Strange strike (95.50) at the top of the chain with everything else at 95.00.
Sold $UVXY Jan 29 95.50 call @ 1.35
Author Archives: Ramie
SPX put spread
Hard to pass this one up. Sold $SPX Feb 19 1600/1575 BuPS @ 1.30. Strike is 2 standard deviations away.
Added another 2 standard deviation put spread for this week:
Sold $SPX Jan 22 1745/1720 BuPS @ 1.30.
$AAPL puts in July
Another Iceman-style “falling knife” type trade:
Sold $AAPL July 15 70 put @ 1.36. I’ll gladly add to my long position at 2013 prices.
UVXY calls
On the pop in volatility, I added to the highest strike calls in 2/26.
Sold $UVXY Feb 26 85 call @ 5.50
Edit–added:
Sold $UVXY Jun 17 85 call @ 15.00 adding to position at highest strike in June
Added:
Sold $UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ 17.00 adding to position at highest strike
NFLX popping into earnings
Will watch for any good OTM short call entries
DUST calls
Sold $DUST Mar 18 40 call @ 1.25
#OptionsExpiration for January monthly Expired:…
#OptionsExpiration for January monthly
Expired:
$AAPL 01/15/2016 80.00 puts
$AAPL 01/15/2016 90.00 puts
$AMZN 01/15/2016 630.00 calls (covered)
$AMZN 01/15/2016 715.00 calls (covered)
$AMZN 01/15/2016 560.00 puts
$CMG 01/15/2016 375.00 puts
$CYBR 01/15/2016 35.00 puts
$DATA 01/15/2016 70.00 puts
$DE 01/15/2016 70.00 puts
$DUST 01/15/2016 45.00 calls
$DUST 01/15/2016 50.00 calls
$DUST 01/15/2016 75.00 calls
$FB 01/15/2016 100.00 calls
$FTI 01/15/2016 41.00 calls (covered)
$GMCR 01/15/2016 60.00 puts
$GMCR 01/15/2016 75.00 puts
$KOLD 01/15/2016 200.00 calls
$KOLD 01/15/2016 210.00 calls
$KOLD 01/15/2016 215.00 calls
$KOLD 01/15/2016 310.00 calls
$KOLD 01/15/2016 110.00 puts
$KOLD 01/15/2016 114.00 puts
$NFLX 01/15/2016 121.43 calls
$NFLX 01/15/2016 124.29 calls
$NFLX 01/15/2016 140.00 calls
$NFLX 01/15/2016 97.00 puts
$NUGT 01/15/2016 50.00 calls
$NUGT 01/15/2016 75.00 calls
$SVXY 01/15/2016 55.00 calls (covered)
$SVXY 01/15/2016 61.00 calls (covered)
$SVXY 01/15/2016 70.00 calls (covered)
$SWKS 01/15/2016 60.00 puts
$UVXY 01/15/2016 60.00 calls
$UVXY 01/15/2016 80.00 calls
$UVXY 01/15/2016 85.00 calls
$UVXY 01/15/2016 95.00 calls
$UVXY 01/15/2016 100.00 calls
$UVXY 01/15/2016 110.00 calls
$UVXY 01/15/2016 125.00 calls
$UVXY 01/15/2016 170.00 calls
$WHR 01/15/2016 120.00 puts
$XOM 01/15/2016 70.00 puts
$XOP 01/15/2016 37.00 calls
$ZSL 01/15/2016 92.50 calls
Assignments (going long stock):
$SVXY 01/15/2016 65.00 puts (as if I need any more of this)
$WMT 01/15/2016 67.50 puts
Have a great long weekend everyone. Is it February yet?
More pre-expiration maneuvering
Bought to close $CMI Jan 15 85 put @ .55 to avoid assignment. Sold for 1.30 on 9/24/15.
