Sold $CMG Jan 19 350 call @ 3.00
Category Archives: Uncategorized
WDC #FallingKnife Sold $WDC Apr…
WDC #FallingKnife
Sold $WDC Apr 20 65 put @ 1.75. Adding to my put ladder.
$DUST #Covered Calls #Rollout -…
$VIA #CoveredCalls – Sold VIAB…
$VIAB #CoveredCalls – Sold VIAB Jun 15 2018 35.0 Calls @ 1.05 with the stock at 28.64
$KR #CoveredCalls – Sold KR…
$KR #CoveredCalls – Sold KR Apr 20 2017 29.0 Calls @ 1.10 with the stock at 27.25.
At the same time Bought to close KR Jan 19 2018 19.0 Puts 0.05.
Originally sold on June at 1.25 and again in Sept at 1.10.
Still short the Apr 19.0 put at 1.50
Yesterday Musing
Yesterday, rough day for me. Saw a drawdown of $39K at the worst (but you don’t know my %). Recovered half that at one point, but it fell back down a little. So the message is…I’m hoping that it makes some folks feel better if their hit wasn’t as bad. If you were in the right stocks, you barely saw a blip, I was definitely overweighted in tech, it’s quite amazing how the accounts fared that were better diversified.
Anyway, the point of this post really, is that these are days of #refinement for traders. How do you develop control-of-self when there’s no testing? Managing violence in the market is an absolute necessity on the road to becoming a successful trader for the decades. There’s no way to gain the experience other than in the storm. No simulations, no shortcuts. So if you took a hit yesterday, and was able to sleep the night and live to trade today, then congratulate yourself. I’ll let y’all know when I’m back to all time highs.
Sue
Good morning
It looks like we are back to normal. Low volatility.
Need my portfolio margin account back!
Interesting efficiency changes with portfolio margin vs regular margin accounts.
Closed Early SPX BECS and BUCS / VXX Game / Short Puts
Closed Early
#spxcampaign
$SPX BTC 12/1 2650/2625 BECS @ 6.50 STO 10/31 @ 1.85 Still very slow on trigger
$SPX STC 12/1 2615/2630 BUCS @ 11.25 BTO 11/24 @ 2.15 Thank you @ jeff
#vxxgame
$SVXY STO 3/16/2018 75 put @ 4.20 Thank you @jeffcp66
$SVXY BTC 1/19/2018 25 put @ .15 STO @ 5.50 1/6/2017
#shortputs
$SQ STO 12/15 38.50 put @ .75
$NTNX STO 12/15 35 puts @ 2.60 Earnings play Thank you @smasty160
$AMZN STO 12/15 1060/1110 BUPS @ 1.05 Thank you @jsd501 Also have order in for the 990/1040 BUPS
$AGN STO 1/19/2018160/170 BUPS @ 2.30
$MZOR STO 12/15 60 puts @ 1.80
$PVH STO 12/15 120/130 BUPS @ 1.20 Earnings Trade (DeBeers inspired at SMM)
GILD accidental straddle/strangle as recovery trial.
Did not have time to post earlier.
BTC the 71.5/72 straddle strangle and STO 23 DTE for 1.21 credit. Originally sold for 2.12 so total credit now 3.33 on stock assigned at 79 (CB 78.06) so now down to 74.73 in 2 weeks. One more roll should be break even but I also opened some 77.5 LEAPs so will be rolling those puts next week. Once I break even may keep going with the straddles as an experiment. LEAPS expire Jan 2019 and I can hold the stock for the dividends and sell call side and the puts against the leaps.
Looks like by selling an ATM or close to the money straddle can bring in 2-4 credit each week on most stocks going out 1-4 weeks and may result in quicker profitability than just converting to CC. Will see over time how it works.
The LEAPS only cost 12.26 so should be able to cover those in about 12 weeks.
# debit call ditm
Question.
has anyone tried doing a ditm call spread like 5 dollar wide like qqq and
say a 145/150, debit 4.00 ish and let it go to expiration and assigned on both.
and your profit would be difference between fees and 5.00 spread?
