With the volume drying up, I added a bull put spread to the bear call spread I sold earlier this morning, to create an iron condor. Sold $SPOT 5/17 130/120 BuPS @ 1.50. Position is now 120/130/145/155 iron condor with total premium taken in around 1/3 the width of the strikes (3.23 for both sides). Short put strike at 26 delta.

$SPOT did not hold this morning’s post-earnings gap and is now trading down on the day. Sold 5/17 145/155 bear call spread @ 1.73.

For today’s expiration. Letting the put spread expire. Watching for a move down into the close to get a better price on on the call spread side.

Another TastyTrade idea.
Sold 4/26 7710/7730/7800/7820 iron condor for 5.36.

Sold $MMM 6/21 185/175 bull put spread @ 1.55 with the stock at 196.36

Sold $FB 6/21 205/215 bear call spread @ 2.15. I might be a bit early–watching closely.

Sold $IRBT 5/17 95 puts @ 1.65. Delta 20.

Bought to close $XBI 5/17 77 puts @ .30. Sold for 1.13 on 4/18.

Bought to close $WHR 6/21 120 puts @ .80. Sold for 1.80 yesterday pre-earnings.

Sold $WHR Jun 21 120 puts @ 1.80. Earnings after the bell today. Strike is around 1 standard deviation away. If assigned, basis will be 118.20, 15% lower than the current price. Dividend yield at that level would be 4%. More realistically thought, I’m looking for a volatility contraction after tonight’s earnings report and if there’s a move within the expected range, I’ll take profits quickly.

Bought to close $UVXY 5/24 45/55 bear call spread @ .40. Sold for 1.34 on 4/9.

Sold $XBI 5/17 77 puts @ 1.13 with XBI at 83.11. Delta 21.

Sold $NFLX 4/18 345/335 bull put spread @ 1.40.

Not a typical trade for me, but I’m trying to find some high IV in this environment so I’m doing a small position on this. Sold $BKNG 5/3 (weekly) 1870/1880 bear call spread @ 2.60 credit. The stock did break above the 50 day moving average today but the downtrending 200 day moving average has served as pretty reliable resistance since August. The short strike (delta of 29) is above the 200dma, which is currently around 1862. A couple of notes of caution–I’m guessing on the earnings date since it hasn’t been announced yet officially, using previous reporting dates and market maker options pricing to infer something in the week of the 5/10 expiration so I went with the Friday before. Also, the liquidity on options on this stock is not very good, and especially illiquid in the weekly expirations so another reason to keep this trade small.

Bought to close $LYFT 5/17 80/90 BeCS @ .60. Sold for 1.45 on 4/4.

Sold $UVXY 5/24 45/55 bear call spread @ 1.34

Bought to close $TSLA 4/18 250/240 BuPS @ .80. Sold for 1.77 on 4/4.

Sold $LYFT 5/17 80/90 BeCS @ 1.45

Bought to close $CAT 4/18 130/120 bull put spread for .43. Sold for 1.62 on 2/26.

Bought to close $DIS 4/18 106/101 bull put spread for .30. Sold for 1.07 on 3/20.

Sold to close $VXXB 4/5 33/28 bear put spread @ 4.09. Bought for 2.50 on 3/22.

With the negative effect from the Apple event behind it, I’m looking at today’s price action/bounce off support as an opportunity to trade this to the upside. Earnings likely early/mid May.
Sold $ROKU May 17 55/50 BuPS for 1.25. Delta of short puts 23.

Bought to close $M 4/18 23 puts @ .29. Sold for .72 on 2/26.

Bought to close $DUST Jan 17 2020 40 calls @ .45. Sold for 4.50 on 1/30/18 and 6.00 on 2/5/18.

Another position to offset SVXY losses.
Bought $VXXB Apr 5 33/28 bear put spread for 2.50 debit. Will look to take 1.25 profit out of it.

Sold $UVXY May 17 55/65 bear call spread @ 1.20

Looking at today’s price action and feeling like the down move (at least in the short term) could be exhausted. Sold $DIS Apr 18 106/101 bull put spread for 1.07 with the stock at 109.21. Delta of the short puts is 32.

Once upon a time options expiration Friday used to be a great event with positions expiring for full profit and a bunch of risk falling off. I have just about everything on a short leash these days and with all the rollouts not much is being left to expire anymore.

