for what it’s worth, 4 directors of WFC bought stock on 4/28.
I guess they wanted to get in at prices not seen since 2012.
Div yield is 6.8% and it goes X-div on 5/7

Author Archives: Option Iceman
CINF
Sold 1 May 15 2020 65.00 Put @ 1.70 with the stock at 67.10.
52-week low: 65.69
52-week high: 118.19
PNC Rollup
Bought to close 1 PNC 05/01/2020 98.0 Covered Call / Sold 1 PNC 05/08/2020 99.0 Covered Call @ 0.05 Credit.
With the stock at 106 I’ll risk holding on one more week for an extra $100.
Fitch Affirms PNC Financial at ‘A+/F1’; Outlook Stable Despite Coronavirus Impact
CINF Covered Call
Bought 100 Shares of CINF / Sold 1 CINF 05/15/2020 65.0 Covered Call @ Net Debit of $63.80
Filled at $67.68 on the stock.
ADS
Got a strange assignment overnight. Sold 100 of my 300 ADS shares when my 05/01/2020 45.0 Covered call was assigned. Interestingly I was not assigned on the strike 41.0 call expiring tomorrow.
GUSH
On 3/10 I bought 200 GUSH just under 1.00 and sold 2 March GUSH Covered Calls for $60 in total premium for a 30% reduction in breakeven.
After the reverse split I’ve now dumped my (5) GUSH shares @ $42.20 and added a bit more to the profit.
Glad to be out 🙂
SPY
Sold my highest cost lots of SPY @ 291.59 on the open and @ 294.09 just now.
The average cost for my remaining position is 246.13.
HTZ
HTZ
Hertz Bankruptcy Imminent After Massive Layoffs, Missed Lease Payment.
If a sufficient amount of creditors don’t agree to waive any default by the end of the grace period, “Hertz could be materially and negatively impacted” the company said.
Final tiny trades
Sold OXY 05/01/2020 17.50 Covered Calls @ 0.08
Sold AAL 05/01/2020 15.00 Covered Calls @ 0.06.
Sometimes you just have to take what the market will give you.
I would likely accept assignment and these strikes.
CINF – post earnings
Bought to open 100 CINF / Sold 1 CINF 05/15/2020 70.0 Covered Call @ 67.95 Net Debit
Sold 1 CINF 05/15/2020 70.0 Put @ 2.05
These are equivalent trades and I was going to take whichever order filled first, but I got them both.
The stock is 72.52, down over 9.5 points today after rallying from 78 to 82 pre earnings (WTF were they thinking?)
SLB
Sold SLB 05/01/2020 17.50 Covered Calls @ 0.12 with the stock at 16.39
More tiny trades
Sold the rest of my AA 05/01/2020 8.00 Covered Calls @ 0.10. Stock at 7.60
Sold CCL 05/01/2020 15.50 Covered Call @ 0.15. (you could do better now) Stock at 14.09
VIAC
Sold VIAC 05/01/2020 18.00 Covered Calls @ 0.08 and again @ 0.13
GM
GM Suspends Dividend, Stock Buyback Program To Preserve Cash, following Ford’s move last month.
VXX
Added some short puts for this week
Sold 1 VXX 05/01/2020 35.50 Put @ 0.31
Sold 1 VXX 05/01/2020 34.50 Put @ 0.16.
These are covered by Long VXX puts for Jan 2021
Tiny trades
Sold AA 05/01/2020 8.00 Covered Call @ 0.10 on a partial fill of a larger order
Sold VXX 05/01/2020 35.0 Covered Put @ 0.12 against one of my long 2021 long puts
Sold GLW 05/01/2020 23.0 Covered Call @ 0.17. #Earnings this week.