LMT and FAS
Promised Daddy for two weeks I’d get him shares for the $2.00 dividend tomorrow. It kept running away from me though! But Dad loves free things. Free Big Macs when the Broncos win (yeah, been awhile), free ipads from TD Ameritrade (despite that he’s too old to use them), and perceived free money that are dividends. Had to cave.
200 Shares at $320.45, Sold Dec 22 325 calls for 1.45
FAS
This is a @fuzzballl trade, kind of. #Diagonal using #syntheticstock
BTO Feb 65 Call, STO Feb 65 (net .35 cr), STO Dec 66 call 1.32 cr
BE 63.44, Max profit $2600
Will watch for opp to add some put protection in Feb
AAOI closing a Dec position
Bought to close $AAOI Dec 15 30 puts @ .05. Sold for 1.60 on 9/25.
Very strange market today. The…
Very strange market today. The $IYT is trading like they are hauling bitcoin, retailers are acting like they are selling bitcoin in the stores, the banks are apparently converting all of their deposits into bitcoin and $/NQ is flailing like a scuba diver 110 pts below the surface stuck under a rock with an empty air tank.
Volatility
I don’t know why we got volatility in the tech sector but I sure am happy we did. I am going to guess Net Neutrality but have no clue.
SPX calls stopped
#SXPcampaign Closed $SPX Dec 29th 2655/2680 call spread for 6.70. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 3.35 on Oct 25th.
This is my final SPX call spread that has hit stop levels (in this case, gone past it). I’m waiting to roll this as my put spread load is big. Another nice push higher and I can begin selling calls again. Only call spread left is the one I sold yesterday, Dec 29th 2695/2720.
#T btc Jan 19, 37…
#T
btc Jan 19, 37 put for 4.15 had sold for 4.60.
taking a little on moving on,had on for about 2-3 weeks
$TAP #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$TAP #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 TAP Jul 20 2018 65.0 Put @ 1.55 with the stock at 77.0.
#shortputs MU
Sold Jan. 19, 38 put for 1.00 thanks #tabortrader
ADSK #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$ADSK #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 ADSK Jul 20 2018 70.0 Put @ 1.58 with the stock at 106.50.
Breakeven right near the 1-year low. And the lowest available strike.
GLD
Big change in strategy here with much lower risk. Moving #PerpetualRollingStrangles over to a Whiz #SyntheticStock out in 2020. Same amount of margin required and taking away the naked risk of the strangles. This should also be a nice hedge in a market meltdown if everyone runs for safety.
So:
Sell to Open GLD JAN 17 2020 122.0 Puts @ 7.65
Buy to Open GLD JAN 17 2020 122.0 Calls @ 12.45
Disaster puts fairly tight:
Bought to Open GLD JAN 17 2020 120.0 Puts @ 6.85
This gives a net debit of 11.65 for the Jan 2020 position. Add the 2 point max downside and get a max loss of 13.65. I did have to close my current strangles at a small loss too:
Bought to Close GLD DEC 15 2017 125.0/118.0 Inverted Strangles @ 7.30 debit (sold for 4.20)…
That’s a loss of 3.10 but at half size of the new position so I’ll add 1.55 to my basis in the new position. This will also allow me to officially book the $6100 in realized premium that the strangles have brought in over the last year or so.
With 111 weeks remaining in the trade and a max loss of 15.20 I’ll only need to sell about 13.5 cents a week to cover the max loss worse case scenario.
So:
Sold GLD DEC 8 2017 123.5 Calls @ .28
PS…yes I could’ve just bought the LEAP calls and sold against them but I like to have the possibility of booking some profit on my hedge and maybe adding to the long position at some point.
