This one has been a fight almost immediately after I put it on. It started out as a simple short call (260 in the 1/26 expiration) but I had to keep rolling it up and out and at some point I needed the short puts to keep the rolls for a credit. I then kept rolling the strangles up and out, and finally I had to go inverted to keep bringing in credit. The final position for today’s expiration (because earnings are Monday) was 307.50/312.50 inverted. With the stock between 313 and 313.50 I was able to close this monster for 7.10, for an overall profit of .77 after all the adjusting. Hard to imagine I would get here with how this thing moved. Aggressive rolling was the call here but I have to think I got lucky getting this close enough on expiration day to take off for a profit. I’ll definitely take it.

Bought to close $ROKU Apr 20 30 puts @ .30. Sold for 1.35 on 2/22.

Sold $NUGT Jan 17 2020 55 call @ 5.60. Highest strike in Jan 2020. 1 contract. Will add as/if premium increases or higher strikes become available.

Bought to close $DUST Jun 15 40 calls @ .25. Sold for 2.70 and 3.20 on 12/4 and 12/5.

Sold $RSX May 18 19 puts @ .54

Rolled Apr 60/64 inverted strangle up 2 points and out to May 62/66 inverted strangle for .15 credit with XLK currently at 65.85.

Sold $MLM Jul 20 170 put @ 3.10. Will add if premium increases.

I picked a ridiculous week to not be trading (well I did get a couple of small adjustments in). Maybe it was better–I may have overtraded through Mon-Wed.
Now I’m just going through things and will start cleaning stuff up.
Took off my Apr AZO short 580 put for 1.25. Sold for 6.20 on 2/27.
I’m still short a Sep 500 put.

Idea from TastyTrade
Sold $XBI May 18 75/96 strangles @ 1.85
XBI currently at 88.96

This one has been hanging around way too long, mainly because of the lack of liquidity in the options. Finally got the opportunity to take it off for 75%+ profit. I’m probably going to avoid trading the options on this stock going forward.
Bought to close $BKNG Apr 6 2220/2240 BeCS @ .58. Sold for 2.55 on 2/28.

Taking a shot with IV at its 52 week high (IVR=100). Sold $TSLA Apr 20 265/255 BuPS for 1.40. Short strike is at 20 delta.

Sold $AMGN Oct 19 130 put @ 2.00

Starting to whittle down my exposure.
Bought to close $DUST Jun 15 45 call @ .40. Sold for 2.80 on 12/17.

Sold $X Apr 20 40 straddle on 3/13 for 4.70. With today’s big move down in steel, I’m rolling the calls down to 36 for 1.20 credit. Total credit now 5.90. If the stock finishes between the strikes (36 and 40) total profit will be 1.90. Now let’s see if it can cooperate.

I may be a bit early but I wanted to sell some out of the money premium on this. April expiration (before earnings). IV is high (IVR 64). Short strike is 10 points below current price.
Sold $CAT Apr 20 140/130 bull put spread for 1.13-1.14.

It’s been profitable to sell puts on this when it gets to the bottom of the range (in this case near or below the 200 day moving average).
Sold $AMGN Oct 19 140 puts @ 2.45

Sold $CLX Oct 19 105 puts @ 1.50

Bought to close $CMG Sep 21 180 put @ .85. Sold for 5.10 on 2/12.

Sold $FB Apr 27 (weekly) 150 puts @ 2.40

Expiring:
$AAOI Mar 16 22.50 puts
$AGN Mar 16 145 puts
$BA Mar 16 385/395 BeCS
$CAH Mar 16 52.50 puts
$CMI Mar 16 135 puts
$GILD Mar 16 60 puts
$GS Mar 16 275/285 BeCS
$GS Mar 16 250/240 BuPS
$K Mar 16 57.50 puts
$NUGT Mar 16 45 calls
$NUGT Mar 16 50 calls
$NWL Mar 16 26 puts
$QQQ Mar 16 156/149 BuPS
$UAL Mar 16 50 puts
$UVXY Mar 16 17 calls
$UVXY Mar 16 19 calls
$UVXY Mar 16 30 calls
$UVXY Mar 16 91 calls
$VIAB Mar 16 20 puts

Assignments:
$FXI Mar 16 48/50 inverted strangles–both sides being exercised with the stock finishing between the strikes. Position will be removed from my account.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Shorter leashes.
Bought to close:
$UVXY Apr 20 26 calls @ .57. Sold for 1.42, 1.90 and 2.07 on 2/2.
$UVXY Jun 15 60 calls @ .32. Sold for 2.10 on 12/1 and 2.15, 2.20 and 3.85 on 2/5.

