$VIX – Despite the late day pullback in $UVXY, $VIX futures contango settled at -0.70% (backwardation)
This is a small tailwind for $VXX and $UVXY holders and a small headwind for $SVXY

$NUGT @ShortPuts – Sold NUGT May 12 2017 8.0 Puts @ 0.31. Rounding up my number of contracts to a multiple of 4 in case of assignment.

$VIX – http://www.businessinsider.com/mystery-trader-50-cent-cant-stop-betting-on-a-stock-market-shock-2017-4?r=UK&IR=T

$MRO ShortCalls – Bought to close MRO JUL 21 2017 25.0 Calls @ 0.01. They won’t trade any lower and don’t expire for 3 months.
Originally sold on 12/01/16 @ 0.87

$SVXY $UVXY – Prior pivot points to watch for a potential breakout (prices are approximate)
$UVXY Late Feb High 23.85/ Late Mar High 20.18 (followed by new low of 15.16)/Mid Apr High 21.75
$SVXY Late Feb Low 118.40/ Late Mar Low 127(followed by new high of 146)//Mid Apr Low 120.19

So a move in UVXY above 22 would signal caution and open the door for a bigger move.
The expectation is that SVXY breaks below the 118/120 band.

For UVXY, except for 2-3 day scalping trades like I did today, I’d keep selling weeklys in the $40-42 strike area, and for longer trades I’d stay at the 60 strike.

The sweet spot for Weekly Put sales in SVXY continues to be in the 75 to 85 strike price area. Selling too close in the 90-105 area could leave you exposed to a sudden downdraft in SVXY. It has moved 10 points lower in two days 2 or 3 times since late March.
Strike prices beyond the weeklys should be in the 60’s, although they are illiquid and not very high priced. Maybe it’s better to keep the powder dry and concentrate on the weeklys 5 and 6 weeks out.

Just my humble opinion.
Now watch volatility collapse. Just what I don’t want 😉

$VIX $VVIX – a little light reading for VIX followers
Forecasting a Volatility Tsunami
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2949847

$VIX – The small rally lasted for just an hour or two. Then it got crushed. Apr futures will be gone tomorrow, and so will backwardation.
www.vixcentral.com
I’m glad I sold some UVXY calls today while I had the chance.

$UVXY $ShortCalls – Bought to close a bunch of UVXY Apr 21 2017 41.0 Calls @ 0.01.
Replaced them with the following calls at the top of the chain:
Sold UVXY May 5 2017 42.0 Calls @ 0.44
Sold UVXY May 12 2017 42.0 Calls @ 0.85
Sold UVXY May 19 2017 42.0 Calls @ 1.03

$NFLX – little reaction to earnings. – All short strangles will work.
My buy orders are already in at a penny

$VIX – I found something interesting over the weekend.
$SPY 1, 5 and 20 day Forward returns when $VIX closed above upper BB 4 days in a row. 27 prior instances. $VXX $UVXY