Adding to WHR

Sold $WHR Dec 15 145 puts @ 1.15

WHR puts

I love selling puts on big downdrafts in this stock.
Sold $WHR Apr 20 2018 120 puts @ 1.50 with the stock at 163.55.

#OptionsExpiration for Oct 20 Not…

#OptionsExpiration for Oct 20
Not many expirations this month–I’ve been much more aggressive taking positions off earlier with the market at these levels. I’ve been particularly focused on #VXXGame positions so I’m running out of them and itching to sell more. I won’t sing the same old song but What The World Needs Now Is Vol Sweet Vol….

Expiring:
$AMZN Oct 20 1020 calls
$CAT Oct 20 125 puts
$CMG Oct 20 275 puts
$IWM Oct 20 144 puts
$SNAP Oct 20 15 puts
$SVXY Oct 20 50 puts
$UVXY Oct 20 50 calls
$TEVA Oct 20 17.50 calls

Assignments:
$TEVA Oct 18.50 puts from an inverted strangle. I will reinitiate calls on this on Monday (provided the stock doesn’t tank in the am).

Have a great weekend.

Taking off some more tail risk

Bought to close:
$UVXY Jan 19 2018 82 call @ .72. Sold for 12.10 on 8/11.
$UVXY Jan 19 2018 91 call @ .64. Sold for 8.95 on 8/17.
$UVXY Mar 16 2018 82 call @ 1.39. Sold for 14.00 on 8/11.
$UVXY Mar 16 2018 91 call @ 1.24. Sold for 7.00 on 9/5.
$SVXY Dec 15 2017 25 puts @ .19. Sold for .70 on 6/29.
$SVXY Dec 15 2017 40 put @ .54. Sold for 2.10 on 8/10.
$SVXY Dec 15 2017 50 put @ .83. Sold for 3.30 on 8/9.
$SVXY Jan 19 2018 30 puts @ .61. Sold for 3.20 on 1/26.

SVXY closed at an all time high

After testing 100 this morning.
Un-be-****lievable.

UAL Dec

Taking advantage of the still high IV (IV rank is 63) to sell some Dec puts into this huge down move.
Sold $UAL Dec 15 55 puts @ 1.25.

Closing NVDA

Been battling this trade since I put it on. Originally a 175/195 strangle for tomorrow’s expiration. I rolled the put side up twice, ending up with a 195 straddle. With today’s down move I decided to take it off for an overall small profit (.27 per contract) and move on. Who knows what today will bring.
Bought to close $NVDA Oct 20 195 straddle @ 3.90.

Taking off GWW puts

With the stock finally starting to show some weakness, I closed the hedge (short Oct 200 puts) I originally sold against Oct 200 calls which I rolled to Nov earlier. Small profit.
Bought to close $GWW Oct 20 200 puts @ .45. Sold for .70 on 10/17.

AGN #FallingKnife Sold: $AGN Feb…

AGN #FallingKnife
Sold:
$AGN Feb 16 2018 150 put @ 1.50
$AGN Mar 16 2018 145 put @ 1.50

Rolling GWW

With the continued move up, I rolled the Oct 200 calls out to Nov for 2.72 credit. I’m leaving the Oct 200 put hedge to potentially expire on Friday.

GWW peaking?

Sold $GWW Oct 20 200 calls @ 1.40. Expires Friday.

NVDA roll

Continuing to adjust the position. Rolled $NVDA Oct 20 185 puts up to 195 for 1.28 credit, with the stock now at 197.86. This is paired with 195 calls from the original trade (175/195 strangle) which expires on Friday. With rollups, I’ve taken in 4.17 in premium so breakevens are 190.83 and 199.17.

Rolling AAOI

With most of the time value gone, I rolled my deep in the money $AAOI Oct 20 75 puts out to Nov 24 75 puts (weekly series) for 1.50.

This one is gonna be on the books for a while.

