After a calm opening:
Sold 1 SPY 08/14/2024 547.00 Call at $0.24
Sold 1 SPY 08/14/2024 535.00 Put at $0.27
#EveryLittleBitHelps
Category Archives: Uncategorized
TQQQ Calls
Bought 1 TQQQ 09/06/2024 80.0 Call / Sold 1 TQQQ 08/30/2024 71.0 Call for a $0.82 Diagonal Credit
Also, I’m still long 1oo shares of the stock, put to me at $71.00
SPX 0-dte trades for 8/14/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 14th 5345/5365-5510/5530 condors for 1.30, deltas -.08 +.05, IV 29.51%
Bullish leaning.
Upside Warning in effect
#VIXindicator Expect higher levels in the market over the coming days or weeks.
CRWD BUPS Close
$CRWD BTC 8/16 210/225 BUPS at .15. STO at 1.35. Thank you @ramie77 for the trade
SPY Expiration
1 SPY 485/531 Bull Put Spread
1 SPY 505/532 Bull Put Spread
Rolled my SPY 545/541 Bear Call Spread to a new diagonal for a $1.19 Credit
Bought 1 SPY 08/21/2024 555 Call and Sold 1 SPY 08/20/2024 547 Call
At least the Puts worked 🙂
SPY
Bought 1 SPY 08/14/2024 551.0 Call / Sold 1 SPY 08/13/2024 541.0 Call for a $0.24 Diagonal Credit.
Bought 1 SPY 08/14/2024 515.0 Put / Sold 1 SPY 08/13/2024 531.0 Put for a $0.24 Diagonal Credit.
#EveryLittleBitHelps
VXX Long term Puts
Bought 1 VXX Jan 17 2025 24.0 Put at $0.20
#VXXContango
SBUX
Slowing selling off excess SBUX
Sold tiny bits at 91.16, 91.96, 92.01, 92.10, 93.52, 94.01, 94.11, 94.25, 94.45, 94.66 and 94.88
#FormerFallingKnife
SPX 0-dte trades for 8/13/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 13th 5265/5285-5420/5440 condors for 1.20, IV 28.26%, deltas -.07 +.05
SPY Expiration
1 SPY 545/538 Bear Call Spread
1 SPY 545/539 Bear Call Spread
SPY for tomorrow
Bought 1 SPY 08/14/2024 550.0 Call / Sold 1 SPY 08/13/2024 540.0 Call for a $0.18 Diagonal Credit.
#EveryLittleBitHelps
Also rolled 1 short SPY 08/12/2024 535.00 Put to 1 SPY 08/13/2024 532.00 Put at $0.07 Credit
SPY Calls
Bought 1 SPY 08/13/2024 545.0 Call / Sold 1 SPY 08/12/2024 539.0 Call for a $0.13 Diagonal Credit.
#EveryLittleBitHelps
VXX Calls
Sold 1 VXX 08/16/2024 72.0 Call at $0.43.
Then added:
Sold 1 VXX 08/16/2024 74.0 Call at $0.52
Both are re-writes against leftover long calls from last week’s diagonal spreads
#DoubleDip
SPX 0-dte trades for 8/12/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 12th 5255/5275-5415/5435 condors for 1.15, deltas -.06 +.05, IV 26.88%
Earnings 8/12 – 8/16
(Previous post was in error and was deleted)
Highlights: WMT, BABA, HD, DE, AMAT
Economic Calendar 8/12 – 8/16
CPI on Wednesday and Retail Sales on Thursday
Downside Warning canceled*
#VIXindicator This cancelation comes with an asterisk*…. the Fib retracement of recent $VIX low and high was abnormally high (22.42) due to Monday’s extreme VIX high over 65. Based on past performance, I still believe this signal is likely to work, but perhaps just less likely than normal. The recovery after Monday was remarkable, so Monday was probably just a temper tantrum and we will now resume the steady tick higher.
OptionsExpiration
A couple of mid week early assignments on spread positions had me scrambling to raise some cash.