Rolled $AAPL Jan 15 100 put down and out to Feb 19 97.50 for 2.07 credit
Bought to close $AAPL Jan 15 100 put @ 3.00. Sold for 1.50 on 6/29/15
Sold to open $AAPL Feb 19 97.50 put @ 5.07
Rolled $NFLX Jan 113 puts down and out to Feb 19 110 for 3.60 credit
Bought to close $NFLX Jan 15 113 puts @ 9.58. Sold for 3.81 (as a rollout) on 1/8
Sold to open $NFLX Feb 19 110 puts @ 13.18
Rolled $NFLX Jan 120 puts down and out to Feb 12 118 for 1.75 credit
Bought to close $NFLX Jan 15 120 puts @ 16.41. Sold for 8.15 (as a rollout) on 1/8
Sold to open $NFLX Feb 12 118 puts @ 18.16
UA roll
Rolling today’s 70 put 1 week to avoid assignment with the stock at 68.67. Got 1.10 credit for the roll.
Bought to close $UA Jan 15 70 put @ 1.47. Sold for 1.20 on 11/17/15.
Sold to open $UA Jan 22 70 put @ 2.57.
SVXY roll
Rolling today’s 40 put to avoid assignment with $SVXY at 35.46. Roll executed for 1.20 credit.
Bought to close $SVXY Jan 15 40 put @ 4.50 (sold for 1.50 on 11/12/15)
Sold to open $SVXY Jan 29 40 put @ 5.70
WHR puts
Selling some puts to replace an expiring position today.
Sold $WHR Feb 19 110 put @ 1.65
Sold $WHR Jun 17 85 put @ 1.50
#VXXGame trades Sold $SVXY Jan…
#VXXGame trades
Sold $SVXY Jan 20 2017 20 put @ 3.00. Lowest strike.
Sold $UVXY Jan 20 2017 170 call @ 15.25. Highest strike.
KOLD snap
Sold Feb 19 270 call @ 2.70. Strike price over 110 points higher than current price and 2 standard deviations away. Not that standard statistical measures and probabilities have as much relevance with reverse leveraged ETFs based on commodity futures but it’s something. The more important factor here is the tracking error headwinds that will keep this ETF down; because of that it likely won’t get back to its December high of 223 even if natural gas gets back down to the corresponding low it reached then.
TZA calls
Sold $TZA Jan 29 75 call @ 1.30
UVXY June
Sold $UVXY June 17 85 call @ 11.65. 85 is now the highest strike in June as well.
NFLX puts
I have 100 calls for January that I thought for sure I would have to roll. Not so sure about that now. We’ll see. But in the meantime, I’m selling some puts below that level for Friday’s expiration. If these get in trouble I’ll have likely more than offset it by the profit on the calls.
Sold $NFLX Jan 15 97 puts @ .25. Expires Friday.
Adding $UVXY calls
Thanks to vxxkelly for the heads up on the new strikes. I added a contract at the top of each week for Feb. Some of these were earlier fills so the premium is even higher now.
Sold $UVXY Feb 5 85 call @ 1.25
Sold $UVXY Feb 12 85 call @ 1.65
Sold $UVXY Feb 19 85 call @ 2.15
Sold $UVXY Feb 26 85 call @ 2.50
KMI roll
On 12/9 I sold some puts on the thesis that, with the dividend cut behind the stock, that 15 could have been the bottom. Clearly I was wrong on that so I’m rolling this position out for more duration and additional premium.
Rolled $KMI Jan 15 15 puts out to Feb 19 15 puts @ .45 credit
$UVXY calls
#VXXGame trades
Sold $UVXY Jan 29 80 call @ 3.15
New strikes added in February. Starting positions at the new highest strikes:
Sold $UVXY Feb 5 70 call @ 5.75
Sold $UVXY Feb 12 70 call @ 6.50
Sold UVXY Feb 19 74 call @ 6.80
Sold UVXY Feb 26 70 call @ 8.25
#OptionsExpiration and Adjustments for 1/8…
#OptionsExpiration and Adjustments for 1/8
Had to do some maneuvering and didn’t have a chance to post earlier.