OptionsExpiration
Expiring:
AA 04/24/2020 8.00 Covered Calls
AAL 04/24/2020 15.00 Covered Calls
CCL 04/24/2020 15.50 Covered Call
OXY 04/24/2020 17.00 Covered Call
OXY 04/24/2020 18.00 Covered Call
SLB 04/24/2020 17.00 Covered Calls
SLV 04/24/2020 14.50 Covered Call
VIAC 04/24/2020 17.00 Covered Calls
MRO 04/24/2020 3.50 Puts
Assignments:
HAL 04/24/2020 8.50 Covered Call – Stock cost 5.10 (not adjusted for covered call premiums)
HFC 04/24/2020 27.00 Covered Call- Stock cost 19.05 (not adjusted for covered call premiums)
RCL 04/24/2020 34.00 Covered Call– Stock cost 32.14 (not adjusted for covered call premiums)
TNA 04/24/2020 17.00 Covered Call- Stock cost 10.10 (not adjusted for covered call premiums)
XOM 04/24/2020 42.00 Covered Call- Stock cost 37.14 (not adjusted for covered call premiums)
Getting closer to $CASH and preparing for the next big downswing or earnings implosion
HPE rollout
Almost forgot this one
Bought to close 1 HPE 04/24/2020 9.50 Covered Call / Sold 1 HPE 05/01/2020 9.50 Covered Call @ 0.18 Credit
ADS Rollup
Bought to close ADS 04/24/2020 40.0 Call / Sold 05/01/2020 41.0 Calls @ 0.79 Credit + 1.00 better strike.
Done for today.
Letting all the rest of my ITM covered calls get assigned as the rolls are not that generous on the strikes I’m short now.
MRO roll
Bought to close MRO 04/24/2020 4.5 Calls / Sold 05/01/2020 4.5 Calls @ 0.08 Credit
IVZ Covered Call & short Put
Bought 100 IVZ / Sold 1 IVZ 05/15/2020 10.0 Covered Call @ 7.48 Net Debit.
Sold 1 IVZ 05/15/2020 7.0 Put @ 0.50.
Earning already reported with the stock off 20% yesterday. They cut the dividend in half from 31 cents to 15.5 cents but the yield is still about 8.5%. Next Ex-Dividend date is on 05/08/2020.
Baby steps 🙂
PNC Rollup
Bought to close 1 PNC 04/24/2020 97.0 Call / Sold 1 PNC 05/01/2020 98.0 Call @ 1.38 Credit + 1.00 better strike
AAL
Sold 1 AAL 05/01/2020 9.00 Put @ 0.27.
Stock Day’s Range: $10.24 – $10.67
OXY
Sold 1 OXY May 01 2020 17.50 Covered Call @ 0.17
VXX
Bought 1 VXX Jan 15 2021 21.00 Put @ 1.99.
Bought 1 VXX Jan 15 2021 16.00 Put @ 0.75
The strike is a point closer to the stock than my first buy for the same money.
I re-invested the proceeds of my ADS covered calls into these.
ADS covered call ladder
Sold 1 ADS 05/01/2020 45.00 Covered Call @ 0.75.
Sold 1 ADS 05/15/2020 50.00 Covered Call @ 0.75.
Sold 1 ADS 05/22/2020 48.00 Covered Call @ 1.05.
The stock is at 40 after it’s earnings report.
“Alliance Data Systems (ADS) said Thursday that it booked Q1 core earnings of $0.75 per share, which is significantly down from $3.79 in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ were looking for EPS of $3.84.
Revenue increased to $1.38 billion from $1.33 billion in the prior-year quarter. The CapIQ-compiled consensus view was for revenue of $1.31 billion.
The data-driven marketing and customer loyalty solutions provider said that it increased its provision for loan losses by $404 million, attributing over $300 million of the increase to the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Alliance said that it expects cost reduction measures to result in $150 million in savings, which will be recognized in FY2020. The company also suspended share buybacks and reduced the quarterly dividend to $0.21 per share, down from the prior distribution of $0.63, payable on June 1 to stockholders of record on May 14.”
GUSH
I was able to dump the GUSH that was put to me on the exercise of the March 1.00 short puts at a gain.
Sold GUSH @ 29.20 yesterday.
