Had to drop the Vxx prefix on my handle.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Taking some UVXY profits
Trimming back by closing a couple of positions I put on yesterday (with UVXY over 25) for a good profit as volatility came in.
Bought to close:
$UVXY Apr 20 45 call @ 2.90 Sold for 8.00
$UVXY Mar 23 45 call @ 2.00 Sold for 6.00
Short Puts MZOR
#shortputs
STO 2/16/65 puts @ 2.60
#vxxgame SVXY VIX ZIV Here…
#vxxgame SVXY VIX ZIV
Here is about 20 minutes on what happened and why, nothing that hasn’t been stated here in the last couple of days
https://www.tastytrade.com/tt/shows/trade-managers/episodes/svxy-xiv-and-ziv-implications-02-06-2018?utm_content=buffere772b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
DIS
#syntheticstock Still plugging away..BTC 9 feb 115 call .05 sto for 0.60..STO 16 feb 110 call for 0.65
Core is Jan 2020 100/100/95..need 0.16 per week to cover worse case.
BMY
STO DFeb 9 63 .15 #Hedge
SVXY fuzzy
STO 2020, 10 calls
BTC 2020,10 puts
STC 2020, 5 puts
BTC February 16, 20 calls, all for a debit of 4.80, bought yesterday for a debit of 3.703
I was thinking that I have more than enough exposure to this ETF so closed it out for a profit. I am only looking at Fuzzy trades from now on to eternity.
SVXY trades
#VXXGame Sold $SVXY Feb 16th 100 long put for 86.80. Sold in the 120/100 put spread for 2.15 on Jan 23rd.
Also, yesterday closed my final 2 calls:
Closed June 150 call for .05. Sold for 14.95 on 12/20.
Closed Jan 2019 205 call for .05. Sold for 8.05 on Oct 20th.
SPX Campaign / Short Puts FB NTNX / Closed Early SVXY Calls
#spxcampaign
$SPX STO 2/7 2745/2720 BECS @ 5.00
#shortputs
$FB STO 3/16 165/175 BUPS @ 1.75
Rolled
$NTNX BTC 2/16 37.50 put STO 3/16 35 put @ .30 debit
Closed Early
$SVXY BTC 3/16 140 call at .02
CBOE Fuzzy
BTO 115 calls, 2020
STO 115 puts, 2020
BTO 110 puts, 2020
STO February 16, 125 calls for a total debit of 15.60
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold to close $SPX Feb 9th 2760/2740 put spreads for 15.05. Bought for 3.80 last Friday.
Bought to open SPX Feb 16th 2600/2580 put spreads for 1.80. In case we get tother text of lows.
I have several SHORT spreads on either side of current SPX level.
SPX
Feb 06 STO Feb 23 Short 2550 puts @ 48.90
Feb 07 BTC Feb 23 Short 2550 @ 10.50
Gain @ 79%
STO Feb 23 SPX 2600 Short side, against my existing Long side, at 13.40..
#shortputs #margin SVXY TDA is…
#shortputs #margin SVXY
TDA is requiring a a full $1200 margin for my Feb. 9, slightly out of the money 12 put. For a comparison, I have a deep in the money Feb. 16 40 put on TRTN (was looking good just a few days ago), trading at 32 and continuing down, margin is $1458
#pietrades AAPL, rolled this week…
AAPL, rolled this week 165 CC to next week for 1 credit. Market makers still be greedy on the spreads. cost basis now 161.
GM rolled this week 42.5 put t next week for 0.25 credit. Cost basis now 40 and pennies, I forgot a calculation last week and too lazy to do it now.
SVXY is going to become a #pietrade as soon as I am assigned some shares. Weeklies trying to get 1 per week but far enough OTM that will not have to cover and will wait until we are back in contango. See discussion below.
Good luck everyone, I am done for the week, going skiing in Maine tomorrow morning.
Hopefully start the SVXY recovery Monday morning!!
#shortputs SVXY Sold Feb. 9,…
#shortputs SVXY
Sold Feb. 9, 12 put for .48
More on ETN’s
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/06/wall-street-turned-these-esoteric-etns-into-a-winning-bet-for-the-masses.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain
WYNN Going Up Pre-Market
$WYNN UP 13 points PM on Steve Wynns resignation.