Bought to close $NFLX Jan 8 114 puts @ 1.51 as the stock was falling through 113 earlier, to avoid assignment. Sold for 4.70 as a rollout on 12/14. Overall rolled position profitable by 1.17 per contract.
Rolled $NFLX Jan 8 115 puts down and out to next week–Jan 15 113 puts @ .76 credit. Booking a loss of 1.05 per contract on this roll.
Rolled $SVXY Jan 8 45 put out to Feb 5 45 put @ 1.94 credit. Booking a loss of 3.35 per contract on this roll.
Expirations:
$NFLX 01/08/2016 110 puts
$UVXY 01/08/2016 50 calls
$UVXY 01/08/2016 80 calls
$SPX 01/08/2016 2160/2185 call spreads
$SPX 01/08/2016 1865/1840 put spreads
No assignments this week. That won’t be the case next week if the market doesn’t turn around. Big January monthly expiration on Friday 1/15.
Have a great weekend everyone!
UVXY June calls
In classic Iceman/#VXXGame style, I just sold $UVXY Jun 17 80 call (highest strike) @ 9.25. Adding to the position at a premium of 1.00 higher than the previous sale.
Rolling CMG out 1 week
With the stock breaching the strike I’m rolling out the Jan 15 425 put 1 week to Jan 22 for 2.50 credit.
Bought to close $CMG Jan 15 425 put @ 11.90 (sold for 2.50 on 12/21)
Sold to open $CMG Jan 22 425 put @ 14.40
$AAPL July puts
Sold $AAPL July 15 75.00 puts @ 1.40
$KOLD: Closing an ATM call for January
This was from a rollout. Closing the position and booking a nice profit on the fully rolled position.
Bought to close $KOLD Jan 15 136 call @ 12.00. Sold for 41.32 as a rollout on 12/7. Booked an 18.10 loss on 12/7 and recovered 29.32 today leaving a net profit of 11.22. The rest of my January calls are at 200 and above (200, 210, 215, 310).
$AMZN short puts
Sold $AMZN Jan 22 (weekly) 540 put @ 1.50. 100 points out of the money. Earnings not expected until Jan 28.
Options Expiration 12/31
I was away from my desk for the last couple of hours of trading. While I was out, I had to close a position I thought was probably safe earlier in the day; it proved not to be the case so I wanted to avoid assignment. Bought to close $NFLX Dec 31 115 puts @ .49. Was able to still take out over 70% of max profit.
Expirations:
$NUGT 12/31/2015 34.00 calls
$UVXY 12/31/2015 56.00 calls
No assignments this week.
Have a fantastic (and safe) New Years everyone. To a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!
SVXY puts
Opened my first position in February. Sold $SVXY Feb 19 35.00 puts @ 1.10.
#VXXGame
Selling puts on THC
I’m light on health care stocks so selling some Feb puts in this name. Expiration before scheduled earnings.
Sold Feb 19 25.00 puts @ .65 with the stock at 30.42. Strike price is below the recent lows of around 26.60 in mid-December and mid-October.
Selling puts on RRC
Relatively high IV (IV rank of 76). Sold $RRC Feb 19 20 puts @ .90. Strike is below recent lows. Earnings not expected until Feb 23.
BOIL popping
Sold $BOIL Mar 18 2016 25 covered call @ 1.50
Closed SCTY strangle
I missed this earlier, but I was filled on my bid to close out the strangle I sold on on 12/16.
Bought to close $SCTY 1/15/16 35/65 strangle @ .53. Sold for 1.45.
AMZN Covered Calls
Sold $AMZN Jan 22 (weekly) 740 call @ 1.40
DUST covered calls
Sold $DUST Jan 29 (weekly) 20 calls @ 1.25
NUGT calls
Sold $NUGT Feb 19 36 call @ 2.20. Highest strike and my first position in Feb.