Had to close some positions early
Here’s what I had left
EXPIRED:
AAL 9 Put
ALB 73 Put
BOIL 6.5 Put
EQT 28 Put
HAL 29.5 Put
HAL 29 Put
INTC 18 Put
MOS 23.5 Put
OXY 52 Put
PARA 10 Put
SOXL 19 Put
WYNN 65 Put
ALB 70/73 Bull Put Spread
BOIL 11 Covered Call
BOIL 11.5 Covered Call
CLF 17.5 Covered Calls
COP 99/105 Bull Put Spread
INTC 19 Diagonal Put
SOXL 25/30/35/40 Iron Condor
SOXL 54 Covered Call
SPY 515/5190 Bull Put Spread
SPY 515/521 Bull Put Spread
SPY 525 Diagonal Put
SPY 541/537 Bear Call Spread
SPY 541/535 Bear Call Spread
UPS 120/123 Bull Put Spread
UPS 121/124 Bull Put Spread
UPS 121/125 Bull Put Spread
VFC 19/17.5 Bear Call Spread
VXX 47.5/51 Bull Put Spread
VXX 72 Diagonal Call
VXX 75 Diagonal Call
VXX 80 Diagonal Call
ASSIGNMENTS:
VFC 15.0 Covered Call
INTC 28 and 29 Puts (on Thurs and sold the stock for a loss)
SOXL 49 and 50 Puts (on Thurs – Writing covered Calls)
New VXX Calls
Sold 1 VXX 08/16/2024 82/72 Bear Call Spread at $0.53 Credit
The spike high after the temper tantrum on Monday of VXX was $71.80 on 08/07
VXX Call Rollout
Rolled 1 VXX 08/19/2024 90/56 Bear Call Spread out to 1 VXX 08/16/2024 89/57 Bear Call Spread at $0.21 Credit
My VXX short 72 and 80 Calls should expire
SPY Trades
Sold 1 SPY 08/09/2024 519.0 Put at $0.31
Bought 1 SPY 08/12/2024 500.0 Put / Sold 1 SPY 08/09/2024 521.0 Put for a $0.31 Diagonal Credit
Bought 1 SPY 08/12/2024 545.0 Call / Sold 1 SPY 08/09/2024 537.0 Call for a $0.24 Diagonal Credit
SPX 0-dte trades 8/9/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 9th 5190/5170 put spreads for 1.00, delta -.07, IV 43.78%
After three straight days of being stopped on call side I’m going to try to leg in today, and since we are down a bit now starting with put side. Of course, this likely means today will NOT see a spike higher.
SPY Expiration
1 SPY 08/28/2024 500/519 Bull Put Spread
1 SPY 08/08/2024 516/519 Bull Put Spread
1 SPY 08/08/2024 518/520 Bull Put Spread
1 SPY 08/08/2024 520.0 Diagonal Put
1 SPY 08/08/2024 532.0 Diagonal Call
1 SPY 08/08/2024 533.0 Diagonal Call
SPY Calls
Bought 1 SPY 08/09/2024 541.00 Call / Sold 1 SPY 08/08/2024 532.00 Call for a $0.40 Diagonal Credit
Bought 1 SPY 08/09/2024 541.00 Call / Sold 1 SPY 08/08/2024 533.00 Call for a $0.20 Diagonal Credit
VXX Long term Puts
Bought VXX Jan 17 2025 23.0 Puts at $0.15
#VXXContango
TLT
Selling the week before the Fed meeting then maybe be able to do it again during FED week with the elevated IV. I’ll do the same thing with a bunch of covered calls if my current ones expire next week.
Sold TLT Sep 13 2024 93.5 Puts @ .98 (thanks Fidelity for the penny price improvement!)
SPX 0-dte trades for 8/8/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 8th 5115/5135-5345/5365 condors for 1.70, IV 46.46%, deltas -.06 +.07
Waited until after the open today… zero for two this week on these so maybe this will work.
SPY
Also at the open took another one off for small gain in case this is a DCB.
Bought to Close SPY Sep 20 2024 470.0 Put @ 2.37 (sold for 3.00)
BA SNOW
Also right at the open sold against synthetic stock. Small positions.
Sold BA Aug 16 2024 170.0 Calls @ 2.80
Sold SNOW Aug 16 2024 120.0 Calls @ 3.50
SPX
Learned something very interesting this week about rolling these. With a VIX curve like this the increased short term volatility outweighs the time added so it’s very tough to roll for a credit. With Sep vol much lower went out to Oct to get more even vol and was able to roll down a few strikes. Luckily, this isn’t the norm. Crazy stuff going on and election coming up things might calm down after that and get back into a contango situation.
An increasing VIX without going to backwardation still seems to be great for rolling vs a short term shock to the market with near term super spikes in vol. I am considering only selling put spreads from now on when the market is at nose bleeds. Had that been the case here I would have booked the losses on the spreads and possibly closed the LEAP shorts for bigly gains.