Good Morning
Good Morning
Good morning
We are still in backwardation on the VIX so there will not be much of a recovery on the SVXY.
SVXY
The assignments are happening.
Assigned on February 16, 70 and 75 puts. I woud prefer to get all of them assigned so I can sell covered calls.
WYNN
Could lead to a potential falling knife / synthetic opportunity…
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/06/steve-wynn-is-out-as-ceo-of-wynn-resorts.html
Could repercussions affect SVXY’s existence?
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/06/wall-streets-effort-to-turn-volatility-into-an-asset-class-is-partly-to-blame-for-this-market-chaos.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain
SVXY
Thanks for all the postings down below. Looks like plenty of patience is going to be required to work our way back. As long as the thing is open and trading we’ll eventually get there.
In my “SVXY only” account I’m short 7 puts that will be at an average cost basis of 97.70 including put premium received. I’m fine with these getting exercised ASAP so call selling can begin.
In other account everything was hedged as either synthetic stock or put spreads. Nothing major and will resume selling calls on these as well.
Looking back I was well aware this thing could go to zero but didn’t think I’d ever see it. Still haven’t decided how I’ll trade it in the future if at all. Having nice success with synthetic stock so plan on doing a lot more of those types of trades.
Good luck everyone!
XIV
Some bad news….50 share lots @ 103.65, 100.50, and 95.50 yesterday. Not much you can say…treat it as a little drawdown and work on getting it back.
EWW
#SyntheticStock – Rolled weekly to maintain positive delta. If the delta approaches zero again I’ll consider booking the winner.
Rolled Feb 50 to Mar 51 @ .10 credit
SVXY
#ShortCalls – Some good news…
Bought to Close SVXY FEB 9 2018 124.0 Calls @ .01 (sold for .80)
Bought to Close SVXY JAN 18 2019 260.0 Calls @ .01 (part of a strangle sold for 6.45 I’ll apply to a 45 strike put basis)
SVXY catching some action in after hours
Up over 1.00 (9%) in what doesn’t look to be connected to VX futures movement (UVXY and VXX are also both up pretty substantially).
SPX calls sold
#SPXcampaign Right after the bell, filled on this:
Sold $SPX Feb 23rd 2775/2800 call spreads for 5.70.
BABA covered call
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign #LongStock
Sold $BABA Mar 2nd 202.5 call for 1.75. I was assigned 200 shares on Friday.
UPS #FallingKnife Adding to my…
UPS #FallingKnife
Adding to my July position but dropping down a strike.
Sold $UPS Jul 20 95 put @ 1.60
UVXY is getting crushed
Down over 25%
DISH #FallingKnife Sold $DISH Sep…
DISH #FallingKnife
Sold $DISH Sep 21 32.50 puts @ 1.40 with the stock at 43.56. Delta 15.
BMY
#Fuzzy – BTO BMY Mar23’18 60/60/58 Fuzzy for 2.08. Leaving unhedged for now.
SVXY school
Obviously a bunch of us just got schooled in VXX products, especially SVXY.
Some things I have learned.
1. it can really go to zero and be closed down. Even if cash secured you can still be wiped out so spreads probably make more sense.
2. Most of the time it is going to infinity but can also race to zero. In looking at the news now that I have time, they had a huge margin liquidation (probably a hedge fund having to close) and that is why we closed at 70.81 but gapped down as low as 10. Had they not had to do that we probably would have opened around 70.
3. as soon as we see backwardization probably worth closing anything on the put side. I could have been out yesterday with only minor losses. Now looking at 80% haircut once assigned.
4. The option liquidity dries up and bid-ask spreads become ridiculous with a volatility spike
5. I can work with a big loss, cannot do anything with bankruptcy/liquidation. Things that appear liquid may not be all the time.
6. Somedays better to be lucky than good. Glad they are closing XIV and not SVXY. Hope no one here was in XIV but probably not since must of us are option traders.
7. You can lose money a lot faster than you can make it, even if you know what your are doing.
Now going forward.