#OptionsExpiration for 10/13 $SVXY Oct…

#OptionsExpiration for 10/13
$SVXY Oct 13 50 puts

I was also assigned early on a portion of $TEVA short 18.50 puts (which I’ve been writing calls against). I’ll keep it (and likely the rest next week) and continue writing calls.

Have a great weekend.

UHS #FallingKnife Sold $UHS Apr…

UHS #FallingKnife
Sold $UHS Apr 20 80 put @ 1.40

UVXY: Closing one of my last Dec positions

Bought to close $UVXY Dec 15 91 call @ .54. Sold for 7.40 on 8/17. I was on vacation at the time and was lucky to get some #VXXGame trades on during the last relatively decent volatility spike. I’ll try to plan my vacation better next time 🙂

What’s left are Nov 60 and 70 calls, Dec 37 calls (pre-split so 148 equivalent), then starting in January nothing lower than 82 strike. Definitely need to get some volatility but I know I’m preaching to the converted.

Taking off another NUGT position

Bought to close $NUGT1 (pre-split strike) Dec 15 19.00 calls @ .04. Sold for .85 on 5/17.

Closed a Jan NUGT position

A total bonehead move. I was putting bids in to close a bunch of positions that were mostly profitable and I mistakenly closed this one that, had I waited 2 more weeks, would have become a long term capital gain. I was toying with the idea of leaving January positions on to defer taxes to 2018 but I changed my mind, and for some reason I wasn’t paying attention to this one. Of course none of my others got filled so I guess I deserved it 🙂
Bought to close $NUGT1 (pre 1:4 reverse split) Jan 19 2018 52 calls @ .04. Sold for 2.50 on 10/19/16.

I’ll still look to take positions off that are less than double the current price (i.e., with NUGT at 35, I will look to close Jan 58 calls, Jan 66 calls and Mar 60 calls). I’d like to clear those out to make room for potential sales if gold were to spike over the next couple of months. Quite a few potential stimuli out there for a gold rally.

KOLD adding

Putting on a position at the highest strike in Feb.
Sold $KOLD Feb 16 2018 55 call @ 2.40

$WBA #FallingKnife Sold $WBA Apr…

$WBA #FallingKnife
Sold $WBA Apr 20 2018 60 puts @ 1.43 with the stock at 70.45

$NVDA Oct strangle

Borrowing an idea from TastyTrade
Sold $NVDA Oct 20 175/195 strangle @ 2.13 with the stock at 186.24

$COST Nov

Still elevated IV (IVR 72) so selling some premium in Nov.
Sold $COST Nov 17 150 puts @ 1.70. Delta is 25.

Closing Oct MYL

Bought to close $MYL Oct 20 32.50 puts @ .04. Sold for 1.10 on 4/3.

Reducing some more of my short volatility position

Into market strength. I still have other positions in these months.
Bought to close:
$UVXY Nov 17 80 calls @ .29. Sold for 3.20 and 3.70 on 9/5.
$UVXY Dec 15 82 call @ .85. Sold for 11.00 on 8/11.

Closing some more NUGT

Took some December positions off for most most the profit. Frees up some buying power.
Bought to close:
$NUGT Dec 15 58 calls @ .38. Sold for 4.30 on 5/24, 5.00 on 6/6, 2.00 on 8/28.
$NUGT Dec 15 60 calls @ .34. Sold for 2.10 on 8/31.
$NUGT Dec 15 63 call @ .27. Sold for 2.80 on 9/7.

Closing Oct FLR

Position is now profitable after spending months in the red. With the stock now just above the strike and still almost 3 weeks to go until expiration I decided to take it off for near 60% of the profit before it changes its mind.
Bought to close $FLR Oct 20 42.50 puts @ .59. Sold for 1.40 on 5/5.

