Sold $AMZN Jul 15 775 call @ 5.80
Author Archives: Ramie
Taking some NUGT off
I’m loaded up in June with OTM short calls as well as several ITM that were rolled so I’m taking these off at good profit levels to lower exposure in June (and free up more buying power).
Bought to close $NUGT Jun 17 94 call @ 3.80. Sold for 10.00 on 2/25.
Bought to close $NUGT Jun 17 105 call @ 2.10. Sold for 7.30 on 4/8.
Closing some more #VXXGame trades…
Closing some more #VXXGame trades
Bought to close $UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ .16. Sold for 22.00 on 9/24/15.
Bought to close $VXX JAN 20 2017 55 call @ .20. Sold for 6.50 on 12/10/14.
#OptionsExpiration for 5/27 $NUGT 05/27/2016…
#OptionsExpiration for 5/27
$NUGT 05/27/2016 175 calls
$NUGT 05/27/2016 150 calls
$NUGT 05/27/2016 60 puts
$SVXY 05/27/2016 39 puts
$UVXY 05/27/2016 23 calls
No assignments this week.
Have a great long weekend everyone.
Closing SWKS
Bought to close $SWKS Jun 17 60 puts @ .30. Sold for 1.45 on 4/29. Taking my 80% max profit off the table with this market running into resistance.
I’m still short Jun 24 60 puts and Aug 19 50 puts from my original ladder so this is just a reduction in my exposure to this stock and the $AAPL universe.
PANW trade management
I did the following to extend duration, lower the strike and bring in additional premium
Rolled today’s 135 puts down and out for 1.38 credit:
Bought to close $PANW May 27 135 puts @ 4.41 (sold for 1.30 yesterday as an earnings trade)
Sold to open $PANW Jun 17 133 puts @ 5.79
Added Jun 17 short calls to lower basis further:
Sold to open $PANW Jun 17 140 calls @ 1.31
I am now short the Jun 17 133/140 strangle.
Closing APPL
#ShortPuts Bought to close $AAPL Jul 15 70 puts @ .04. Sold for 1.36 on 1/19.
Rolling a NUGT call
Looked like NUGT was thinking of making a run at this one earlier, but that would have probably been too much to ask for, and it would have caused all sorts of problems on the put side, so I guess I’ll take what I can get out of it. Rolled this week’s ITM 52 call out to July and up a few points for a 2.60 credit.
Bought to close $NUGT May 27 52 call @ 23.67 (sold for 32.75 as a rollout of a rollout on 4/13)
Sold to open $NUGT Jul 15 55 call @ 26.27
Another NUGT roll
Rolled down and out for 1.30 credit
Bought to close NUGT May 27 70 puts @ 4.08 (sold for .77 on 5/16)
Sold to open NUGT Jun 17 59 puts @ 5.38
Rolling NUGT
Strike price was breached and with downward momentum I thought I’d roll to a strangle instead of a straight put roll.
Bought to close $NUGT Jun 3 78 puts @ 7.74
Sold to open $NUGT Jun 17 57 puts @ 2.76
Sold to open $NUGT Jun 17 92 calls @ 6.99
Credit taken in: 2.01
#OptionsExpiration for 5/20 I was…
#OptionsExpiration for 5/20
I was away from my desk for the end of the trading day today, moving my daughter out of her dorm (that year went quickly!). Just got home and catching up on the expirations.
$AMZN 05/20/2016 640 puts
$AMZN 05/20/2016 750 calls (covered)
$CELG 05/20/2016 100 puts
$CLDX 05/20/2016 18 calls
$KOLD 05/20/2016 280 calls
$NFLX 05/20/2016 93 calls
$NUGT 05/20/2016 145 calls
$NUGT 05/20/2016 65 puts
$WYNN 05/20/2016 85 puts (covered)
Assignments
$AMZN 05/20/2016 650 calls (shares being called away)
Legged out of Jeff’s AMZN Iron Butterfly trade (from the road) paying a total of 3.13, having sold yesterday for 3.90. I probably could have done better had I been in front of my screen, and looking back I should have thought more about it and passed on the trade since I wasn’t going to be able to watch it at the end of the day. Glad to be out for a profit though.