HPE
Bought 100 HPE / Sold 1 HPE 04/24/2020 9.50 Covered Call @ 8.97 Net debit..
Earnings and the next dividend(5%) are not for a while. I’ll add more on further weakness.
ADS
Sold 1 ADS 05/08/2020 40.00 Covered Call @ 1.80
SLB
Sold SLB APR 24 2020 $17 Covered Calls @ 0.17 replacing similar options that expired Friday
SLV
Sold 1 SLV Apr 24 2020 14.5 Covered Call at $0.16 replacing a similar option that expired Friday
OptionsExpiration
- Getting closer to $CASH after a long rally.
Expired:
ADS 04/17/2020 45.00 Covered Calls
AGNC 04/17/2020 13.50 Covered Calls
AAL 04/17/2020 15.00 Covered Call
IVZ 04/17/2020 12.00 Covered Call
GLW 04/17/2020 22.00 Covered Call
MRO 04/17/2020 4.50 Covered Calls
OXY 04/17/2020 19.00 Covered Call
SLB 04/17/2020 17.50 Covered Call
SLB 04/17/2020 18.00 Covered Calls
SLB 04/17/2020 19.00 Covered Calls
SLB 04/17/2020 20.00 Covered Calls
SLV 04/17/2020 14.50 Covered Call
WFC 04/17/2020 31.00 Covered Call #Earnings
FANG 04/17/2020 22.50 Put
Assignments:
BA 04/17/2020 85.00 Covered Calls (This is my largest gain of the year)
GPS 04/17/2020 7.50 Covered Call
HBAN 04/17/2020 8.00 Covered Call
HBI 04/17/2020 8.00 Covered Call
HFC 04/17/2020 26.00 Covered Call
JPM 04/17/2020 91.00 Covered Call #Earnings
NUGT 04/17/2020 9.00 Covered Call
HFC Rollout
Bought to close HFC 04/17/2020 27.0 Covered Call / Sold 1 HFC 04/24/2020 27.0 Covered Call @ 0.95 Credit
HAL Rollout
Bought to close 1 HAL 04/17/2020 8.50 Covered Call / Sold 1 HAL 04/24/2020 8.50 Covered Call @ 0.16 Credit with the stock at 7.42
XOM Rollup
Bought to close XOM 04/17/2020 41.0 Covered Call / Sold XOM 04/24/2020 42.0 Covered Call @ 0.39 Credit + 1.00 better strike.
SLB Put Roll
Bought to close 1 SLB 04/17/2020 17.50 Put / Sold 1 SLB 05/15/2020 17.50 Put @ 0.52 Credit.
SLB cut the quarterly dividend by 75% to $0.125 per share as part of the move to conserve cash and protect its balance sheet. The payout is set for July 9 to shareholders of record on June 3, according to Schlumberger.
AA
Bought to close AA 04/17/2020 8.0 Covered Calls / Sold AA 05/15/2020 8.0 Covered Calls @ 0.25 Credit
AAL Rollout
Bought to close AAL 04/17/2020 15.00 Calls @ 0.01. Sold these on 04/09 @ 0.29.
Sold AAL 04/24/2020 15.0 Covered Calls @ 0.18 with the stock at 11.70.
VIAC Rollout
Bought to close VIAC 04/17/2020 18.00 Calls @ 0.01. Sold these on 04/07 @ 0.18.
Sold VIAC 04/24/2020 17.0 Covered Calls @ 0.32 with the stock at 15.50.
BEN – I wasn’t going…
BEN – I wasn’t going to keep this but…
Between the great entry yesterday, the 7% dividend yield, and the good additional premium I rolled the call.
Bought to close BEN 04/17/2020 15.0 Covered Call / Sold BEN 05/15/2020 15.0 Covered Call @ 0.70 Credit.