Oct CMG

I already have some positions on in CMG but this one seemed tempting with IV as high as it is (IVR is 88)
Sold $CMG Oct 20 275 puts @ 2.05
Delta is 15

Closing BBY

Continuing to lighten up on mostly profitable positions.
Taking $BBY Oct positions off for most of the max profit.
Bought to close:
$BBY Oct 20 52.50 puts @ .23 (sold for 1.46 on 8/29)
$BBY Oct 20 50.00 puts @ .08 (sold for 1.00 on 8/29)

Closing TSN

Bought to close $TSN Jan 19 2018 47 puts @ .05. Sold for 1.15 on 5/10.

#fallingknife

Reducing some NUGT exposure

Taking positions off for most of the profit to trim back size in this ticker.
Bought to close:
$NUGT Oct 20 50 calls @ .07. Sold for 1.30 on 8/28
$NUGT Nov 17 60 calls @ .15. Sold for 1.30, 1.45 and 1.75 from 8/31 – 9/5
$NUGT Nov 17 63 calls @ .12. Sold for 1.55 on 9/7

$AAOI exercising some caution

I was reading a discussion below about rich premiums in $AAOI and what that could mean in terms of someone gunning for the company or some other piece of news that the options market may be pricing in. While I believe in the company’s long term prospects (as of now at least), short term it would be unwise of me if I didn’t lighten up some more in this. So I took off two positions today:
Bought to close $AAOI Sep 29 65 puts @ 1.50. This was a rollout, sold 5.79 on 8/17. Overall profit of 1.12 per contract.
Bought to close $AAOI Oct 20 50 puts @ 1.15. Sold for 2.40 on 8/28.

I’m still short Oct 65 and 75 puts from previous rollouts–I may take the 65s off before the end of the day.

I’m also short Nov and Dec 30 puts which are at much safer levels.

CLX #FallingKnife Sold $CLX Apr…

CLX #FallingKnife
Sold $CLX Apr 20 2018 110 puts @ 1.20 with the stock at 128.56

Another DRIP dripped away

Bought to close $DRIP Nov 17 40 calls @ .05. Sold for 2.00 on 8/29.
I only have 2 positions left in this. Dec 35 and 40 calls. It’s been a great run for a few months but if the bear market in oil is really over then we may be done with this one for a while.

Adding a little NUGT in Jan

Sold $NUGT 1/19/18 66 calls @ 1.15. Highest strike.

UVXY proceeding slowly

Sold $UVXY Nov 17 70 calls @ 1.00

Closing a GWW position in Dec

Lightening my exposure a little to this ticker.
Bought to close $GWW Dec 15 130 put @ .50. Sold for 2.10 on 7/19.

Adding some AAOI

Sold $AAOI Dec 15 30 puts @ 1.60

NVDA Jan puts

Sold $NVDA Jan 19 2018 120 puts @ 1.20. I don’t know if it will get down that far but I’m looking to accumulate a long term position in this stock and I would love to get some below 120.

Options Expiration for Sep 22

$AAOI Sep 22 62 puts
$SVXY Sep 22 40 puts
$SVXY Sep 22 50 puts
No assignments.

$AGN #FallingKnife Sold $AGN Jan…

$AGN #FallingKnife
Sold $AGN Jan 19 2018 160 puts @ 1.50 with the stock at 203.58. Stock hasn’t been at the strike price in nearly 4 years (Jan 2014).

$AAOI Nov

Sold Nov 17 30 puts (lowest strike) @ 1.20 with the stock at 63.72. Kind of surprised at the premium down here but I’ll gladly take the stock at 28.80 in November if it gets cut by more than half by then.

Taking off my last Oct DRIP position

Bought to close $DRIP Oct 20 35 calls @ .05. Sold for 1.60 on 8/3.
Remaining positions: Short Nov 40 calls, Dec 35 and 40 calls.

Closing $T

Bought to close $T Oct 20 35 puts @ .11. Sold for .75 on 9/7.

Taking off one of the Oct DRIP positions

Bought to close $DRIP Oct 20 41 calls @ .05
Sold for 1.50 on 8/21.
I’m still short 35 calls in October. Looking to take those off for .05 into the strength in oil.