Right at the open:
Rolled SPX Aug 16 2024 5585.0 Puts to Oct 18 2024 5570.0 Puts @ .25 credit (10.05 total now)
SOXL VFC Calls – VXX Puts
Sold SOXL 40/35 Bear Call Spreads at $0.21 and $0.26 Credit
Bought 1 VFC 08/23/2024 22.5 Call / Sold 1 VFC 08/09/2024 19.0 Call for a $0.14 Diagonal Credit
Sold VXX 08/09/2024 47.5/51 Bull Put Spread at $0.14 Credit
SPX 0-dte trades 8/7/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 7th 5150/5170-5370/5390 condors for 1.70, IV 38.77%, deltas -.06 +.06
SPY Expiration
1 SPY 08/06/2024 520 Put
1 SPY 08/06/2024 519 Put
1 SPY 08/06/2024 485/495 Bull Put Spread
SOXL roll and ALB TQQQ Spreads
Sold to close 1 SOXL 08/09/2024 30.0 Put at $1.75. Bought at $0.46 on 7/26
Bought to open 1 SOXL 08/16/2024 23.0 Put at $0.65 for a diagonal credit of $1.10
Sold 1 ALB 70/73 Bull Put Spread at $0.14 Credit
Sold 1 TQQQ 69.5/64 Bear Call Spread at $0.23 Credit
#EveryLittleBitHelps
INTC Diagonal Put
Bought 1 INTC 08/16/24 16 Put @ 0.04 / Sold 1 INTC 08/09/24 19 Put @ 0.20 for a $0.16 Credit
#EveryLittleBitHelps
MARA FIAT NVDY AMDY NFLY CONY
SOLD CALENDAR MARA , 9 AUG 2024 to/16 AUG 2024 //18 PUT @.34
–
#smallbuy
#dividends
BOT FIAT @21.60
BOT NVDY @24.16
BOT AMDY @13.80
BOT NFLY @15.84
BOT CONY @16.29
SPY
Taking these in a day.
Bought to Close SPY Sep 20 2024 400.0 Put @ 1.28 (sold for 4.00)
Bought to Close SPY Sep 20 2024 425.0 Put @ 1.97 (sold for 5.00)
And a tiny winner to thin the herd.
Bought to Close SPY Sep 20 2024 450.0 Put @ 2.85 (sold for 3.00)
SPX 0-dte for 8/6/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 6th 5060/5080-5330/5350 condors for 1.65, IV 51.15%, deltas -.06 +.06
SPY Expiration
1 SPY 08/05/2024 495/500 Bull Put Spread – Sold this morning at $0.50
SPX end of day
#SPX0dte At 12:26p PT, sold to open $SPX Aug 5th 5145/5175-5180/5210 condors for 14.45, IV a lot. BTC at 12:49 for 12.50, about 10%. Was going for 10.00 but it looked to be threatening to go lower so I got out. Had I waited a minute longer, it would have hit 10.00! It didn’t hit my expiration breakeven point so I probably shouldn’t have chickened out, but when down 3%, fear is a factor.
SPY Puts
Sold 1 SPY 08/06/2024 485/495 Bull Put Spread at $0.28 Credit
#EveryLittleBitHelps
Damage control: closed my SPX…
Damage control: closed my SPX butterflies at minor losses ($2900 avg over 5 accounts).
Adding long puts to my XOP and XBI Jade lizards. Just to control margin, only paper losses at this point. Will manage as calendars/diagonals now.
Stay flexible! Not trading anything else today but I see some trades setting up with the bump in the VIX.
Today daughter is home from college and she lives away year round now so we are either going SUP surfing or flat water paddle after lunch. Sounds like she is leaning towards flat water.
SPY
Not as good as opening prices but I’d still be very happy with these on a more normal type of drop.
Sold SPY Sep 20 2024 400.0 Put @ 4.00
Sold SPY Sep 20 2024 425.0 Put @ 5.00
Schwab
Down all morning
keeping me out of trouble 🙂
SPX
Out in the middle of South Dakota and Spectrum has capped my speeds due to data usage this week. I can barely get on any platform. Missed the opening prices for SPY put sales. Thanks Spectrum!
I did mange to close these. Bought as protection months ago before the big rally and I had kinda written them off as worthless. I’ll take it!