$SVXY Covered Call
Sold $SVXY Feb 19 63 call @ 1.55
NFLX earnings date announced
It will officially be Jan 19 after the close. In a move outside of recent character, $NFLX will be reporting after the monthly options expiration date, not before. While the market seems to have anticipated this for the most part (greatest IV jump in the 1/22 options), IVs were still a bit elevated in the 1/15 vs the 1/8 expirations as the company has jumped the announcement date earlier than expected the last few quarters. I’d expect to see option prices come in a little bit tomorrow for the January monthlies as ATM IVs come down from the 47 area back to 41-42 or so. Not dramatic, but with this IV contraction I’ll be watching for early opportunities to take off some far OTM short call positions for January.
Christmas
Loving the snow, Jeff. Nice touch. Makes me want to burst into Christmas song. Be thankful you only have to read my words, not hear them 🙂
CMG: Going back to the well
Premium selling that is, not one of their burritos. Sold a 2 standard deviation put in January. Delta of 07.
STO CMG Jan 15 2016 425 put @ 2.50
Baby It’s KOLD Outside
As mentioned by Fuzzballl last night, nat gas futures up over 5% and KOLD down almost 20.
Options Expiration for 12/18
Expiring:
$AAPL 12/18/2015 100 puts
$AAPL 12/18/2015 105 puts
$AMZN 12/18/2015 615 puts
$APA 12/18/2015 60 calls (covered)
$BOIL 12/18/2015 30 calls (covered)
$CMG 12/18/2015 475 puts
$CRI 12/18/2015 85 puts
$CRI 12/18/2015 87.50 puts
$CYBR 12/18/2015 35 puts
$DUST 12/18/2015 25 calls (covered)
$DUST 12/18/2015 30 calls
$DUST 12/18/2015 35 calls
$GMCR 12/18/2015 60 puts
$KOLD 12/18/2015 185 puts
$KORS 12/18/2015 45 calls (covered)
$NSC 12/18/2015 75 puts
$NUGT 12/18/2015 35 calls
$SVXY 12/18/2015 75 calls (covered)
$SVXY 12/18/2015 70 calls (covered)
$SVXY 12/18/2015 45 puts
$SVXY 12/18/2015 40 puts
$TRIP 12/18/2015 60 puts
$URI 12/18/2015 65 puts
$UVXY 12/18/2015 70 calls
$UVXY 12/18/2015 80 calls
$UVXY 12/18/2015 95 calls
$VRX 12/18/2015 85 puts
$VXX 12/18/2015 44 calls
$WHR 12/18/2015 130 puts
$ZSL 12/18/2015 65 calls
$ZSL 12/18/2015 67.50 calls
$ZSL 12/18/2015 70 calls
$ZSL 12/18/2015 77.50 calls
Assignments (stock being called away):
$GMCR 12/18/2015 55 calls
Assignments (going long stock):
$KMI 12/18/2015 35 puts
Have a great weekend everyone.
WHR Short Puts
Borrowing a page from Iceman’s falling knife playbook.
Sold $WHR Mar 18 2016 110 put @ 1.26. I’ll take the stock at the strike in March if it comes down another 25% from these levels. Stock hasn’t traded at 110 in 2 1/2 years.
This replaces a 130 put expiring today. I’m also short a January 120 put. I keep selling out of the money puts on this stock and they keep expiring.
UVXY calls
Treading carefully. I have high offers in on some of the January weeklies. Just got filled on this one.
Sold $UVXY Jan 22 (weekly) 80 call @ 1.80. Highest strike.
AMZN Covered Call
Sold a call against some of my long stock. STO $AMZN Jan 15 2016 750 call @ 1.85
More KOLD rolls
With no more time value left in these I didn’t want to risk a short assignment (and a subsequent forced buy-in), and doing these rolls brings more loss into 2015.