Here’s what I have for today:
Expiring: $UVXY Mar 15 45/55 bear call spreads
Being called away: $TQQQ Mar 15 45 calls (covered)

Have a great weekend everyone.

Sold to close $VXXB Mar 15 33.50/28.50 bear put spreads for 3.86. Bought for 2.38 on 2/21.
Bought to close $UVXY Apr 18 56/66 bear call spreads for .51. Sold for 1.61 on 3/8.

Bought to close $AAPL Jun 21 130 puts @ .27. Sold for 1.30 on 11/13.

Sold $UVXY Apr 18 56/66 bear call spread for 1.61 with UVXY at 47.99

Borrowing an idea from TastyTrade (from yesterday). Better premium today.
Sold $AMZN Apr 18 1470/1480/1780/1790 iron condor for 2.85. Leaning just a bit bullish with the down move (short puts at 19 delta/short calls at 15 delta).

Sold $CVS Apr 18 55 puts @ 1.05 with the stock at 57.22. Prices are better now.
Adding to my position, short the Apr 18 60 puts.

Bought to close $NFLX Mar 15 335/325 bull put spread for .70. Sold for 2.55 on 2/13.

Bought to close $NUGT Jun 21 35 calls @ .35. Sold for 1.01 on 1/30 and 1.20 on 2/20.
Taking around 70% of the profit available, 3 1/2 months early. Who knows what can happen between now and then. I’m out of NUGT completely now so will look to fade another big spike in gold/miners when it happens.

Rolled $SQ Apr 18 70/60 BuPS up to 75/65 for 1.03 credit. Sold the 70/60 yesterday for 1.65 so total premium collected so far is 2.68.

$PANW I made a mistake yesterday when I legged into what was supposed to be an April iron condor. I erroneously went into March on the bear call spread side and April on the bull put spread side. I got a bit lucky with today’s pullback in the stock since the March options are decaying much faster than April so I was able to realize a quick 50% profit. I took the opportunity to roll the call spread (Mar 15 265/275) down and out to Apr 18 260/270 for 2.16 credit. Position is now an Apr 18 iron condor 230/220 BuPS + 260/270 BeCS. Total credit taken in so far is 4.76.

Sold $SQ Apr 18 70/60 BuPS for 1.65

Sold $PANW Apr 18 265/275 bear call spread for 1.49

Apparently, as the kids like to say, my maths wasn’t working yesterday.

When I rolled the adjusted position (from Mar 41.50/42 strangle to Apr 40/46 strangle), I hadn’t calculated that I already had a small profit in the position. At that point I wouldn’t normally have rolled since that would have been a defensive move. Should have just closed it out yesterday. Got a few cents more profit today so I decided to close the whole thing out.

Bought to close $MU 4/18 40/46 strangle @ 3.53. Total premium taken in with rolls/adjustments was 3.91, so a .38 overall profit.

$CAT gapped down this morning after the downgrade but some buying has come in. Stock has been in an uptrend with higher lows all year. Sold $CAT Apr 18 130/120 BuPS for 1.62.

Looking at recent support holding after the positive reaction to earnings. Sold $M Apr 18 23 puts @ .72.

Rolled $MU Mar 15 41.50/42 strangle out to Apr 18 40/46 strangle for .35 credit.
History so far:
1/29: March 33/42 strangle sold for 1.92 credit
2/6: Rolled 33 puts up to 39 puts, staying in March, for 1.00 credit
2/20: Rolled 39 puts up to 41.50 puts, staying in March, for .64 credit
2/25: Rolled March 41.50/42 strangle out to April 40/46 for .35, widening from 1/2 point to 6 points with the deltas (put/call) at 31 and 38. The fact that earnings come between March and April expiration allowed me to make this roll.

Now I’m just looking for this thing to slow down a bit. Total credit taken in 3.91 so my breakevens are now 36.09 and 49.91, a pretty wide range for the stock to bounce around between now and earnings at which point I’ll have hopefully closed the position for a profit.

Borrowing an idea from TastyTrade.
Sold KHC Apr 18 32.50/37.50 strangle for 1.88 credit with the stock centered at 35.00.

