Highest close in 8 trading days.
Rolled my WDC 08/28/2020 37.0 Puts to WDC 09/04/2020 37.0 Puts @ 0.17 Credit
Author Archives: Option Iceman
VXX – the beauty of diagonal puts
So the long puts I buy as part of the diagonal put spreads I have been setting up for months have been written against multiple times, but this week looks like a big winner for this strategy:
Just some examples:
Long 2 Jan 15 2021 12.00 Puts @ 58.29 while being short 2 Aug 28 2020 23.00 Puts @ 58.62
Long 2 Jan 15 2021 13.00 Puts @ 106.38 while being short 2 Aug 28 2020 24.00 Puts @ 123.43
Long 1 Jan 15 2021 14.00 Put @ 55.69 while being short 1 Aug 28 2020 24.00 Put @ 61.71
Long 2 Jan 15 2021 15.00 Puts @ 141.38 while being short 2 Aug 28 2020 24.00 Puts @ 123.43
Long 2 Jan 15 2021 16.00 Puts @ 163.38 while being short 2 Aug 28 2020 24.00 Puts @ 123.43
As you can see, this week’s short puts pretty much cover the costs of the long positions yet again. #DoubleDip
The real beauty is that the short positions are gone tomorrow, but the longs are still there until January.
Contango losses in VXX have recently been about a point per week, except for the occasional spikes like we are seeing in the last two days.
It’s entirely possible that eventually, the long position go in the money before expiration.
VIX
a bit more strength on the VIX and the upside warning will be cancelled
High 27.09 so far, up 15%
VIX SPY
It’s getting a bit crazy again.
SPY sets a new all time high (almost to 350) and then reverses a bit back to unchanged.
However, the VIX explodes from 22.85 to 24.28 in just 20 minutes.
Something is going on under the surface but I don’t know what.
Algos at work?
VXX
Sold 1 VXX 08/28/2020 26.0 Diagonal Call @ 0.21
Sold 2 VXX 08/28/2020 27.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.13
Creating Short Calendar Iron Condor Spreads to help balance out a lot of short Puts.
Sold the Calls against already long November Calls.
Hoping to keep VXX above 24 through Friday.
I would add to these if higher prices come along tomorrow.
TSLA
Another new all time high @ 2166
Sold 1 TSLA 08/28/2020 2500 Call / Bought 1 TSLA 08/28/2020 2700 Call @ 2.10 Credit.
2 days to expiration
SPY bearish Diagonal
Sold 1 SPY Sep 02 2020 333.0 Call / Bought 1 SPY Oct 16 2020 346.0 Call @ 5.19 Credit.
If there is no market pullback in the next week, I can do a roll every few days after that.
SPY is at an all time high just above 347
Dividend info
Stocks in the SP500 that have eliminated their dividend – just a FYI
Carnival Corp.
Coty Inc. Class A
Nordstrom Inc.
Kohl’s Corp.
Macy’s Inc.
Marathon Oil Corp.
American Airlines Group Inc.
Royal Caribbean Group
Delta Air Lines Inc.
National Oilwell Varco Inc.
PVH Corp.
DXC Technology Co.
Boeing Co.
Alaska Air Group Inc.
Western Digital Corp.
Tapestry Inc.
Kimco Realty Corp.
Ralph Lauren Corp. Class A
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.
Wynn Resorts Ltd.
Marriott International Inc. Class A
Southwest Airlines Co.
Molson Coors Beverage Co. Class B
Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Ford Motor Co.
Ross Stores Inc.
Universal Health Services Inc. Class B
Darden Restaurants Inc.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
General Motors Co.
Gap Inc.
Expedia Group Inc.
TJX Cos.
Walt Disney Co.
Aptiv PLC
HCA Healthcare Inc.
Weyerhaeuser Co.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
Maxim Integrated Products Inc.
L Brands Inc.