The additional premium drops my net cost to 14.09 which is below the YTD low
TNA Rollup
Bought to close 1 TNA 04/17/2020 16.00 Call / Sold 1 TNA 04/24/2020 17.00 Call @ 0.18 Credit + 1.00 better strike
RCL Covered Call – holding on for another week
Bought to close RCL 04/17/2020 33.0 Call / Sold RCL 04/24/2020 34.0 Call @ 1.18 Credit + 1.00 better strike.
This stock is so volatile, it could be 20 or 50 by next Friday
CCL
Sold CCL 04/24/2020 15.50 Call @ 0.15 with the stock @ 12.36
BEN
Bought BEN / Sold 04/17/2020 15.00 Covered Call @ 14.79 Net Debit with the stock @ 15.17.
A new 5-year low was set today @ 14.91 and the Div yield is about 7%
Assignment will pay for this weekend’s beer run
OXY Ladder Rollouts
Bought to close OXY 04/17/2020 17.50 Covered Call @ 0.01. Sold on Monday @ 0.60.
Sold OXY 04/24/2020 17.00 Covered Call @ 0.15.
Bought to close OXY 04/17/2020 18.00 Covered Call @ 0.01. Sold on Monday @ 0.47.
Sold OXY 04/24/2020 18.00 Covered Call @ 0.14
Plus on 4/15 I got the $79 dividend on my 1st buy of OXY. Future quarterly dividend rates are down to 0.11.
VIAC Rollup
Bought to close VIAC 04/17/2020 16.00 Covered Calls / Sold VIAC 04/24/2020 17.00 Covered Calls @ 0.12 Credit + 1.00 better strike
PNC Rollup
Bought to close PNC 04/17/2020 96.00 Covered Call / Sold PNC 05/15/2020 97.00 Covered Call @ 0.87 Credit + 1.00 better strike.
I also will get the 1.15 quarterly dividend at the end of the month.
FITB Rollout Call
Bought to close FITB 04/17/2020 14.00 Covered Call / Sold FITB 05/15/2020 14.00 Covered Call @ 0.78 Credit
OXY
Occidental to Pay Warren Buffett’s Berkshire a Stock Premium to Conserve Cash
In an effort to conserve cash at a time of ultralow oil prices, Occidental Petroleum is paying the dividend on Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion preferred stock stake in common shares and not in cash, according to a filing early Wednesday.
Occidental (ticker: OXY) will issue 17,274,130 shares to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire (BRK.A), a move that will be nearly 2% dilutive. Occidental is effectively paying Berkshire a premium to save $200 million in cash.
(Note: Berkshire immediately sold that stock dividend and turned it into $CASH – I guess it’s too early to bottom fish)
Banks
https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/04/15/fifth-third-u-s-bank-other-banks-sites-go-down-due.html
TSLA – still a rocketship but …
On March 23, Gov. Gavin Newsom made a dramatic announcement: Tesla founder Elon Musk was donating over 1,000 ventilators to California.
It seemed like miraculous news at a moment when the state was desperately searching for ventilators to help save critical coronavirus patients. But was it true?
Newsom’s office now says Musk was supposed to deliver the ventilators directly to hospitals. So far, however, the governor’s office says no California hospital has received them.
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article241982586.html
TSLA
Up another 80 today
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/130-billion-tesla-has-unilaterally-decided-tell-its-landlords-itll-be-paying-less-rent
VIX
Vix futures and VXX below 40 for the first time in a month
RCL Covered Call
Sold 1 RCL 03/27/2020 33.00 Covered Call @ 0.35
Fund Closings
Due to the their inability to attract sufficient investment assets, the Board of Trustees of the Direxion Shares ETF Trust has decided to liquidate and close eight ETFs (each, a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”), based on the recommendation of the funds’ adviser, Rafferty Asset Management, LLC. Rafferty believes they cannot continue to operate the Funds in an economically efficient manner. As a result, the Board concluded that liquidating and closing the Funds would be in the best interest of the Funds and their shareholders.