Sold to Close SPX Dec 19 2025 1000.0 Put @ 4.50 (bought for 4.10)
Sold to Close SPX Dec 19 2026 1000.0 Put @ 5.00 (bought for 5.55)
More opening activity
Sold 1 SPY 08/05/2024 495/500 Bull Put Spread at $0.50 Credit
Sold 1 TQQQ 08/09/2024 40/45 Bull Put Spread at $1.24 Credit
Sold 1 UPS 08/09/2024 125 Put at $1.37
Sold 1 UPS 08/09/2024 124 Put at $1.24
Sold 1 UPS 08/09/2024 123 Put at $1.10
Sold 1 CVS 08/09/2024 70 Covered Call at $0.19
Sold 1 CVS 08/09/2024 71 Covered Call at $0.13
Sold 1 TQQQ 08/09/2024 71 Covered Call at $0.12
Sold 1 SOXL 08/23/2024 60/56 Bear Call Spread at $0.18 Credit
Bought 1 SOXL 08/16/2024 16 Put / Sold 1 SOXL 08/09/2024 24 Put for a Diagonal Credit of $0.68
Bought 1 VFC 08/16/2024 21 Call / Sold 1 VFC 08/09/2024 17.5 Call for a Diagonal Credit of $0.16
Active opening
Sold 1 SOXL Aug 09 2024 54 Covered Call at $0.06
Sold 1 PARA Aug 09 2024 10 Put at $0.06
Sold 1 HAL Aug 09 2024 29 Put at $0.08
Sold 1 LVS Aug 09 2024 33 Put at $0.11
Sold 1 EQT Aug 09 2024 28 Put at $0.12
Sold 1 MOS Aug 09 2024 23.5 Put at $0.26
Sold 1 AAL Aug 09 2024 9 Put at $0.27
Sold 1 ALB Aug 09 2024 73 Put at $0.44
Sold 1 OXY Aug 09 2024 52 Put at $0.78
Sold 1 WYNN Aug 09 2024 65 Put at $1.20
Bought tiny bits of INTC at $20.21 and $20.00
Sold a tiny bit of TSN at $62.62
Sold half my remaining VXX stock at $86.15 in the pre-market
BITO
@DCA
#dividends
BOT BITO @16.725
SPX 0DTE put spread
Sold $SPX Aug 5 4960/4925 bull put spread @ 3.05
Earnings 8/5 – 8/9
Highlights this week: CAT, UBER, DIS, SHOP, RIVN
Economic Calendar 8/5 – 8/9
Relatively quiet week for data, after Services and ISM PMI on Monday.
SPX trades for 8/2/24
#SPX0dte I stayed away most of Friday, even though I modeled a couple of wide condors which would have been easy wins. The tight condors lose value at a very slow rate on these high volatility days. They were around 21.00 at the open and still almost 20.00 four hours later. My plan was to wait until much closer to the close, as I did on Wednesday.
(All times I mention and on the chart are PACIFIC). By 11am, it looked as if enough consolidation was forming to make the trade viable. I liked the condor centered at 30-35, but then it dropped and was hovering around 15. So I sold the 15-20, after which it went right back up to 30-35 and resumed consolidation there. Premium was dropping but not enough because I was off center. So I covered for 8% profit and immediately reentered the 30-35 for 15.95, with only 46 minutes left in day. Premium began draining. The red dashed lines represent the expiration breakevens for this trade. As long as those were not breached, I was safe from loss. It got down to 8.00 at 12:54 and I covered, 50% profit. Had I let it go, I could have gotten out for around 6.00 a few minutes later, but had I let it expire, I would have paid 11.56.
So, this is the first major volatility I’ve seen since starting this trade early this year. It’s clear this trade is good near the open in low-VOL, but this end-of-day trade can be a winner in hi-VOL. I think you need to see some consolidation in middle of the day; if not, the wide moves could continue all the way to the close. For instance, this trade would not have been as easy on Tuesday or Thursday this week. Also, it’s best to get out before close, as too often the last two 5-min bars can be quite big and throw you outside breakeven very quickly.
OptionsExpiration
After several panic rollouts (VXX Calls plus INTC, SOXL, SPY Puts) here is what I had left:
Expirations:
CLF 17.5 Covered Calls
CVS 67.0 Covered Calls
FCX 46.5 Covered Call
SBUX 84.0 Covered Call
SOXL 54.0 Covered Call
SOXL 26.0 Short Put
SOXS 20.5 Short Put
TQQQ 55.0 Short Put
WYNN 74.0 Short Put
ALB 77/84 Bull Put Spread
FCX 49/47 Bear Call Spread
NVDA 80/90 Bull Put Spread
SBUX 88/85 Bear Call Spread
SCHW 72/69 Bear Call Spread
SOXL 55/50 Bear Call Spread
SOXL 56/51 Bear Call Spread
TQQQ 77/74 Bear Call Spread
TQQQ 77.5/74.5 Bear Call Spread
UPS 115/123 Bull Put Spread
UPS 115/124 Bull Put Spread
UPS 115/126 Bull Put Spread
UPS 120/126 Bull Put Spread
UPS 127 Diagonal Put
Assignments:
1 TQQQ 71.0 Put (assigned last night)
At least I was able to sell the long 60.0 Put at $2.14 this morning.