AAL KSS Calls
Sold AAL 08/28/2020 15.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.18 against already long Oct 25 Calls #DoubleDip
Sold KSS 08/28/2020 23.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.06 against already long Oct 30 Calls #DoubleDip
Sold KSS 09/04/2020 23.0 Covered Calls @ 0.21
Pays for next week’s beer run 🙂 🙂
Also:
Bought AAL 10/16/2020 23.0 Calls / Sold AAL 08/28/2020 14.50 Calls @ 0.05 Credit – Adding longs at a lower strike (corrected this one – originally posted wrong)
AAPL TSLA split euphoria
AAPL new high at 515.98
TSLA new high at 2140
AAL ADS WBA WDC WFC Calls
Sold AAL 08/28/2020 14.0 Covered Call @ 0.09
Sold AAL 08/28/2020 14.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.06
Sold ADC 08/28/2020 50.0 Covered Call @ 0.10
Sold WBA 08/28/2020 42.0 Covered Calls @ 0.07
Sold WDC 08/28/2020 37.0 Covered Calls @ 0.06
Sold WFC 08/28/2020 25.0 Covered Call @ 0.09
Pays for this week’s beer run 🙂
Also:
Bought ADS 10/16/2020 70.0 Calls / Sold ADS 09/04/2020 50.0 Calls @ 0.25 Credit
VXX New Diagonal and other puts sales
Bought VXX Jan 21 2022 6.0 Puts / Sold VXX Aug 28 2020 24.0 Puts @ 0.12 Credit.
Also sold these against similar long positions left over from earlier diagonals:
Sold VXX Aug 28 2020 23.50 Puts @ 0.53
Sold VXX Aug 28 2020 23.0 Puts @ 0.30
#DoubleDip
SPY bearish Diagonal
Sold 1 SPY Sep 18 2020 335.0 Call / Bought 1 SPY Oct 16 2020 345.0 Call @ 3.61 Credit.
If there is no market pullback in the next month I can do a weekly roll after that.
SPY was down near 335 several times in the last 10 trading days
TSLA
Bought to close 1 TSLA 08/21/2020 2300 Call @ 0.01
Sold this yesterday as part of a spread @ 1.96
VXX roll
Bought to close VXX 08/21/2020 25.0 Puts / Sold VXX 08/28/2020 24.0 Puts @ 0.15 Credit plus a point lower on the strike.
Sold these last Friday @ 0.71 and closed @ 0.45 today
TSLA
I’ve been away from this one since January.
Taking a flyer here with 1 DTE
Sold 1 TSLA 08/21/2020 2300 Call / Bought 1 TSLA 2500 Call @ 1.52 Credit.
This stock topped out at 2021.99 so far, up 140 ish
TSLA hits 2003.16
Just WOW
WFC GILD WBA HII
S&P500 Dividend payers within 10% of their yearly lows.
On my watch list for now
KSS covered calls
Bought to Close KSS Aug 21 2020 22.5 Covered Calls 0.01. Sold before earnings @ 1.88.
So it didn’t quite protect me from the drop in the stock, but it did help.
Some diagonal bear spreads helped a bit too.
VXX
Completing some Short Calendar Iron Condor Spreads.
Bought to Open VXX Oct 16 2020 70 Calls / Sold VXX Aug 21 2020 26.0 Calls @ 0.05 Credit.
Bought to Open VXX Sep 18 2020 60 Calls / Sold VXX Aug 21 2020 27.0 Calls @ 0.08 Credit.
Still trying to keep my 25.0 Puts out of the money by the close tomorrow.
As a kicker I also sold some VXX Aug 21 2020 28.0 Calls @ 0.25 against already long calls that expire tomorrow but are fully paid for from earlier spreads.
#DoubleDip
VXX
Adding some calls for this week hoping to pull my large put positions back out of the money before Friday
Sold VXX 08/21/2020 26.0 Calls @ 0.29
Sold VXX 08/21/2020 27.0 Calls @ 0.18.
Sold these against November long calls I’ve been adding for the last two weeks.
If the markets decline badly, these can easily be rolled.
SPY bearish Diagonal
Sold 1 SPY Sep 18 2020 333.0 Call / Bought 1 SPY Oct 16 2020 346.0 Call @ 5.02 Credit.
If there is no market pullback in the next month I can do a weekly roll after that.
SPY was down below 333 three times in the last 10 trading days
AAL
A bit of a bounce in the stock and so I wrote against half of my October long calls again
Sold AAL 08/21/2020 14.50 Calls @ 0.12
#DoubleDip
KSS
Bought to close KSS Aug 21 2020 24.50 Diagonal Calls @ $0.01.
They won’t trade any lower.
Interestingly the Aug 25 calls have not traded there yet
VXX new diagonals
I have not yet replaced the dozen or so strike 25 short Puts I had that expired Friday, leaving a bunch of 2021 fully paid for long positions.
Tiptoeing back in with new diagonals:
Bought to open VXX Jun 18 2021 9.0 Puts / Sold VXX Aug 21 2020 24.5 Puts @ 0.12 Credit.
It would be nice if we got just a tiny market pullback this week.