Falling knife trades
WDAY, STO June 70 put @1.55
LRCX, STO Dec. 15, 175 put @1.40
TQQQ, STO March 75 puts @1.30
LRCX, STO January 18, 160 put @1.70
NDX, PYPL, MOMO, ALGN, BA, NVDA, KORS, SPX
NDX: Rolled BeCS from 6460/70 to 6360/70, took profit, reset for delta control against BuPS
PYPL: Covered short calls (Covered Call) and reset on upswing
MOMO: Closed defended earnings trade for net $97.00 profit, used #Inversion defense
ALGN: Added a BeCS to my BuPS for delta management
BA: Bruce Marshall did a class last night at ST, I bought the #Butterfly setup from the class, it’s a directional Butterfly: Jan 18 265/275/285 10×20 for 2.55 debit, target 3.06
NVDA: Fuzzball reminded me to get an NVDA position open, put on a #JadeLizard Dec 15 short 185 put, short 205 call, long 207.5 call for net credit of 3.23, up nicely now, target cover 1.62.
KORS: This started as a post-earnings Iron Condor with good backtest history, but it has gone through SO much defense. Very happy to take it off today. I show a profit after many adjustments, but I don’t quite trust that I have the right baseline number.
SPX: I closed 3 of 4 #Bitty for a +$50 scratch. I added a BeCS to the 4th 2650/2655 for 1.45 cr for delta management.
I know these posts are lacking proper detail, but it’s been a very challenging day for me, trying to get the cows back into the corral!
Sue
WDAY
STO January 18, 90 put @ 1.30 with stock at 107.83
STO March 16, 80 put @ 1.39
#smasty could you run and…
could you run and post a view only on svxy from your cmlviz.com?
On put spreads with the delta calc you showed on spx.
thanks
$FB
After the bounce showed some life. Expires friday.
STO Dec 1 $170 puts @ $0.56
LRCX
STO March 140 put @ 1.65 on 1 contract with the stock at 195.25
$UVXY
STO Dec 22 $22.5 calls @ $0.36, didn’t have any positions at this expiration yet.
Slowly starting to sell DUST calls
Sold $DUST Jan 18 2019 50 call @ 4.10 (highest strike)
$V $NDX
Bought $V stock on the bounce @ $108, if it continues to bounce higher I will sell covered call against
STO $NDX Dec 15 $6125/$6120 put spreads @ $0.55
TQQQ
STO February 80 puts @1.05
NVDA
In an #IRA – Sold NVDA JUN 15 2018 140.0 Put @ 4.00
TSLA
#ShortStrangles – Booking a small winner in one that could really get in trouble if 290 were to not hold. I’ve got no interest whatsoever in dealing with a long TSLA position at these levels.
Bought to Close TSLA DEC 29 2017 275.0/350.0 Strangle @ 4.70 (sold for 5.45)
Still holding Jun strangles…175 put against 500 and 510 calls.
ADSK
Let’s officially call this a #ShortStrangles trade now…
Rolled ADSK DEC 1 2017 120.0 Puts to JAN 19 2018 120.0 Puts @ 1.27 credit
Used half that premium received to buy a little protection at 2.5x size. May not need it it but with a little more weakness could make a small profit. Will continue selling the weekly calls…
Bought to Open ADSK JAN 19 2018 80.0 Puts @ .30
Where do we stand now? Basis in the Jan 120 puts is 116.70 so there’s work to do. It is nice knowing that if they file bankruptcy tomorrow I make 17k. Becoming a fan of these super cheap disaster puts since you never really know what’s going on in the boardroom with these “AAOI” type stocks.
🙂 🙂
MU
#FallingKnife
MU a falling knife?
SVXY
#BullPutSpreads – Closing a position that I’m very happy to be out of with a profit. This was a #ReverseRoll of some short calls that were in trouble some time ago. Tired of looking at it as well…LOL
Bought SVXY JAN 19 2018 105.0/95.0 Bull Put Spreads @ 2.40 (sold for 3.15)
These were 10 wide but still holding some that are 5 wide that wouldn’t bother me if they got in trouble since they’re a lot lower risk which were also reverse rolls… (100/95 @ 3.60)
SVXY
Dipping my toe into the water.