Markets
Escalator Up, Elevator Down
August is usually the most…
August is usually the most volatile month of the year. It is keeping up with history so far 🙂
Algo says the bottom may…
Algo says the bottom may be in for the day, at least on the 5 minute. Waiting until I see it on the 15 to take advantage of selling a bunch of premium and rolling options.
SPY VIX
SPY: Another add.
Sold SPY Sep 20 2024 450.0 Put @ 3.00
VIX: I was a little too far out in time to really get the big pop. I’ll take the 34 percent though.
Sold to Close VIX Dec 18 2024 20/30 Bull Call Spreads @ 1.60 (bought for 1.06)
SPX this drops are just…
SPX
this drops are just way too tempting. Bought a Bull Call spread Aug09 5550/5560, that is a 7 Delta for .75.
Reasonable risk in my eyes, especially when looking at today.
SPY
Another add.
Sold SPY Sep 20 2024 470.0 Put @ 3.00
SPY TLT
SPY: One add down below the 200 day.
Sold SPY Sep 20 2024 490.0 Put @ 3.30
TLT: Done with put sales until it comes back down a little.
Bought to Close TLT AUG 02 2024 93.0 Puts @ .01 (sold for 1.44)
July Jobs Report
#Jobs — Drop in job gains, below expectations, UE ticks up
Gain of +114,000 non-farm payroll jobs, vs. expected gain of 175K
Unemployment up 0.2% to 4.3%, highest since Oct 2021
U6 unemployment 7.8%, up by 0.4
Labor force participation up 0.1 to 62.7%
Average hourly earnings up by 0.2%; +3.6% Y/Y
May jobs revised down by -2K to +216K
June jobs revised down by -27K to +179K
NVDA SPY
A couple late fills.
Sold NVDA Aug 16 2024 100.0 Put @ 2.40
Sold SPY Sep 20 2024 505.0 Put @ 3.30
SPX 0-dte for 8/1/24
#SPX0dte At 11:21pm ET, sold to Open $SPX Aug 1st 5435/5455-5610/5630 condors for 1.65, IV 20.35%, deltas -.06 +.06
SPX 0-dte
#SPX0dte I would have stayed away but I was smarting from yesterday so I took a shot. I liked the pullback from the HoD and sold the $SPX July 31st 5500/5530-5535/5565 condors for 15.20 at 3:21p ET. White knuckled through the dip and it came back to center and exited for 11.00. Over 15.00 with only 39 minutes left in the day is super… but we all know this thing can move FAR in the last hour on FOMC decision days.
SPY
Taking almost half on the bounce.
Bought to Close SPY Sep 20 2024 500.0 Put @ 1.67 (sold for 3.00)
TQQQ,
BTC September 6, 50 puts at .76
BTC August 60 puts at .75
I am reducing my exposure until this correction has run its course.
NVDY SOXL
BOT NVDY @23.92
—
#coveredcalls
#everylittlebithelps
SOLD SOXL 2 AUG 2024 52 CALL @.06
TQQQ,
STO September 6, $50 puts at .91
MARA
Sto MARA 2 AUG 2024 18 PUT @.19 and .20
#everylittlebithelps
SPX 0-dte
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 30th 5375/5395-5535/5555 condors for 1.35, deltas -.06 +.06, IV 16.21%
Sorry for not posting today, I just got back from Colorado last night. I sold a wide condor last night and two tight condors today for a total of +3.65. Hopefully tomorrow will be another quiet day so I can avoid Wednesday altogether.
TSLY USOY NVDY GDXY
#dividends
#smallbuy
BOT GDXY @18.43
BOT TSLY @15.75
BOT USOY @18.05
BOT NVDY @25.76
BA SNOW TLT
Was busy Thur and Fri (and Sat)…out on the road. Sturgis baby! Still got my Fri expiration stuff done.
BA: Synthetic stock (earnings next week)
Rolled BA JUL 26 2024 182.5 Calls to AUG 02 2024 185.0 Calls @ 1.00 credit (1.90 total now)
SNOW: Synthetic stock
Bought to Close SNOW JUL 26 2024 133.0 Calls @ .03 (sold for 2.10)
Sold SNOW AUG 02 2024 132.0 Calls @ 2.75
TLT: Could have closed for a couple cents and then sold again but was in a hurry so did the roll.
Rolled TLT JUL 26 2024 93.0 Puts to AUG 02 2024 93.0 Puts @ .83 credit (1.44 total now)
Earnings 7/29 – 8/2
Amazon and Apple on Thursday
Options Bistro 