The Funds closing are as follows:
Fund
Ticker
Direxion Daily Russia Bear 3X Shares
RUSS
Direxion Daily Natural Gas Related Bull 3X Shares
GASL
Direxion Daily Natural Gas Related Bear 3X Shares
GASX
Direxion Daily MSCI Developed Markets Bear 3X Share
DPK
Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 3X Shares
MIDZ
Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bear 3X Shares
WDRW
Direxion Daily MSCI European Financials Bull 2X Shares
EUFL
Direxion Daily Total Bond Market Bear 1X Shares
SAGG
TNA Buy Write
Bought 100 TNA / Sold 1 TNA 03/27/2020 15.00 Covered Call @ 10.00 net debit.
TNA has dropped from above 70. WOW
HBAN Buy Write
Bought 100 HBAN / Sold 1 HBAN 04/17/2020 10.00 Covered Call @ 6.86 net debit
T Buy write
Bought 100 T / Sold 1 T Mar 27 2020 28 Call @ Net Debit at $26.28
M Buy Write
Bought 100 M / Sold 1 M 03/27/2020 6.50 Covered Call @ 5.00 net debit
A bet on the company’s survival
AAL Covered Call
Sold 1 AAL Mar 27 2020 17.5 Call @ $0.19
FITB Rollout Covered Call
Bought to close 1 FITB 03/20/2020 13.00 Covered Call / Sold 1 FITB 04/17/2020 14.00 Covered Call @ 0.64 Credit + 1.00 better strike
T Covered Call
Bought 100 T / Sold to Open 1 Contract T Mar 27 2020 28 Covered Call @ Net Debit at $26.80.
The net price equals the 5 year low on the stock.
Annual Dividend Yield 6.68% down here too.
FANG Rollout Put
Bought to close 1 FANG 03/20/2020 25.00 Put / Sold 1 FANG 04/17/2020 22.50 Put @ 0.05 Credit + 2.50 better strike
NUGT Buy Write
Bought 100 NUGT / Sold 1 NUGT 03/27/2020 10.00 Covered Call @ 5.00 debit.
Dividends
And …. it begins
A day after the Big 3 shutdown factories amid the virus lockdown, Ford is out with a kitchen sink 8K as it braces to ride out the worsening economic situation in the US (and worldwide):
$15.4 billion of additional cash on balance sheet, drawing from two credit lines
Dividend suspension to preserve cash and provide additional flexibility in the current environment
Withdrawal of company guidance for 2020 financial performance
SPY
Bought a bit more SPDR S&P 500 ETF @ 230.00 to add to my small position.
225 is the next target.
HAL Buy Write
Bought 100 HAL / Sold 1 HAL 03/20/2020 6.00 Covered Call @ 5.0 debit
#AccidentalHighYield
FITB Buy Write
Bought 100 FITB / Sold 1 FITB 03/20/2020 13.00 Covered Call @ 12.0 debit
#AccidentalHighYield
UVXY
Above 100
WOW.
Just WOW
OKE Covered Call
Bought 100 OKE / Sold 1 OKE Mar 27 2020 27 Call @ Net Debit at $16.51.
Stock down 22% today.
#AccidentalHighYield
BA Covered Call
Bought 100 BA / Sold 1 BA 04/17/2020 85.00 Calls @ Net Debit at $68.39 with the stock @ 99.63.
This is 10 points better than this exact trade yesterday.
GPS Covered Call
Bought 100 GPS / Sold 1 GPS 03/27/2020 9.00 Call @ 7.00 Debit
#AccidentalHighYield
TPR Covered Call
Bought 100 TPR / Sold 1 TPR 03/27/2020 11.00 Covered Call @ 10.00 Debit.
#AccidentalHighYield
UNM Covered Call
Bought 100 UNM / Sold 1 UNM 03/20/2020 17.50 Covered Call @ 12.45 Debit.
#AccidentalHighYield
BA Covered Call
Bought 100 BA / Sold to Open 1 Contract BA Apr 17 2020 85 Call Net Debit at $78.39 with the stock at 130.24.
Thanks @parrothead11 for the idea