Rolled $KOLD Jan 118 call to Feb 118 call for 1.60 credit
Rolled $KOLD Jan 115 call to Feb 115 call for 1.45 credit
These calls are too deep in the money to get higher strikes.
SVXY covered calls
Sold $SVXY Jan 15 2016 61.00 call @ 1.25
SCTY strangle
Borrowing this idea from TastyTrade. A 30 point wide short strangle in January for 1.45 credit. No earnings expected before opex.
Sold $SCTY Jan 15 2016 35 puts @ .73
Sold $SCTY Jan 15 2016 65 calls @ .72
$KOLD roll
I just eliminated my last December call position by rolling it up and out to January for 8.64 credit.
Bought $KOLD Dec 18 200 call @ 18.10
Sold $KOLD Jan 15 2016 210 call @ 26.74
Options Expiration for Dec 11
Expiring:
$NUGT 12/11/2015 36.50 calls
$UVXY 12/11/2015 41.00 calls
$UVXY 12/11/2015 55.00 calls
No assignments today.
Closing SVXY to avoid assignment
Bought to close $SVXY Dec 11 45 put @ .35 as it dipped below the strike price minutes before the close. Sold for 1.50 on 11/12 so I’ll take my 75% of max profit off to avoid the risk. Already plenty long SVXY…
Another #VXXGame trade Proceeding cautiously…
Another #VXXGame trade
Proceeding cautiously here, being really picky about which opportunities to jump on.
Sold $UVXY Dec 24 70 call (highest strike) @ 1.85. Adding to position at a higher premium.
UVXY January
I tried to take this trade last week when Iceman posted it but I missed it. Caught it today though, and now the premium is even better than my sale. I may sell more if it continues to rise.
Sold $UVXY Jan 15 2016 170 calls @ .70.
Thanks Iceman.
SPX put spread
I was pretty light on the put side so I decided to put this one on at close to 2 standard deviations away, and below the August low.
Sold $SPX Dec 31 1865/1840 BuPS @ 1.25
KMI bottom?
Not my usual kind of trade because I’m selling puts on a big up day but I think with the dividend cut out of the way the stock looks to have possibly found a bottom. I’m willing to take the chance that 15 is in the rear view mirror so I put on a speculative put sale in January.
Sold $KMI Jan 15 2016 15 puts @ .67 (average). The IV is 67 which around its 90th percentile, so premium is still rich this morning.
CMG: I told you I wasn’t ready
To eat there yet. Looks like I probably shouldn’t have been ready to sell puts on it yet either.
More illness/possible E.coli, this time in Boston. Shares got shmeissed again after hours.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chipotle-mexican-ecoli-idUSKBN0TQ2T520151207#Dg2XvF1YGjLt3S9m.97
Rolling XOP
With the Dec strike getting breached, I rolled my 32 puts out to Jan 32 puts for .80 credit.
Bought to close $XOP Dec 18 32 puts @ 1.36 (sold for .47 on 11/17)
Sold to open $XOP Jan 15 2016 32 puts @ 2.16
$CMG: Not ready to eat…
$CMG: Not ready to eat there yet but I’ll take a chance on the stock right here
Playing today’s bounce as a possible shorter term low in the stock.
Sold Dec 18 475 put @ 1.60. Strike price is 2 standard deviations away and right around the 2 year low in the stock from May 2014. IV rank is high at 69.
$UVXY calls in March
A #VXXGame trade. Sold $UVYX Mar 18 2016 165 calls @ 1.05. Highest strike.
$KOLD rolls
Rolled my ITM Dec positions out to January for credits and in the process made some tax moves, keeping the losses in 2015. Utilizing the TastyTrade strategy and rolling to the same strike, pulling in more credit than rolling up.
