50 Calls at $0.13.
Balancing out short puts.
Hedged with Nov long calls.

Sold 1 SPY Sep 25 2020 334.00 Diagonal Call @ 1.16.

I have SPY 332, 333, & 334 short diagonal calls hopefully expiring today

Big move in WDC this morning. Up almost 10%
Wrote my covered Calls way too early.
Sold WDC Sep 25 2020 41 Calls at $0.22

Bought to open KSS Nov 20 2020 32.50 Calls/ Sold KSS Sep 25 2020 22.50 Calls @ 0.06 Credit
Bought to open SLB Jan 15 2021 27.50 Calls/ Sold SLB Sep 25 2020 18.00 Calls @ 0.04 Credit.
I have long stock in both these names but I have not written covered calls on them for this week yet.
Let’s see how the spreads work out in the next few days.

Sold SPY Sep 23 2020 332.00 Calls at $0.43 against already long calls in October.

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.