Have a great weekend everyone.
CNX July
Sold $CNX Jul 15 10 puts @ .42. Delta 16, with the strike near the March 24 low.
Closing some NUGT puts
Bought to close $NUGT May 20 75 puts @ .40. Sold for 1.50 on 5/12. Taking profits and getting these out of the way in the event we get another big move down. I’m also short the 70 and 60 puts for tomorrow.
SVXY September
Sold $SVXY Sep 16 30 put @ 1.50. Adding to position.
NFLX thoughts
$NFLX Showing relative strength all day long. Outperformed most of the Nasdaq (and all of its peers like AMZN, FB, GOOGL and even AAPL on a strong day for the forbidden fruit). Pretty decent volume. Rhetorical question but could this finally be the reversal? It still has quite a bit of work to do and will run into resistance on the way back up, and will have to traverse the 3 major moving averages. But it’s something to watch, as if I don’t have enough to watch.
Taking some more NUGT off
Taking these off at a profit for Friday’s expiration. Reducing exposure as much as I can now as NUGT plunges.
Bought to close $NUGT May 20 95 calls @ 1.80. Sold for 3.70, 2.60 and 4.00 from 3/27-4/7.
Closing a NUGT rolled position
Bought to close $NUGT 5/27 110 call (rolled out from 5/13 95 call on 5/13).
Paid to close: 2.27
Sold for 7.59 (rollout)
Overall profit from full position: 2.38
Closing covered call in AMZN
Taking advantage of the stock’s foray below the strike price to cover this one at a profit and avoid assignment. I also have the 650 covered call (which should be assigned) and the 750 covered call (which should expire) on Friday.
Bought to close $AMZN May 20 700 call @ 2.97. Sold for 4.50 on 4/29.
$SVXY Sep puts
Sold $SVXY Sep 16 30 puts @ 1.40
#OptionsExpiration for May 13 Expiring:…
#OptionsExpiration for May 13
Expiring:
$NUGT May 13 130 calls
$NUGT May 13 73 puts
No assignments this week.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Closing SPY trade
Bought to close $SPY May 13 204.50 puts @ .03. Sold about an hour ago for .22.
Closing out AMZN trade from this morning
Bought to close $AMZN May 13 710 put @ .50. Sold for 2.10 earlier.
Pending NUGT roll
I know I’m probably getting a little too cute here but I still have a 95 call for today’s expiration that I was planning to roll. But I’m watching NUGT and the gold futures to see if there’s a shot this thing gets under my break even (around 97) before the end of the day. It’s been falling like a rock. I guess I’m not too concerned since this rolls so easily and I can probably get a nice credit for a 1 week roll with an additional 10-15 points on the strike. Watching…
Trying a 1 hour SPY decay trade
Sold $SPY May 13 204.50 puts @ .22
UVXY calls
Sold $UVXY Sep 16 60 calls @ 1.16
Shopping at Nordstrom
On the move down after earnings, I’m willing to either buy the stock at 34.48 at June expiration, or keep the premium.
Sold $JWN Jun 17 35 puts @ .52.
RIG puts
Sold $RIG Jun 17 8.00 puts @ .34
Adding to SWKS position
Opened a further dated rung to what has become a naked put ladder.
Sold $SWKS Aug 19 50 puts @ 1.40.
Adding to Jun 17 60 puts and Jun 24 60 puts.
Covered call on SVXY
Sold $SVXY Sep 16 75 call @ 2.45
Decay trade on AMZN
Idea from the traders feed on TastyTrade/Dough. Decay trade for today now that the stock is stabilizing a bit. Sold $AMZN May 13 710 put @ 2.10.
More NUGT put hedges
Sold $NUGT May 20 75 puts @ 1.50
NUGT calls in 5/27
Sold $NUGT May 27 (weekly) 175 calls @ 1.50. Highest strike for that week.
AMZN Covered Call
Sold $AMZN May 20 750 call @ 2.00
Taking a June SVXY position off
At an average of around 90% max profit almost 6 weeks early.
Bought to close $SVXY Jun 17 30 puts at .25. Sold for 2.05-3.10 in Dec and Jan.