Rolled $KOLD Dec 18 115 call out to Jan 115 call for 2.08 credit
Rolled $KOLD Dec 18 118 call out to Jan 118 call for 2.41 credit
Rolled $KOLD Dec 18 136 call out to Jan 136 call for 5.12 credit
#OptionsExpiration
For 12/4
Expiring:
$SVXY 12/04/2015 50.00 puts
$UVXY 12/04/2015 50.00 calls
$UVXY 12/04/2015 22.50 puts
No assignments. Have a great weekend everyone.
NUGT: Adding to June position
Adding at the highest strike in June. Premium 1.00 higher than on Tuesday.
Sold $NUGT Jun 17 2016 72 call at 4.00.
NUGT: Short calls in March
NUGT: Short calls in March
SVXY Jan weeklies
Starting to fill in the first Jan weekly.
Sold $SVXY Jan 8 (weekly) 45 put @ 1.26.
New Years Eve #VXXGame Sold…
New Years Eve #VXXGame
Sold $UVXY Dec 31 56 calls @ .70. Highest strike.
Will it ever get KOLD again?
Sold Dec 18 200 (highest strike) for 2.00, with $KOLD at 162.
NUGT calls
Sold $NUGT Jun 17 2016 72 calls @ 3.00. Highest strike.
SVXY covered calls
Sold the following:
$SVXY Dec 31 65 call @ 1.75
$SVXY Jan 15 70 call @ 1.35
Added:
$SVXY Jan 15 68 call @ 2.00
Covered calls in SVXY
Sold $SVXY Dec 24 (weekly) 65 calls @ 1.25
New strikes for KOLD
Strikes now up to 200. Sold Jan 200 call @ 6.00.
Options Expiration
Expiring:
$AAPL 11/20/2015 120 calls (covered)
$AAPL 11/20/2015 105 puts
$AMBA 11/20/2015 45 puts
$AMZN 11/20/2015 635 puts
$AVGO 11/20/2015 95 puts
$BIB 11/20/2015 42.50 puts
$EOG 11/20/2015 75 puts (covered–I’m short the stock)
$FL 11/20/2015 52.50 puts
$JOY 11/20/2015 14 puts
$KOLD 11/20/2015 100 puts
$KORS 11/20/2015 37.50 puts
$LLY 11/20/2015 72.50 puts
$SVXY 11/20/2015 47.50 puts
$SVXY 11/20/2015 52 puts
$SVXY 11/20/2015 67 calls (covered)
$SVXY 11/20/2015 70 calls (covered)
$SWKS 11/20/2015 75 puts
$TDG 11/20/2015 200 puts
$UVXY 11/20/2015 100 calls
$UVXY 11/20/2015 26 puts
$WYNN 11/20/2015 55 puts
$ZSL 11/20/2015 67.60 calls
$ZSL 11/20/2015 85 calls
Asssignments–Going long stock:
$GMCR 11/20/2015 70 puts
$HAIN 11/20/2015 60 puts
Stock being called away:
$KOLD 11/20/2015 140 calls
NUGT calls
Sold $NUGT Jan 15 50 calls @ 1.15
NFLX: Closing some short puts
Bought to close $NFLX Nov 20 108 puts for .18. Sold on 11/16 for 1.27
Closing another:
Bought to close $NFLX Dec 4 100 puts for .41. Sold on 11/16 for 1.55
Building a ladder in $UA
Adding a January position to what has now become a short put ladder.
Sold $UA Jan 15 2016 70 put @ 1.20
I am now short the following puts:
Dec 80
Jan 70
Apr 65
XOP short puts
A small position to take advantage of the high IV rank (66). Strike is at the late Sep lows.
Sold $XOP Dec 18 32 puts @ .47
NFLX Short Puts
$NFLX Selling some additional premium to offset short call exposure.
Sold $NFLX Dec 11 (weekly) 100 puts @ 1.27
$SPX call spread
#SPXCampaign Sold Dec 11 2140/2165 BeCS @ 1.20. Short strike has a delta of 07 and is outside 1 standard deviation (2135), and above the all-time high.
Options Bistro 