1. Once liquidity returns will be selling OTM delta 16 or lower calls to try to reel back in some cash.
2. Once I have recovered enough of my original investment will collar that thing so no wipe out type losses.
3. Stay small, have a lot of different eggs in the basket(s) so no big loss. Have to admit I was getting over confident with the VXX trades. My mostly stock accounts have already recovered.
4. Fortunately not all my expirations are the same day so I can stagger some of the losses and may get to roll some once the options are trading well again.
Hope everyone finds a way out profitably, it will take a while but once back to contango we should be back in the right direction at least.
I will only play these trades now with “house money”.
SPX call spread
#SPXcampaign so at the lows about an hour ago I was preparing to take profits on the Feb 7th 2670/2695 call spread I sold earlier for 11.65. It was down around 6.00. Then I realized I had actually PURCHASED the spread. So I’m now long and liking this rally. Hopefully can close today with small profit.
SVXY calculations
#VXXGame Ok, here’s my thinking. I am short 6 naked options between 75 and 120. I also have two spreads, 30, and 40 points wide. All expire by September.
I have calculated two scenarios:
1. I take assignment on the naked options, and allow the spreads to expire and take the loss.
That would result in a $60,000 cash outlay and 600 shares of stock. So $100 per share.
2. Take assignment of the 6 naked, SELL the longs from the spreads when stock is at 15.00, and also take assignment from the 2 remaining shorts.
That would result in a $63,000 cash outlay for 800 shares, or 78.75 per share.
So #2 is preferred, PROVIDED $SVXY survives and gets its way back at least to 78.75.
Thoughts, anyone?
SVXY Fuzzy
BTO 2020, 10 calls @ 6.60
STO 2020 10 puts @ 4.30
BTO 2020 5 puts @ 1.38
STO Feb. 16, 20 calls @ .18
I hope they stay in Business.
XIV…back from the dead?
Hmmmm….
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 12th 2550/2525 put spreads for 3.75.
Also bought this in case of strong move down today or into Friday:
Bought Feb 9th 2590/2570 put spreads for 4.25.
UVXY April
Sold the new highest strike–$UVXY Apr 20 45 call @ 8.00.
XRT rolling to inverted
I was short a Feb 47 straddle which was doing fine until a few days ago LOL. With the stock down below 45 and bouncing a bit, I am rolling the 47 calls down to 45 for .70 credit to go inverted 47/45. Total premium taken in so far is 2.91 so I’m still at a good profit if XRT finishes between the strikes next week. If it keeps moving down I’ll roll the whole position out to March and try to un-invert it.
SVXY
I was looking at buying a SVXY Jan 2020 10/10/5 synthetic stock position and Interactive Brokers was requiring $26,000 margin?? Maybe that’s a sign I should just pass.
Covered SVXY short stock
#VXXGame BTC $SVXY stock for 11.40. This was assigned via a 100 put last March, then it split, so cost basis is 50.00. I covered the other half yesterday at 86.00 (doh!).
I couldn’t figure a reason to hold it. It’s possible this is the low for SVXY so why not cover at best price? By the time SVXY gets back to 100, I will have been assigned 700 shares.
Peter Brandt @PeterLBrandt Good chance…
Peter Brandt @PeterLBrandt
Good chance correction is over in $DJIA, but 15% correction cannot be ruled out. IMO U.S. stock market bears are going will not be pleased with future.
Sold SPX Long sides
#spx
Selling back my Long sides from 2 weeks ago that I held after exiting my short sides on Jan 26..
STC Feb 23 Long 2650 Puts at 11090.00, Bought prev at 2300 prior to Jan 26..
STC Mar02 Long 2650 Puts at 12900, Bought prev at 1440 prior to Jan 26..
The news just said (barrons)…
The news just said (barrons) that XIV is being closed but they are keeping SVXY operating.
SPX
STO Feb23 SPX 2450/2550 bups, for 11.10 credit..stop loss in place.
SVXY call closed
#VXXGame Closed $SVXY Jan 2019 165 call for .05. Sold for for 4.25 (effective price) on July 11th, as half of a 330 call before the split.
So I’m guessing we have to now watch SVXY build itself back up from 11.00? I don’t see how a massive rally will make this thing go up as fast as it came down.