Closing a rolled NUGT position
I have a lot of exposure this week in short calls so I’m taking one position off that was a rollout and has recovered the original loss and then some creating a profit in the position. Trimming the positions where I can.
Bought to close $NUGT May 13 105 calls @ 1.75. Sold for 4.80 on 5/5 as a rollout from May 6 95 calls.
Options Expiration for 5/6
Closed and/or rolled most of my positions for 5/6. Only 2 remaining that expired:
$NUGT 05/06/2016 77.50 puts
$NUGT 05/06/2016 71.00 puts
NUGT roll
Rolled tomorrow’s 95 calls out to next week and up 10 points in case we get a runup tomorrow after the jobs report. 1.16 credit.
Bought to close $NUGT May 6 95 calls @ 3.64 average (sold for 1.40 on 4/5)
Sold to open $NUGT May 13 105 calls @ 4.80 average
Moves in TLT
Closed a May position and opened a June one.
Bought to close $TLT May 20 125 puts @ .08. Sold for .70 on 4/25
Sold to open $TLT Jun 17 135 calls @ .82. I will look to create a short strangle on another move down in bonds.
SWKS put
Adding another position (this one in the 6/24 weeklies which just started trading today) to my June 60 puts.
Sold $SWKS Jun 24 60 put @ 1.80.
NUGT puts
Just got filled at the close.
Sold $NUGT May 6 71 puts @ .40.
Closing a NUGT rolled position
With the move down I was able to take a rolled position off for an overall profit.
Bought to close $NUGT May 13 116 call @ 2.90. Sold for 10.99 on 4/29, as a rollout which lost 6.65. Closing this now booked an overall profit of 8.09-6.65 = 1.54.
Closing ILMN
Took close to 50% max off before earnings after the bell. Not worth holding even if the strike is outside the expected move. I’ll reinitiate if the stock tanks tomorrow morning.
Bought to close $ILMN May 20 120 puts @ 1.30. Sold for 2.50 on 4/19.
NUGT puts
Sold $NUGT May 27 60 puts @ 1.75
More put hedges on NUGT
Selling more puts to offset short call positions, these in June.
Sold $NUGT Jun 17 45 puts @ 1.25.
NUGT puts
Selling some puts on the down move to offset short calls.
Sold $NUGT May 20 70 puts @ 1.70.
#OptionsExpiration for 4/29 Expiring: $NUGT…
#OptionsExpiration for 4/29
Expiring:
$NUGT 04/29/2016 120 calls
$NUGT 04/29/2016 35 puts
$NUGT 04/29/2016 55 puts
$TSLA 04/29/2016 275 calls
$CMG 04/29/2016 392.50 puts
$FB 04/29/2016 100 puts
$SPX 04/29/2016 2135/2160 call spreads
$SPX 04/29/2016 2140/2165 call spreads
Taking full loss:
$AAPL 04/29/2016 100/104/108 iron butterfly
Assignments:
$HAL 04/29/2016 37 calls (covered)–stock will be called away
Have a great weekend everyone
My NUGT strategy
And I use the term “strategy” loosely. But based on the premise of why I entered these short call trades in the first place, I want to continue selling puts against the positions, but I’m trying to be patient and selling them on down days (for example, for next week’s expiration you can’t really get much premium on puts unless you sell at the 90 strike and above and that feels too close based on how volatile this ETF can be).
I’m taking this one week at a time. For this week, I’ve rolled 95 and 105 calls out to 5/13 at much higher strikes (which are now already in the money, go figure) and I’m watching my 120 calls into the close. Because these roll so easily this has been a strategy that’s worked, but I’m looking at some really deep in the money calls that may have to be rolled in the May and June expirations (calls with strikes in the 40s); I’ll just deal with that when those expirations arrive or when it looks like I’m in danger of assignment. On a big move down (I know it doesn’t feel like that will happen anytime soon but it will and always does), I’ll sell some puts and hopefully get out of some calls gracefully that will have been brought back into the money. In the meantime, if you want to operate this way you better be comfortable with seeing a lot of red in these positions until things turn around. Margin requirements are also increasing with these so that’s a consideration as well.