WBA
Ex-div tomorrow for 0.4675 for those wanting a dividend capture trade.
Stock is close to the low for the last week.
Dividend Yield 4.46%
AAL
Sold AAL 08/21/2020 14.0 Covered Call @ 0.28.
This replaces the 13.50 Call that expired Friday
VXX
Bought to open 1 VXX Nov 20 2020 60.00 Call @ 0.98.
Adding this to my stable of longs in November.
I don’t average down old positions. I lower the strike of new positions instead.
Next target is the Nov 55 Call at the same price.
Election chaos is coming …
Rolls
My timing sucked today 😦
VXX roll Down
Bought to close VXX 08/14/2020 26.0 Puts @ 0.59.
Sold VXX 08/21/2020 25.0 Puts @ 0.71.
VXX is at 25.48
Sold the 26 puts all during the last week at 0.92, 0.60, 0.67, 0.70 and 0.69
KSS roll
Another one I was hoping would expire after it dropped to 22.56 this morning. I hate Friday explosions
Bought to close KSS 08/14/2020 23.0 Diagonal Calls / Sold VIAC 08/21/2020 25.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.12 Credit.
KSS is at 23.87
VIAC roll dangit
I spent all of the last few days hoping this would expire. I hate Friday explosions
Bought to close VIAC 08/14/2020 28.0 Diagonal Calls / Sold VIAC 08/21/2020 30.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.07 Credit.
VIAC is at 28.21
VXX
Sold VXX 08/21/2020 32.50 Calls @ 0.23 with the stock at 25.60
Will replace similar calls expiring tomorrow.
Written against Sept, Oct and Nov long calls.
KSS – rolling into earnings
Bought to close KSS 08/14/2020 22.00 Covered Calls / Sold KSS 08/21/2020 22.50 Covered Calls @ 0.80 Credit plus another half point on the strike.
That’s a pretty big premium with the stock at 23.0.
Also Bought to close KSS 08/14/2020 22.50 Diagonal calls / Sold 08/21/2020 24.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.27 Credit plus a big 2 point jump in the short strike.
TSLA
Peak Insanity: Tesla Adds $16 Billion In Market Cap After Announcing 5-For-1 Stock Split
Tesla stock has added almost half of GM’s market cap after hours on the news of the stock split.
VXX
Sold VXX 08/14/2020 31.50 Diagonal Calls @ 0.15.
Sold against long Sep 38 and 40 calls.
Sold VXX 08/14/2020 32.00 Diagonal Calls @ 0.16.
Sold against long Oct 48 and 51 calls.
Getting back 15% of the cost of my longs.
Converting some short diagonal put spreads to “Short Calendar Iron Condor Spreads”
VXX
Bought to open 1 VXX 11/20/2020 65.0 Call @ 0.94.
Preparing for election fireworks.
VIAC ADS
Sold VIAC 08/14/2020 28.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.35
Sold ADS 08/14/2020 55.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.25
#DoubleDip
VXX KSS AAL WFC Diagonals
Bought VXX 01/21/2022 5.0 Puts / Sold VXX 08/14/2020 25.0 Puts @ 0.37 Credit
Bought KSS 10/16/2020 30.0 Calls / Sold KSS 08/14/2020 23.0 Calls @ 0.13 Credit
Bought AAL 10/16/2020 25.0 Calls / Sold AAL 08/14/2020 15.0 Calls @ 0.12 Credit
Bought WFC 09/25/2020 30.0 Calls / Sold WFC 08/14/2020 26.0 Calls @ 0.04 Credit
Markets
Why is it still rising?
Earnings Season Shocker: FAAMG Earnings Grew By 2% While EPS For The Other 495 S&P Companies Plunged 38%.
Meanwhile the carnage among small caps was unprecedented with Russell 2000 EPS plunging by 97%.
“Goldman, which over the weekend turned incrementally more bullish on the economy and hiked its GDP forecast as it now expects that a covid vaccine will be discovered and widely distributed in Q1 2021, resulting in what Goldman believes will be a sharp jump in consumption in the first half of next year (whether that actually happens in a country where more than half refuse to get vaccinated is a different story completely), has done a post-mortem on Q2 earnings season and also found some more “good news.”
First, after expecting a 60% plunge in EPS in Q2, Goldman’s David Kostin was delighted to report that S&P 500 EPS declined by “only” 34% year/year, well above both consensus expectations for a -45% decline, and Goldman’s own forecast of a nearly double drop.”