STO January 5, 75 put @ 1.05 on 1 contract
$BBBY #CoveredCalls – BBBY May…
$BBBY #CoveredCalls – BBBY May 18 2018 30.0 Calls @ 0.70 with the stock at 23.60.
Adding to my earlier trade and over-writing long stock
SVXY
#ShortPuts – Trimming a little more in an #IRA. Looking for new entries now with this account at 98 percent cash.
Bought to Close SVXY DEC 15 2017 70.0 Put @ .35 (sold for 2.65)
Bought to Close SVXY JAN 19 2018 60.0 Put @ .94 (sold for 3.00)
ADSK, NFLX, NTNX
This is a whackadoodle day for me, lots of trades, not much time for detailed math:
ADSK Defense Trades:
1. Sold to open Dec 1 110 calls at the open for $3.90
2. Rolled 1/2 of my Dec 1 120 short puts to Dec 15 for .45 credit
3. Closed the other 1/2 of my Dec 1 120 short puts for big loss
4. Waited for further drop and closed my Dec 1 121 long puts for big gain
5. Sold 5 Dec 15 113 calls
6. Waited for turn signal and covered the 110 calls (from above) for 1.41
7. At a spot now w/ ADSK where I can let the dust settle. Net loss right now is about $2800.00
NTNX
1. Sold an additional 5 Dec 35 puts for earnings (portfolio-build strategy)
NFLX
I had a modified #JadeLizard from 2 days ago, the put side of that trade is the 190/180 spread. I #Butterfly (butterflied) that put spread for defense.
STO 4 Dec 15 190 put
BTO 4 Dec 15 200 put net debit 6.29
I love butterflying spreads for defense, it accomplishes 4 things: 1. Flatten deltas 2. Raise max loss 3. Widen profit range 4. Raise max profit
AMZN bull put spread
STO December 22, 990/1040 BPS @ 1.30
UVXY
These are all in an #IRA so freeing up a lot of margin. They were all just bonus spreads in addition to the 2019 positions so booking them. Still short a bunch of Jan 2019 spreads. Rocketman may give another chance to get back in these.
Bought to Close UVXY MAR 16 2018 20.0/30.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .96 (sold for 1.56)
Bought to Close UVXY MAR 16 2018 40.0/50.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .32 (sold for 1.58)
Bought to Close UVXY JUN 15 2018 25.0/35.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .84 (sold for 1.21)
Bought to Close UVXY JUN 15 2018 45.0/60.0 Bear Call Spreads @ .58 (sold for 1.70)
$NFLX – Breaks key support at 190
TLT
#PerpetualRollingStrangles – Filled on this call roll late yesterday…of course today would’ve been much better. Someday one side of these will expire and I can roll the other side to something less inverted. In the meantime collecting more premium.
Rolled TLT DEC 15 2017 123.0 Calls to TLT JAN 19 2018 123.0 Calls @ .20 credit
And today:
Just going out two weeks…
Rolled TLT DEC 15 2017 127.0 Puts to DEC 29 2017 127.0 Puts @ .37 credit
Rolled TLT DEC 15 2017 130.0 Puts to DEC 29 2017 130.0 Puts @ .27 credit
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign Another reverse roll as I just don’t want to see my two remaining call spreads rack higher and higher in premium.
Stopped $SPX Dec 22nd 2555/2580 call spreads for 6.45. Sold for 1.55 last week.
#ReverseRoll Sold to Open $SPX Dec 18th 2630/2605 put spreads for 8.05.
$GWW #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$GWW #ShortPuts – Bought to close 1 GWW Dec 15 2017 165.0 Put @ 0.05
Sold on 10/25/2017 @ 1.40 so a pretty quick turnaround.
$SQ Closed my Dec 15th…
$SQ Closed my Dec 15th 38 Puts at a small loss, in at .70 out at .90. Maybe later after the “Vote”. Maybe never.