Options Expiration for Sep 15

$AAOI Sep 15 55 puts
$AAPL Sep 15 165 calls (covered)
$DRIP Sep 15 35 calls
$DRIP Sep 15 40 calls
$NVDA Sep 15 135 puts
$PETS Sep 15 25 puts
$SPY Sep 15 241 puts
$SVXY Sep 15 37.50 puts
$SVXY Sep 15 45 puts
$SVXY Sep 15 52.50 puts
$SVXY Sep 15 55 puts
$SVXY Sep 15 70 puts
$UVXY Sep 15 65 calls
$UVXY Sep 15 82 calls
$WDC Sep 15 77.50 puts

No assignments.

Have a great weekend.

#OptionsExpiration

Closing TSCO

Booking profits on this position that had spent quite a bit of time over the summer deep in the money. Now able to take it off for 80% of the max profit over a month early so I’m taking the opportunity.
Bought to close $TSCO Oct 20 55 puts @ .20. Sold for 1.00-1.25 on 4/12-4/13.

IRBT Dec

Sold $IRBT Dec 15 60 puts @ 1.26. Downward momentum is slowing but IV is still elevated. Stock is trading at 79.79. I’ll consider taking assignment at 58.74 in December for a longer term hold.

AAOI rollout

I thought these might go out of the money based on the action the last couple of days but today’s pullback makes that unlikely. Luckily, options on this stock roll very easily.

Rolled $AAOI Sep 15 60 puts down and out to Oct 20 55 puts for 2.00 credit.

For now I’m going to leave my 55 puts in place for tomorrow’s expiration but if there’s some more movement down I’ll roll those as well.

Closing CBI

Taking this trade off for 75% of the premium over a month early.
Bought to close $CBI Oct 20 10 puts @ .10. Sold for .38 on 8/30.

$EFX #FallingKnife Sold $EFX Apr…

$EFX #FallingKnife
Sold $EFX Apr 20 2018 60 put @ 1.45. Lowest strike. I’ll add 1 contract at a time as the premium rises or lower strikes are added.

Continuing trade management on $REGN

Position had been adjusted to Sep 29 460/475 strangle. I just rolled the 460 puts out to Oct 20 for 4.20 credit. Leaving the Sep 29 475 calls for now.

Closing SIG

Bought to close $SIG Oct 20 45 puts @ .10. Sold for 1.25 on 5/12.

Closing NVDA strangle

Bought to close $NVDA Oct 6 150/185 strangle @ 1.22. Sold for 2.75 on 9/5. Thanks for the idea Fuzzy.

Closing Dec LRCX

Bought to close $LRCX Dec 15 125 put @ .90. Sold for 4.30 (thanks again @jsd501). Taking the 80% off more than 3 months early.

Closing $RH

Taking this off for 80+% of the potential profit.
Bought to close $RH Sep 15 75 calls @ .25. Sold for 1.50 on 9.7.

REGN adjustment

Rolled the 530 call (from the 9/29 460/530 strangle) down to 475 (22 delta) for 3.43 credit. Original trade was the 430/530 call. With rollups/rolldowns the remaining position is 9/29 460/475 strangle with the stock at 449.19. Breakeven on the downside is now 445.36.

Options Expiration for 9/8

$SVXY Sep 8 50 puts
$SVXY Sep 8 60 puts
$UVXY Sep 8 60 calls
$UVXY Sep 8 64 calls

If you’re anywhere near that monster Irma please stay safe. Hoping for some change in direction. There’s also that jerk Jose right on her heels.

EFX puts

Sold $EFX Oct 20 90 puts @ 1.40 with the stock at 122.87. IV rank is 100.

$T–borrowing an idea

From TastyTrade (Tony MX).
Sold $T Oct 20 35 puts @ .75 with the stock at 35.64.

Adding to Dec NUGT

At the new highest strike.
Sold $NUGT Dec 15 63 call @ 2.80.

$RH-Fading the move

Sold $RH Sep 15 75 calls @ 1.50 with the stock at 71.59 slowing its upward momentum. Expiration a week from tomorrow.