VXX new diagonal
Bought to open 06/18/2021 10.0 Puts / Sold VXX 08/14/2020 26.0 Puts @ 0.14 Credit with VXX at 26.05.
The long has 312 Days to Expiration so the short can be rolled a few times 🙂
ADS
Sold ADS 08/14/2020 51.0 Covered Calls @ 0.25 replacing similar calls from last week
Sold ADS 08/14/2020 52.0 Diagonal Call @ 0.30 replacing a similar call from last week
VXX
Another #Boredtodeath trade 🙂
Bought VXX Jun 21 2021 9.0 Puts / Sold VXX Aug 14 2020 26.0 Puts @ 0.18 Credit with the stock at 26.85.
Normal #Contango drift in VXX will help the long Puts between now and next June
VXX Puts
Bought to close VXX 08/07/2020 27.0 Diagonal Puts @ 0.30
Sold these during the week @ 0.56/0.50/0.33 and 0.60
Replaced them with half the number of 08/14/2020 26.0 Puts @ 0.61.
Even swap on the cash.
New shorts are sold against 2021/2022 long puts.
Will add to my shorts for next week if higher prices become available.
AAL Rollups
Riding this rally a little longer
Bought to close AAL 08/07/2020 14.0 Diagonal Calls @ 0.02. Sold these @ 0.26 Yesterday.
Replaced them with AAL 08/14/2020 15.0 Calls @ 0.16.
Also rolled up 1 AAL 08/07/2020 13.0 Covered Call to AAL 08/14/2020 13.50 Covered Call @ 0.30 Credit
VXX
Bought to Open 1 VXX Nov 20 2020 70 Call at $0.98.
Preparing for election fireworks.
WBA Covered rollup
Bought to close WBA 08/07/2020 41.50 Covered Calls / Sold WBA 08/14/2020 42.0 Covered Calls @ 0.17 Credit.
I want to keep this dividend payer a bit longer and it goes ex-div on 08/18 for 0.4675 per share.
I’m guessing the stock will run a bit next week as the dividend date approaches.
KSS Covered and Diagonal rollups
Bought to close KSS 08/07/2020 21.50 Covered Calls / Sold KSS 08/14/2020 22.0 Covered Calls @ 0.32 Credit
Bought to close KSS 08/07/2020 22.0 Diagonal Calls / Sold KSS 08/14/2020 23.0 Covered Calls @ 0.17 Credit
WDC earnings blowup
Rolled my WDC 08/07/2020 40.0 Puts out a week to 08/14/2020 40.0 Puts for a 0.15 Credit
VIAC calls
Bought to close VIAC AUG 07 2020 28.00 Calls @ 0.01. Sold these before earnings @ 0.49 on 08/03
VXX for next week
Sold VXX 08/14/2020 26.0 Puts @ 0.70 against 2021/2022 long puts already paid for by earlier diagonal spreads.
#DoubleDip
Gold
Not a stock but …..
I couldn’t let the price get above 2050 go without some action on my part.
Sold a portion of my coins bought in 2014 @ 1205/oz.
I’m sure gold goes to $2500 now
VXX
Bought 1 VXX Sep 18 2020 40.00 Call & 1 VXX Oct 16 2020 51.00 Call , both @ 0.98.
I’ll write against these on any VIX explosion.
I can’t believe we won’t have some market moving news before the fall.
WDC
Western Digital Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Results
News Summary
— Fourth quarter revenue was $4.3 billion , up 18% year-over-year (YoY).
Data Center Devices and Solutions revenue grew 32%, Client Devices grew
19%, and Client Solutions declined 9% YoY. Fiscal year 2020 revenue was
$16.7 billion , up 1.0% YoY.
— Fourth quarter GAAP earnings-per-share (EPS) was $0.49 and non-GAAP EPS
was $1.23 . Both GAAP and non-GAAP EPS include $96 million in costs
related to COVID-19 in the fourth quarter. Fiscal year 2020 GAAP EPS was
($0.84) and non-GAAP EPS was $3.04 .
— Generated operating cash flow of $172 million and free cash flow of $261
million in the fourth quarter. Generated operating cash flow of $824
million and free cash flow of $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2020.
— Expecting first fiscal quarter 2021 revenue to be in the range of $3.7 to
$3.9 billion with non-GAAP EPS in the range of $0.45 to $0.65 . Non-GAAP
EPS outlook includes costs related to COVID-19.
AAL
New diagonal spread to go along with my covered Calls
Sold AAL 08/07/2020 14.0 Calls / Bought AAL 10/16/2020 25.0 Calls @ 0.04 Credit.