NVDA
#ShortStrangles – A little adjustment for some additional premium…
Bought to Close NVDA DEC 15 2017 240.0 Call @ .05
Sold NVDA DEC 15 2017 210.0 Call @ 1.95
Position is now 200/210 strangle @ 6.22
PCLN
#ShortStrangles – Bought to Close PCLN DEC 15 2017 1550.0/1950.0 Strangle @ 1.03 (sold for 5.50)
ISRG
#ShortStrangles – Bought to Close ISRG DEC 15 2017 380.0/420.0 Strangle @ 2.15 (sold for 5.30)
Tech stocks
They are imploding. Any news?
$UAA #CoveredCalls #IRA – Sold…
$UAA #CoveredCalls #IRA – Sold UAA Dec 1 2017 14.0 Calls @ 0.06 with the stock at 13.40.
Taking what I can get. These expire Friday.
ADSK earnings
#Earnings – Grabbing a little extra premium this week. Looking to roll the 120 puts out…
Bought to Close ADSK DEC 1 2017 140.0 Calls @ .01
Sold ADSK DEC 1 2017 114.0 Calls @ .90
$BBBY #CoveredCalls – BBBY May…
$BBBY #CoveredCalls – BBBY May 18 2018 30.0 Calls @ 0.52 with the stock at 22.90
$M #CoveredCalls – Sold M…
$M #CoveredCalls – Sold M May 18 2018 30.0 Calls @ 0.63
$KR #CoveredCalls – another #FallingKnife…
$KR #CoveredCalls – another #FallingKnife on the rebound –
Sold KR Jul 20 2018 29.0 Calls @ 0.70
Sold KR Jul 20 2018 30.0 Calls @ 0.60
$VIAB #CoveredCalls – sold both…
$VIAB #CoveredCalls – sold both these offsetting ITM Dec and Jan Puts. I will be taking the stock.
VIAB Mar 16 2018 32.5 Calls @ 0.75
VIAB Jun 15 2018 37.5 Calls @ 0.60
VIAB
This submarine finally surfaced.
BTC December 15, 27.5 puts @.60, sold @.80 but happy to be out of this one.
$FB
STO Dec 15 $170 puts @ $0.93 Followed @smasty trade from yesterday but wanted to enter on weakness. Didn’t catch the bottom but like the $170 level.
#antm at open closed on…
at open closed on gtc . jan 18 210/205 put @ .57 had open last Friday for .75
What a manipulated stock.
RH rolls
#Earnings Still milking $RH for premium before earnings next week. I’m in the hole from its recent jump higher.
STO RH Dec 1st 105 call for 1.30, adding
BTC RH Dec 1st 95 put for .15. Sold for 1.74 avg price.
Good Morning all
Good Morning all
Short Puts BABA / Short Calls EXAS
#shortputs
$BABA STO 12/15 170/180 BUPS @ 1.15
#shortcalls
$EXAS STO 12/15 60 call @ 1.20 Covered
$CHRW #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$CHRW #ShortPuts – Bought to close CHRW Jan 19 2018 60.0 Puts @ 0.05.
This was part of a #FallingKnife #OptionLadder that is now closed out.
Originally sold at 1.15 in May 2017 and added to at 1.45 and 1.75
Have a good evening
Have a good evening
NDX #Bitty Conversion 2 more…
NDX #Bitty Conversion
2 more orders slipped in before the close. I have a special indicator I’ll share with everyone soon, but it gave me a flag on QQQ, so I quickly layered on a BeCS onto my NDX Bitty from yesterday to flatten deltas, extend range, raise max loss, and increase max profit:
On already from yesterday: Dec 8 6330/6325 BuPS for .80 cr x10
Added: Dec 8 6460/6470 BeCS for 3.26 cr x 5 (half size due to 10-wide)
Also added QQQ #JadeLizard due to backtest study I’ve run for timing.
Dec 15 Short 154 put/ Short 158 call/long 159 call for net credit of .90 x 5 BE 153.07 to down side, there’s .10 of upside risk.