SVXY/UVXY reducing position size

Taking some more off at most of max profit just to reduce my size a bit.
Bought to close:
$SVXY Sep 15 65.00 puts @ .55 Sold for 5.25 on 5/8
$SVXY Sep 15 42.50 puts @ .10 Sold for 1.30 on 6/15
$SVXY Sep 15 37.50 puts @ .04 Sold for .78 on 5/17
$UVXY Sep 22 82.00 call @ .12 Sold for 6.00 on 8/11
$UVXY Sep 29 82.00 call @ .40 Sold for 6.80 on 8/11

CMG rollout

Was looking for a good opportunity to roll this in the money short put in Sep to Oct but but with the big move down in the stock today there’s no premium there. I decided to go out to Nov.
Rolled $CMG Sep 15 355 puts out to Nov 17 355 puts for 2.80 credit. A little more to continue to reducing basis on this trade.

UVXY Mar

Sold $UVXY Mar 16 2018 91 call @ 7.00. Highest strike. Premium is higher now.
#VXXGame

UVXY Nov

I didn’t have anything on in November so I’m starting an initial position at the highest strike.
Sold $UVXY Nov 17 80 call @ 3.20.
#VXXGame

Expiration for 9/1

$SVXY Sep 1 55.00 puts
$SVXY Sep 1 62.50 puts
$UVXY Sep 1 60.00 calls
$UVXY Sep 1 64.00 calls

Have a great long weekend everyone.

#OptionsExpiration

Closing XOP

Taking this position off for 75% of the max. Bought to close $XOP Sep 15 29 puts @ .16. Sold for .64 on 8/11.

More AAOI rollouts

Rolling short Sep 65 puts out to Oct 65 puts for 3.75 credit with the stock now trading at 58.57. I’m extending duration on this trade and bringing my cost basis down, if assigned, to 57.75 (65.00 strike price less 7.25–3.50 for the original Sep put sale plus 3.75 for the rollout). When I originally sold puts on this, the idea was to take assignment of a stock I wouldn’t mind owning long term. But with the rich premiums, rolling out has been the way to go. So far, at least.

Taking off some UVXY

Taking a cue from Iceman, I took off some positions with strikes in the 60s since I am also short at higher strikes. Seems like prudent risk management.
Bought to close:
$UVXY Dec 15 65 calls @ 4.20. Sold for 7.00-11.00 on 8/9 and 8/10.
$UVXY Jan 19 2018 65 calls @ 5.40. Sold for 8.10 and 11.50 on 8/9 and 8/10.
$UVXY Mar 16 2018 60 call @ 7.45. Sold for 9.00 on 8/9.

Also, bought to close $UVXY Sep 15 82 call @ .04. Sold for 4.50 on 8/11.

$NUGT Sold pre-split strike

In January
Sold $NUGT1 Jan 19 2018 19 calls @ .35 (equivalent to 76 strike)

$NUGT-sold highest strikes

Nov 17 60 calls @ 1.30
Dec 15 60 calls @ 2.10

$AAOI rollout

I have a few September short put positions near the money but this one is too deep in the money to imagine the stock will get there in 2 weeks so I’m rolling Sep 75 puts out to Oct for 2.65 credit, with the stock at 60.73.

I previously rolled this and have been collecting premium against it (7.26 so far). So if I take assignment at Oct expiration my basis will be 67.74. Of course a lot can happen between now and then.

Closing UVXY

Had an order in to close some of these at .01. This one got filled.
Bought to close $UVXY Sep 8 82 call @ .01. Sold for 3.65 on 8/11.

Closing Oct MNK

Bought to close $MNK Oct 20 30 puts @ .25. Sold for 1.20 on 5/17. Taking it off 1 1/2 months early. I still have a nice size position in Jan (short 30 puts) that I’ll keep on.

Closing Nov ESRX

Bought to close $ESRX Nov 17 52.50 puts @ .44. Sold for 1.36 on 5/11.
Taking almost 70% max profit out about 2 1/2 months early.