Bought $VXX 3/15 33.50/28.50 bear put spread for 2.38 with VXX at 32.04. Looking to take 50% out of this so will close for around 3.70-3.80. Breakeven in a little more than 2 weeks is 31.12. Using to offset some more old SVXY positions that I’m tracking.

Bought to close $EWZ Mar 15 46/51 BeCS for .32. Sold for .66 on 2/14.

Original trade was Mar 15 33/42 short strangle. On 2/6 I rolled the 33 puts up to 39 for 1.00 credit. Today I rolled the 39 puts up to 41.50 puts for .64 credit. Position is now a 41.50/42 strangle. Total premium taken in is 3.56.

Sold $NUGT Jun 21 35 calls @ 1.20. Adding to position at the highest strike.

A little bit closer to the money than I normally would sell but my thesis is the stock’s post-earnings selloff momentum has slowed. Short strike is around the 50 day moving average, around 3 points lower than the stock price.
Sold $DE Mar 15 155/150 BuPS @ 1.32. Delta of the short strike 37.

Closing position to guard against an afternoon pullback. Bought to close $AMZN Feb 15 1590/1580 BuPS @ .19. Sold for 2.05 on 2/4.

Looking for a drift back down after its big day today. Short call is above the recent highs from late Jan/early Feb.
Sold $EWZ Mar 15 46/51 BeCS for .71.

Sold $NFLX Mar 15 335/325 BuPS for 2.55.

Bought to close $EA Mar 15 75 puts @ .15. Sold for 1.41 on 2/6.

Bought to close $UPS Jul 19 75 puts @ .37-.38. Sold for 1.35 on 12/13. Taking the 70%+ off the table with over 5 months to go.

The selling momentum seems to have subsided and the stock is off its lows of the day. IV still elevated but falling fast so I want to capture some of that. Sold $EA Mar 15 75 puts @ 1.41. Delta 24.

From Mar 15 33/42 short strangle, rolled the 33 puts up to 39 (delta 30) for 1.00 credit. Position is now a 39/42 strangle. Total premium taken in now 2.92.

Sold $NUGT Jun 21 35 calls @ 1.01. Highest strike in June.

Bought to close $NFLX Feb 15 385 calls @ .50. Sold for 2.60 on 1/18.

Was able to leave a few to expire. Will look to reinitiate some positions next week.

Expiring:
$AAPL Jan 18 155/145 bull put spread
$AAPL Jan 18 155/150 bull put spread
$AMAT Jan 18 35 puts
$AMZN Jan 18 1400/1390 bull put spread
$AMZN Jan 18 1485/1480 bull put spread
$AMZN Jan 18 1535/1525 bull put spread
$BA Jan 18 295/290 bull put spread
$BOIL Jan 18 45 calls
$GWW Jan 18 280/270 bull put spread
$RIG Jan 18 16 calls (covered)
$SMH Jan 18 78/84/98/104 iron condor
$STX Jan 18 37 puts
$UVXY Jan 18 65/75 bear call spread
$UVXY Jan 18 65/70 bear call spread
$UVXY Jan 18 75/80 bear call spread
$UVXY2 (pre-1:5 split) 15/25 bear call spread
$VXX Jan 18 long 20 puts (full loss)
$WYNN Jan 18 100 puts

$MCD Jan 18 170/175/182.50/187.50 iron condor–should have expired but I got too cute and didn’t close out the short call side and it finished .07 in the money. So I’ll have to deal with a buy in from assignment on Tuesday morning.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Options ITM so closing for a profit to avoid assignment.
Bought to close $TQQQ Jan 18 45 put @ .45. Sold for 2.15 on 9/5.

To avoid possible assignment today with the options currently in the money.
Bought to close AMAT Jan 18 36 puts @ .24. Sold for 1.30 on 9/7.

Sold $NFLX Feb 15 385 calls @ 2.60. I am long the stock, so no buying power reduction.

Borrowing an idea from TastyTrade in an underlying relatively uncorrelated with SPX, NDX, etc.
Sold $UNG Feb 15 26/34 strangle @ 1.82.

Bought to close $BOIL Mar 15 50 call @ .35. Sold for 4.10 on 11/5.

Bought to close $FB Jan 18 125/120 BuPS @ .36. Sold for 1.15 on 12/31.

Bought to close $BA Jan 18 290/280 BuPS @ .43. Sold for 2.20 on 12/27.