$BBBY #CoveredCalls – Sold BBBY…
$BBBY #CoveredCalls – Sold BBBY May 18 2018 30.0 Calls @ 0.39 with the stock at 21.90
$KR #CoveredCalls – Sold KR…
$KR #CoveredCalls – Sold KR APR 20 2018 28.0 Calls @ 0.55 with the stock at 23.51
$M #CoveredCalls – Sold M…
$M #CoveredCalls – Sold M FEB 16 2018 25.0 Calls @ 0.63
$UVXY #ShortCalls #ClassicVXXGame – bought…
$UVXY #ShortCalls #ClassicVXXGame – bought back a large number of contracts in several accounts when they finally dropped to a penny.
Bought to close UVXY1 JAN 19 2018 60.0 Calls @ 0.01. These were pre-split contracts on 25 shares.
Sold between February and May at prices from 1.76 up to 6.20.
Also Bought to close UVXY1 JAN 19 2018 33.0 Calls @ 0.01.
Sold in August at 1.51
Rocket Man Trades
SPX sold half of longs
#SPXcampaign Sold to Close $SPX Dec 1st 2615/2630 call spreads for 9.00. Bought Friday for 2.25.
Keeping other half until Friday. Also still holding Dec 8th 2620/2640 spreads bought yesterday for 3.50.
BA #Bitty roll You guys…
BA #Bitty roll
You guys are probably ready to boot me? Sorry I’m a very active trader, will try to consolidate more. Rolled a Boeing Bitty (that’s fun to say). Closed a Dec 8 260/257 bitty for $220 profit, opened a new one: Dec 15 262.5/260 BuPS for .45 x 12.
AMZN
STO December 15, 1060/1110 bull put spread @ 1.05
ADSK Fill Got a fill…
ADSK Fill
Got a fill on ADSK. This is a 2 part trade. Screen shot is below if you want to load it in to the analyze tab (see caution below)
Part 1: #PutRatioSpread Bought to open 5x Dec 1 121 put, Sold to open 10x 120 put for net credit of .80
Part 2: #CallDiagonal Sold to open 138 call x 5 for 1.06, Bought to open Dec 29 145 call for .91, net credit of .15
A lot of people don’t realize that with #TimeSpreads (like diagonals and calendars) it’s impossible to know what the max profit will be. You cannot trust your blue P/L line in TOS…that line will move up and down based on volatility, and with the long call out in the future–the best you can do is to model an x% vol crush in TOS (15-25% usually) to make sure your trade isn’t killed by lower vol. In the morning, that blue line will have contracted, so what can look like a great trade the day before earnings, can get very deflated upon market open, and many people don’t understand why it’s tricky to work time spreads around a known vol crush. But I’ve found credit diagonals, particularly, to be wonderful add-ons for earnings for increasing range, max profit, and balancing deltas.
The Put Ratio Spread is one of my all time favorite trades. It is a net long-delta trade that can provide a wonderful profit range. Really, the put ratio spread is identical to a Jade Lizard. If you put the two graphs side by side, they are the same. In fact the Jade Lizard creators at Tasty Trade have started doing JL’s using all one side of the option chain; puts for regular, calls for reversed. Put ratio spreads, since they are sold for a net credit, have no upside risk.
The Call Diagonal is a nod to all the bearish fund flow I’ve been watching on ADSK. There are a lot of Dec 120 puts being bought by funds, and the Dec 130 and 140 calls are being sold. So I designed the call diagonal spread around that 140 line.
There is risk on both sides of this trade. TOS is showing break even at 117.88/145.64. In reality that upper break even number will come in quite a bit in the morning. I prefer to consider the risk of a naked put as “long stock assignment”–I never consider it to be undefined risk. The upside of this trade is defined risk, but it’s wide, there will be pain if ADSK jumps over 140.00. Once again, pre-market defense (on a run up) will be buying some shares in after hours.
Options Bistro 