Rumors of further airline bailouts. The 2 day calls are quite rich with the stock at 12.50.
Another #BoredToDeath trade
AAPL
Apple received a rare analyst downgrade on Wednesday morning from Bank of America, as the market capitalization of the equity approaches an all-time high $2 trillion.
BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan downgraded Apple’s stock to “neutral” from “buy”, citing rapid multiple expansion that has pushed valuations to rich levels. Besides the downgrade, the analyst increased his price target from $420 to $470.
Mohan said Apple shares are trading at the highest premium to the S&P500 in a decade, and now represents 6.5% of the market cap of the entire S&P500.
VIAC Earnings
Anyone playing this one?
SPY
Rolling one of my long Call Up and out.
Sold to close SPY 08/21/2020 325.0 Call / Bought SPY 10/16/2020 336.0 Call @ 0.30 Credit.
I got a double on my 325 long.
I continue to sell very short term SPY calls against the longs hoping for a decent pullback some day.
VXX
Sold 08/07/2020 27.00 Puts @ 0.56.
Sold against 2021 Long Puts already paid for with earlier diagonal spreads.
#DoubleDip
Markets
Scared money may not make money today, but at least it lives to fight another day…
VXX
Another #Boredtodeath trade 🙂
Bought VXX Jun 21 2021 8.0 Puts / Sold VXX Aug 07 2020 27.0 Puts @ 0.12 Credit with the stock at 27.85.
Normal #Contango drift in VXX will help the long Puts between now and next June
WBA Covered Calls
Sold WBA AUG 07 2020 $42 CALLS @ 0.27 with the stock at 40.80
VXX
Bored to death trade 🙂
Bought VXX Jun 21 2021 7.0 Puts / Sold VXX Aug 07 2020 27.0 Puts @ 0.14 Credit with the stock at 28.20
Contango drift in VXX and a strong market should make the longs worth more than zero someday
VIAC
10 minutes before the close the short calls crawled ITM so I rolled
Bought to close VIAC 07/31/2020 26.0 Calls / Sold VIAC 08/07/2020 28.0 Calls @ 0.44 Credit PLUS two more points on the strike price.
#Earnings next week.
VXX puts
Sold VXX 08/07/2020 27.00 Puts @ 0.60. Sold these against already paid for 2021 long puts.
#DoubleDip
VIAC
Rolling into earning week
Bought to close VIAC 07/31/2020 24.0 Calls / Sold VIAC 08/07/2020 24.0 Calls @ 0.52 Credit
INTC
Intel is getting interesting to me as it begins to approach the March lows.
Just putting this out there for ideas.
VXX New Diagonal Call
Bought to open 1 VXX 10/16/2020 70.0 Call / Sold 1 VXX 08/07/2020 33.50 Call @ 0.21 Credit with the stock at 30.95.
Hoping to acquire another free October long position for the coming Election chaos
VXX
Balancing out my large short put position for tomorrow by selling 2 day calls against my long Sep and Oct call positions.
Sold VXX 07/31/2002 32.0 Call @ 0.61 (adding to my position right at my average cost)
Sold VXX 07/31/2002 33.0 Calls @ 0.36
KODK
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/kodak-halted-9-times-stock-explodes-higher-amid-flood-retail-buying
Waiting for Weekly options before partaking 🙂
XRX
Back in
Bought XRX / Sold XRX 08/21/2020 15.0 Covered Call @ 14.20 Debit
Bought XRX / Sold XRX 09/18/2020 16.0 Covered Call @ 14.20 Debit.
The low for the year so far on the stock is 14.22
A nice 6.5% dividend too.
GLD
Gartman: “I’m Getting Out Of Gold”
Just the news gold bulls have been waiting for.
VXX Puts
New VXX Put Diagonals
Bought VXX Jan 15 2021 13.0 Puts / Sold VXX Jul 31 2020 27.50 Puts @ 0.12 Credit.
Bought VXX Jan 15 2021 14.0 Put / Sold VXX Jul 31 2020 28.00 Put @ 0.17 Credit.
Adding Jan longs for free if the short puts expire Friday.
CINF
Bought to close 1 CINF 08/21/2020 50.0 Put @ 0.05. It can’t trade any lower. Out almost a month early.
Sold this on 6/19 @ 2.02 when CINF was 63.22
VXX Puts
Bought to close VXX 07/24/2020 29.50 Puts @ 0.01. Sold these on 7/20 @ 0.59
Options Bistro 