A nice long tail being printed on the daily chart. Selling puts around the 200 DMA. Delta of 23, stock at 78.02. No earnings in this expiration cycle.
Sold $QRVO Apr 72.50 puts @ 1.20.

Bought to close $STMP Apr 20 230/240 BeCS @ .80. Sold for 1.72 on 2/22.

Not much left here so closing them out. Pre-split strikes (from 1:4 split on 7/17/17).
Bought to close:
$UVXY1 Jan 18 2019 60 calls @ .10. Sold for 6.15, 7.30, 3.20, 3.60 and 3.15 from March-August 2017.
$UVXY1 Jan 18 2019 55 calls @ .12. Sold for 3.50 on 5/17/17.

Borrowing an idea from one of the TastyTrade traders.
Sold $X Apr 20 40 straddle @ 4.70 with the stock at 40.21. Breakevens 35.30/44.70.
Will take off for 25% profit (3.50 or less).

Took all my short calls off in this ticker at most of the profit. Completely out of it now and will look to re-enter on the next big swoon in oil.
Bought to close:
$DRIP Apr 20 24 call @ .15. Sold for 1.70 on 2/9.
$DRIP Apr 20 25 call @ .15. Sold for 1.90 on 2/9.
$DRIP Jun 15 28 calls @ .40. Sold for 1.56 on 2/8 and 2.50 on 2/9.

We’ve been through this quite a bit and it seems like all the facts are known about what happened. I saw this article, however, by the venerable Lawrence McMillan. His knowledge and experience give the whole thing a lot more context and color.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4155721-xiv-scapegoat-markets-decline

Continuing with this strategy and applying profits to accumulated SVXY positions. Should start to be able to peel some of these off soon.
Sold to close $VXX Mar 16 48/46 BePS for 1.88. Bought for 1.24 on 3/1.
Bought to open $VXX Mar 29 41/36 BePS for 2.56.

I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to clear my existing (small) positions in this stock. With the latest news that they’re being replaced in the S&P 500, and with earnings coming up this week I decided to take the opportunity to get out for close to even (small profit). Selling puts was very profitable over the last year and a half, but that’s it for me with this name.
Bought to close:
$SIG Apr 20 40 put @ 1.30. Sold for 2.30 on 11/24.
$SIG Jul 20 35 put @ 1.55. Sold for 1.35 on 1/10.

Bought to close $HES May 18 35 puts @ .20. Sold for 1.10 on 12/14.

Only 2 today, with no assignments:
$DUST Mar 9 35 calls
$UVXY Mar 9 26 calls

Have a great contango-filled weekend:

One more that I didn’t see come through near the end of the day.
Bought to close $CBOE Sep 21 70 puts @ .60. Sold for 1.80 on 2/9. Got lucky on a nice reversal in the stock right after I sold the puts. Took the trade off for 67%. No sense waiting more than 6 more months for the other 1/3.

Bought to close:
$WHR Apr 20 120 puts @ .19. Sold for 1.50 on 10/24.
$WDAY Jun 15 70 put @ .20. Sold for 1.65 on 11/29
$WBA Jun 15 55 puts @ .35. Sold for 1.32 on 10/13.
$UHS Apr 20 80 puts @ .05. Sold for 1.40 and 1.90 on 10/13 and 11/10.
$TAP Apr 20 70 puts @ .20. Sold for 1.65 on 9/29.
$HSIC Apr 20 60 puts @ .49. Sold for 1.70, 1.95 and 2.35 from 11/10-11/20.

Edit:
Bought to close $CELG Apr 20 75 puts @ .25. Sold for 1.55 on 10/26.