I’m also not forgetting that NUGT suffers from a lot of mathematical (tracking) headwinds when there is a lot of up and down volatility. Once there’s some more 2 way action on this, we’ll start to see it come back in line (providing gold calms down a bit of course). Of course if gold takes a dive we can sweep the chips off the table, but even if gold prices stabilize and become rangebound, we’ll start to see this ETF fall back from its highs.
Just remember that, as @Iceman is known to say, no trend lasts forever. We’ve all traded $BOIL calls, $KOLD calls, $DUST calls, etc, to see huge spikes and ultimately normalization. That’s what I’m playing for here.
Selling puts on SWKS
Sold $SWKS Jun 17 60 puts @ 1.45. Will go long the stock if it finishes below there in June.
NUGT rollout
I can’t believe I had to roll this one.
Rolled $NUGT 4/29 105 call up and out to 5/13 116 call for 3.09 credit.
I also have a 120 call expiring today that I couldn’t imagine…oh never mind…NUGT is a beast.
So thankful this rolls easily.
AMZN Covered Call
Sold $AMZN May 20 700 call @ 4.50
NUGT hedge
Selling some puts to hedge all this short call exposure.
Sold $NUGT May 20 65 puts @ 1.55
Selling puts on CELG
Probably a little late this morning but I sold $CELG Jun 17 90 puts @ .86 with the stock above 106 bouncing nicely off the post-earnings lows.
Rolling NUGT
Rolled this week’s 90 call up and out to May 13 100 call for 2.00 credit.
KOLD rolling
With little to no time value left, I didn’t want to risk being assigned short something that was HTB. So I rolled one of my in-the-money May positions.
Bought to close $KOLD May 110 call @ 54.66. Sold for 67.96 (as a rollout from Feb) on 2/3/16.
Sold to open $KOLD Aug 110 call @ 60.16
Credit for the roll: 5.50
Continuing to chip away at the basis on this (and will do for my other May positions–115 call, 118 call) provided KOLD doesn’t implode by May expiration.
FB earnings
With a market maker expected move of 7 and the stock around 108.50 I threw one out there at around 2 standard deviations away.
Sold $FB Apr 29 100 puts @ 1.00. If the strike gets taken out I will likely just stay long the stock.
Closing FSLR puts
I originally opened this trade in anticipation of earnings not being before options expiration. But once they were confirmed for 4/27, I knew I would likely be exiting the trade early. Closing it out for a very small (.10) loss.
Bought to close $FSLR Apr 29 60 puts @ 1.84. Sold for 1.74 on 3/23.
CMG earnings trade
Small position outside 2 standard deviations. Taking a risk that much of the bad news is priced in and the stock doesn’t have another 10 or so percent down in it. Strike is below the big January low.
Sold $CMG Apr 29 392.50 put @ 1.60
Short puts on TLT
Sold May 20 125 puts @ .70.
Covered puts on WYNN
Sold $WYNN May 20 85 puts @ 2.60. Brings in premium against and covers short stock that I wouldn’t mind covering at that strike.
#OptionsExpiration for 4/22 $NUGT 04/22/2016…
#OptionsExpiration for 4/22
$NUGT 04/22/2016 95 calls
$NUGT 04/22/2016 105 calls
$NUGT 04/22/2016 65 puts
$UA 04/22/2016 40 puts
$WYNN 04/22/2016 86.50 puts (covered by short stock)
$TSLA 04/22/2016 275 calls
$SPX 04/22/2016 2125/2150 BeCS
No assignments this week.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Closing a KOLD position
Bought to close $KOLD May 20 320 call @ .50. Sold for 8.90 on 3/24/16.
$SPX: What do we do…
$SPX: What do we do in a market like this?
Add more short delta!
Sold to open $SPX Jun 3 2195/2220 call spreads @ 1.30. Short strike is just inside 1 standard deviation (=2199).
UVXY: Taking some more January risk off
Without any great opening trade opportunities I thought I’d look for ways to continue reducing my overweight January short call positions in UVXY. The position is now getting more manageable in the event of a huge spike in the VIX/UVXY. I may leave the rest to expire so I don’t take the tax hit until 2017 (and not have to pay the tax bill for 2 more years) but I’ll see how it goes.