SVXY
The question that I have is, will the fund be in business?
SVXY now open
Opening price 11.70
Feb 6 #fuzzy I used…
Feb 6 #fuzzy
I used the MU rally to liquidate. Liquidated MSFT too. FXE closed for 50% target. Lots of Fuzzy Bear trades today on SPY and QQQ have helped me reclaim over 50% of my YTD profits.
SPY bear: Feb 16 expiration, sell ATM call, Buy ATM put, Buy ATM+2 call. Do not hedge for fast movement with the market. Set a GTC-close so a cover order is in the system. (Tip: the fastest way to create a fuzzy close order is to open your “filled orders” right click on your order and “create opposite order”).
Sue
UVXY call
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY March 70 call for 4.30. Against long 91 calls I bought for .16 last month.
SPX reconciled
#SPXcampaign Okay, after my bonehead trades this morning, I can see we’ll probably be going down more, or at least remain congested.
Sold $SPX Feb 7th 2670/2695 call spreads for 11.65. This was a fat-finger… I mis-entered the price, should have gotten more
Sold $SPX Feb 9th 2740/2765 call spreads for 6.20.
Sold $SPX Mar 9th 2200/2175 put spreads for 1.90…. 440 points OTM.
Yesterday I sold the Mar 9th 2300/2275 for 1.80, and today it’s still 325 points OTM and trading for 4.00 (with very wide bid/ask). Fairly safe bet if you don’t believe this is a market crash.
SPX
STC May18 2900 Long Put, at 300 on the move back down while ago…prev bought on the Friday prior to meltdow Monday..purchased as a Delta 65, sold back as a Delta 90..
As I prev mentioned, the 2590 was a bounce point, at 10% correction levels…Todays low so far is 2593..and bounced up from there..when I see the reversal and bottom on my chart, I’ll start selling put spreads..until then , I’ll watch…
XBI
#Fuzzy – BTO XBI Jun15’18 91/91/88 for 4.50. Unhedged for now. Out of the foxhole, hope I don’t get shot. Is that clicking noises I hear?
VXX long puts
#VXXGame #LongPutDiagonals i entered this trade on Sept 1st when VXX was at 46.08. I bought the $VXX 2019 LEAP 20 puts for 1.80.
Today, VXX is HIGHER (52.00 as I type) and those puts are ALSO higher… mid price about 3.00.
Shows how much volatility drives all prices higher. If I get a chance to buy more under 2.00, I will.
SVXY indicative value
According to Yahoo Finance, is 11.61.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5ESVXY-IV?p=SVXY-IV
SPX… ill-advised
#SPXcampaign Already had to bail with losses on those SPX call spreads sold earlier. 100-point rally off the open is not what I expected in 25 minutes.
Closed with losses of 8.10 and 2.05.
SPX call spreads sold
#SPXcampaign Fat premium out there for decently far OTM call spreads expiring this week.
Sold $SPX Feb 7th 2675/2700 call spreads for 7.00
Sold $SPX Feb 9th 2700/2725 call spreads for 8.90
SVXY
BETHESDA, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– ProShares, a premier provider of ETFs, announced today the performance on Monday of the ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF(SVXY) was consistent with its objective and reflected the changes in the level of its underlying index. We expect the fund to be open for trading today and we intend to continue to manage the fund as usual.
About ProShares
ProShares has been at the forefront of the ETF revolution since 2006. ProShares now offers one of the largest lineups of ETFs, with more than $29 billion in assets. The company is the leader in strategies such as dividend growth, alternative and geared (leveraged and inverse). ProShares continues to innovate with products that provide strategic and tactical opportunities for investors to manage risk and enhance returns.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180206005856/en/
Source: ProShares
UVXY call sold
#VXXGame Sold $UVXY June 55 call for 11.00. This is against long 60 calls I bought last month for .96. I’m being careful to remain in spreads now.
#svxy SVXY has wiped out…
#svxy
SVXY has wiped out my trading account. I will be getting a margin call which I can’t cover. What happens now? (All the rest of my money is tied up in IRA or 401k.)
Thanks for any advice.