Bought to close:
$WDC Apr 20 60 put @ .04. Sold for 1.35 on 12/4.
$WDC Apr 20 65 put @ .07. Sold for 1.75 on 11/30.
$WDC Jul 20 55 puts @ .26. Sold for 1.30-1.60 from 11/30-12/4.

Selling an additional contract at a higher premium to add to my Sep position.
Sold $WMT 9/21 75 put @ 1.60.

Big move down today. Sold $FFIV Apr 20 130 puts @ 1.20 with the stock at 144.82. Delta is 14. Earnings not expected until after April expiration.

On the big move down after earnings, sold $KR Jul 20 20 puts @ .65 with the stock at 23.50

Sold $TSLA Apr 20 290/280 BuPS for 1.70. Short strike at 21 delta to offset my Apr 370/380 BeCS. Strikes are below the early Nov low.

Selling some more hedged UVXY calls to continue to offset/work down basis on SVXY assignments.
Sold $UVXY Apr 13 (weekly) 20/30 BeCS @ 1.22.

Borrowed an idea from TastyTrade but tweaked the strikes a bit (their trade was 40/49 when the stock was lower).
Sold $X Apr 20 40/50 strangle @ 2.85. Stock at 47.12 so this has a bit of a bearish bias resistance just above the current level.

Bought to close $CMG Sep 21 200 put @ 2.00. Sold for 5.60 on 2/8.

Taking one of the May positions off.
Bought to close $SWKS May 18 75 puts @ .20. Sold for 1.50 on 12/1.

Sold $NVDA Apr 20 275/285 BeCS for 1.25. Short strike at 18 delta, about 14% higher than where the stock is trading (currently 241.58). Looking at resistance at 250 (highs from a couple of weeks ago).

Not getting sucked into this move to the short side like I did in 2015. My current position is small and continues to be able to rolled for a credit so I’ll do it as long as I can.
Rolled $NFLX Apr 6 300/315 strangle up and out to Apr 13 312.50/325 for .90 credit.
This position started as short 260 calls in the 1/26 expiration. Been rolling since then. A few rolls in, I had to add puts to create a strangle, to keep being able to generate credits. Total credit accumulated on this trade is now 6.42 with my strikes out of the money again. We’ll see–April 13 is a long way off for a stock like this.

Rolled $NFLX Mar 23 270/300 strangle up and out 1 week to Apr 6 300/315 strangle for .93 credit

Just pushed above 300 for the first time.
Rolled 3/23 265/295 strangles out to 3/29 270/300 for .20 credit.

Adding to my position in May
Sold $AGN May 18 115 put @ 1.30.
I’m now short the following put ladder:
Mar 145 (may need to be rolled)
May 130
May 120
May 115
Aug 105

Adding to put ladder. Sold $WHR Jul 20 120 put @ 1.60.
Put ladder is now:
Apr 120
Jun 130
Jul 120
Sep 115

Sold $BA Apr 20 300/290 put spread @ 1.30. Offsets an Apr 20 390/400 call spread.

Selling more call spreads in UVXY to apply as basis reduction to long shares of SVXY. These in September.
Sold $UVXY Sep 21 25/35 call spreads @ 1.30.

Replacing the April puts I closed earlier with June puts at lower strikes.
Sold $DISH Jun 15 37.50 puts @ 1.30.
Delta 22. Strike below the Feb 2016 low. You’d have to go back to mid 2013 to see 37.50.

I don’t like the way this is trading. The downtrend is continuing and with March expiration still more than 2 weeks off my strikes don’t look safe. I’m taking these positions off for a profit while I still can.
Bought to close:
$DISH Mar 16 42.50 puts @ 1.05. Sold for 1.50 on 10/12 and 1.95 on 10/13.
$DISH Mar 16 40.00 puts @ .30. Sold for 1.30 on 10/13.

Looks like the morning pop may be slowing. Sold $BKNG Apr 6 (weekly) 2220/2240 bear call spread for 2.55 credit. Strike at 17 delta, about 144 points higher than the current price of the stock (2076.02). I would have sold the spread in the April monthly but there weren’t strikes at 20 point intervals at that level. IVR is 74. I will look to take this off for 50% if the stock pulls back/trades flat and/or IV contracts.