Bought to close $UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ .85. Sold for 13.80 on 1/8/16.
Bought to close $UVXY Jan 20 2107 95 call @ 1.75. Sold for 19.00 on 8/21/15.
Frustrating market
With the VIX this low short premium trades are so hard to find. I keep having to stop myself from forcing things (i.e., putting on trades that deep down I know aren’t paying me enough for the risk). I had hopes that earnings season would provide some opportunities but I can’t really find any earnings trades with any meat on the bone. Maybe it’s a sign that I probably should just pack it in for the day and get back to my day job. 🙂
NUGT roll
Rolled $NUGT Apr 22 90 call up and out to May 6 100 call for 1.52 credit. Depending on the action the rest of the day, I may roll my 95 call up and out as well.
ILMN Short Puts
Sold $ILMN May 20 120 put @ 2.50
APA covered call
Sold $APA Jun 17 60 call @ 1.52
$NFLX bouncing off the mat
Back into the middle of today’s range. Earnings a little more than an hour away.
$UVXY Taking off some more…
$UVXY Taking off some more #VXXGame trades
Using market strength to close these at more than 90% max profit, continuing to reduce risk and short volatility exposure with the S&P at resistance.
Bought to close:
$UVXY Sep 16 2016 110 call @ .89 (Sold for 11.10 on 2/2/16)
$UVXY Sep 16 2016 90 call @ .95 (Sold for 20.10 on 1/20/16)
$UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ 1.00 (Sold for 13.20 on 1/13/16)
$UVXY Jan 20 2017 115 call @ 1.55 (Sold for 28.23 on 8/27/15)
#OptionsExpiration for 4/15 Expiring: $AAPL…
#OptionsExpiration for 4/15
Expiring:
$AAPL 04/15/2016 90 puts
$APA 04/15/2016 57.50 calls (covered)
$CRI 04/15/2016 95.00 puts
$EOG 04/15/2016 55.00 puts
$KOLD 04/15/2016 300.00 calls
$LNKD 04/15/2016 125.00 calls
$NFLX 04/15/2016 115.00 calls
$NUGT 04/15/2016 90.00 calls
$NUGT 04/15/2016 38.00 puts
$SHAK 04/15/2016 32.50 puts
$TSLA 04/15/2016 227.50 puts
$WYNN 04/15/2016 87.50 puts
$X 04/15/2016 9.00 puts
No assignments this week.
Closing CMG
Bought to close $CMG Apr 22 420 put @ .30, taking 90% of the available profit and not risking another swoon next week. Sold for 3.00 on 4/6.
I’m now out of this stock for the first time in a while. It’s been fun (and a bit a nerve-rattling) selling premium throughout all the volatility. The worst of it may be behind Chipotle but we’ll see what earnings brings in a couple of weeks.
Closing position in NOW
I’ve decided to close my rolled/adjusted position in $NOW instead of doing another roll. My adjustments brought me to a pairing of Apr 15 55 calls and Apr 22 55 puts. When I did the roll the estimated earnings date was 4/27. Since then, it has gotten confirmed as 4/20. My plan to let the premium bleed into expiration won’t happen that way so instead of trying to get cute and do another roll I’ve decided to just take the loss that’s left (around 2.00/contract) and move on. The risk isn’t worth it (I’ll consider a separate earnings trade next week if the premiums are enticing enough).
The original trade was an earnings trade from January when I booked an 8.28 loss. So I’m happy to recover more than 75% of it.
NUGT call for next week
Sold $NUGT Apr 22 90 call @ 1.60. Premium is better now. May add at a higher strike if this thing keeps running.
Closing out NUGT calls
This one was so underwater most of this week, that I felt fortunate to get out at a (small) profit. Didn’t want to chance another spike tomorrow with this option expiring.
Bought to close $NUGT 4/15 75 calls @ 1.05. Sold for 1.20 on on 4/6.
NUGT put
Sold $NUGT Apr 29 55 put @ 1.80
Options Bistro 