Laura
#Fuzzy assignment warning Good morning…
#Fuzzy assignment warning
Good morning everyone! Just want to throw out the possibility that if you have on Fuzzies with deep in-the-money short legs, there might be assignment activity due to margin calls. The higher the extrinsic value in those legs, the less likely–but anything can happen when forced liquidations kick in. Anyway this morning would be a good time to review fuzzy legs, and stay on top of any broker notifications.
Sue
A Good Read
https://mailchi.mp/oneilsecurities/morning-thoughtsshock-and-awe-inverted-vix-halted-no-sht-try-the-potato-and-eggs?e=3e82e082cd
SVXY Scwhab shows trading halted!
SVXY
Schwab shows trading halted!
Blood on the Tracks
The wreck continues….
ES -76 so far
YM -850 thus far
As expected the Asia mkt continued the selling…
VIX Indicator
#VIXIndicator fired an additional SIX warnings today, which is a record for a single day as far back as 2000 (which is the extent to which I’ve measured).
It was the highest level the $VIX has reached since August 2015, and the highest close since October 2011.
Although it was the biggest ever single-day point drop on the DOW, it was only the 33rd biggest percentage drop.
A VIX close below 15.30 would signal the Warning is over (that number will change if we get a new VIX high). But the bottom will occur several days before that signal; the indicator is working well but it can’t pick a bottom!
XIV and SVXY crater
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/xiv-exchange-traded-security-linked-to-volatility-plummets-80-percent.html
SVXY is at 12.00
UVXY peaked at 36 and already back down to 27.00
But VXX increased to a peak of 64.90, and is back to 55.00 now. That’s DOUBLE Friday’s close. This is what’s causing SVXY to crater, but not sure how the math drove it down to $10.00.
#svxy WOW svxy is down…
#svxy
WOW svxy is down 75 point – I did not see this coming. With the boat weight so short volatility is there any expectation of a bounce tomorrow? I have 100, 90, 70, 60 put sitting out there. ouch. Thanks Laura
Feb 5 #Fuzzy Land I’m…
Feb 5 #Fuzzy Land
I’m a bit shell shocked after these last 2 days. As I watched my January profits approaching a 50% retracement, it was time to liquidate almost everything to protect that level. By end of the day today my Jan profits have retraced 61.8%. An appropriate number for fib aficionados! Fuzzy bear trades brought salve in the way of $7243.00 today. Only a couple Fuzzies remain: MU (x3), MSFT. Added a new long fuzzy on IWM and TLT, and a fuzzy bear on FXE.
I’ve got a family member, C-level exec in a public company, called me 2 weeks ago, wanted me to design a trade for him to protect his employee stock options that he couldn’t sell until April 1. He was not ethically allowed to short his own company. “No Problem” I said, got the perfect trade for you! A 5-lot SPX unhedged fuzzy bear would give him $150K profit in a 10% correction, the trade was really cheap; about $24.00 (Mar29 2800/2800/2805). Tonight the trade costs $211.00. That’s $93,500 profit. Did he do the trade? No (but I didn’t either). Guess who called during the game last night in a bit of a panic. Yep.
Closed Fuzzies for the quarter profits were slashed to $26,584. But I know a LOT of people have lost everything they made in Jan, so I’m grateful that I’m still green for the year. Other than small fuzzy bears for quick flips, I’m really trying to wait for the Face-Ripping rally to set substantial bear trades.
SVXY after hours
Trading in the low 40s.
VIX futures in strong backwardation: 
After hours fill
#VXXGame Bought to close $SVXY June 145 call for 1.75. Sold for 10.00 on Dec 1st. Was trading at 20.00 a couple weeks ago.
SPX long puts sold
#SPXcampaign I bought these this morning (in pre-market) for 2.65.
Sold $SPX Feb 7th 2700/2675 put spreads for 17.00. Fill just before trading closed at 4:14 ET.
A 20K day trade!
Just caught the close, I…
Just caught the close, I know some people have not done well with the drop, but hang in there. This is where the big money is made when everyone else is running for the exits. The optionsbistro group will be there to sell them overpriced insurance policies (options)!
I will be setting up some SVXY/UVXY synthetics once I see a little stabilization.
Will also be rolling options by Wed, out of town at the end of the week.
Good luck!
Options Bistro 