#SPXcampaign Sold to Open $SPX March 23rd 2845/2870 call spreads for 1.55.
#ITMroll Closed March 2nd 2800/2775 put spreads for 23.60. Sold for 23.80 on 2/14.
Sold March 9th 2800/2775 put spreads for 19.70.
Closed on GTC order: March 15th 2400/2375 put spreads for .20. Sold for 1.60 on Feb 13th.
Stopped Feb 28th 2750/2775 call spreads for 6.50. Sold yesterday for 4.45.
Cancellation of the Downside Warning looking likely. This could mean Upside Warning as early as Tuesday.
A years worth of trading and learning condensed into as few lines as I can write.
Had 5 days off to go skiing but was 70 on Wed and raining since, not good for skiing so am getting my taxes done early this year. I review every trade from the previous year so here are some lessons I learned, a few of them the hard way.
SVXY was my biggest winner until it became my biggest loser. Don’t hold unhedged short volatility. Probably better to use spreads or just buy VXX puts. Even if I had just left the #fuzzy would have limited my losses to 5 k.
#pietrades are very effective but occasionally get one that you have to roll for a long time and ties up a bunch of capital. You can eventually roll it for even or a profit but I think there may be a better way to avoid that but have not discovered it yet. I will be looking for the happy medium between tasty trade 45 DTE and 1 week with #pietrades to see if I can avoid having to roll as much. Recent segment on tasty trade says 30 DTE may be between them. Maybe I will start some positions there on Monday.
https://www.tastytrade.com/tt/shows/market-measures/episodes/shorter-duration-or-managing-earlier-01-12-2018
Managing winners really is more important than trying to save a large loss. Had I just closed SVXY at the end of the day when we were sitting at 70 I would have broken even. Instead now have 70-80% to make up loss.
Diversification is good, but once above about 10-12 tickers, tends to water down returns. I will be trading the same names a lot more this year.
CC can make more than naked puts because of the additional capital gains and skew built into some names. I will be doing more balance between CC and put sales.
#fuzzies are a good way to recover a position that really went the wrong way. Less capital at risk and if set up with a hedge limited risk. However, they take a while to repair a really bad trade. Months in some cases.
As much as I try and have the tools, I just can’t make directional trading work for me. Don’t have the time when I am at work and when I am at home don’t want to sit in front of a computer. However, timing the option sales improves returns and winning percentage. Will sell options more often at the pivot points going forward.
Selling options beats the crap out of any other trading strategies I have tried over the years. All my good trades (except SVXY) started with an option sale as the beginning of a position.
Look at positions instead of a trade. You may lose on sales the first 4 weeks but with recovery eventually can get out with a profit.
Weekly options make adjustments a lot easier.
My fellow bistro’ers gave me a lot of ideas that ended up being profitable. Thanks! 🙂
#spycraft also works and thanks to @jeffcp66 for showing me how to roll credit spreads, however, make sure it is in an account that can handle that. Tradestation cannot which is where I was trading those and with the run up the call sides were taken out but they would not let me roll. TOS fine so will be firing up some spy trades again soon with the TOS accounts.
Keep the ideas rolling, looking forward to trading with everyone again this year and maybe we keep a 2 sided market for a while 🙂
This is the time of the day where I post that it looks like we’ll be cancelling the Downside Warning today, but then immediately after that post, S&P drops a bit and the VIX quickly frightens itself higher.
#earningstrade #shortcallspreads OLED
Sold March 16, 115/120 put spreads for .95 each, taking full loss on 135/140 put spread sold yesterday for 102. I’ve heard you can’t them all
#shortputs SVXY
Closed March 2, 12 put for a gain of .28, being cautious
Posting early #optionsexpiration so of course these will all reverse later today.
Should be assigned on #coveredcalls
ERX at 28
FAS at 69
GILD at 72
AAL at 52.5
These were all #pietrades so max profits for the last 3-4 weeks and I will take it. First time the net liq has gone up in a few weeks.
Next week already have the SMH 103 puts and GM 42.5 puts off several rolls (cost basis 39.75) and will add a few more on Monday.
Hope everyone has a good expiration and great weekend! Will load up some new #pietrades on Monday with the cash from the expiration.
#Earnings #ShortPuts #ShortStrangles #StrangleRoll
Yesterday, sold $OLED Feb 23rd 140 puts for 2.15 and 2.25. In what was clearly an error by the trading Gods, the stock went down rather than up. So I’m rolling into a tight strangle because I know exactly where this stock will be on March 16th.
BTC OLED Feb 23rd 140 puts for 10.40.
STO OLEN March 16th 135/140 strangles for 12.85
Sold $OLED Apr 20 100 puts @ 1.40
$VIX I set an alert for the VIX below 17.75 per hcgavis discussion of contango/backwardation. Just went off.
BTC April 20, 35 put @ .05, sold @ 1.50 on 1 contract.
$FCX #PIEtrade Covered my long stock with Mar 02nd 20 Calls for 0.18.
STO April 100 put @ 1.35 on 1 contract.
#fallingknife
OLED Jun 90/250 Strangle 3.00
#Fuzzy – STC MU Mar16’18 44/44/42 Fuzzy for 2.57, bought for 0.76.
BTC MU Feb23’18 45 calls for 1.17, sold for 0.31.
This ticker took off this morning plus March is just around the corner. All said and done made 0.91 on 10 contracts.
#earnings #fallingknife OLED
Oh Boy
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX March 23rd 2530/2505 put spreads for 1.60.
#CoveredCalls #CoveredCallCampaign
On Wednesday, BTC $BABA March 9th 192.5 call for 5.05. Sold for 1.86 on Feb 12th
Sold BABA March 16th 177.5 put for 1.35
Today: Sold BABA March 23rd 207.5 call for 1.50.
Sold $EXAS Jul 20 30 puts @ 1.65 with the stock at 40.32. It’s printing a dragonfly doji.
#Short call spread
Buy to close IWM Feb 23 153.5 call for 0.22, sold for $1.24 Feb 16. Let expire worthless 157 protective call, lost 0.19
Good Morning
More assignments on SVXY. This time it was the 60 puts.
#spxcampaign
$SPX BTC 2/23 2710/2735 @ 8.00 STO for 1.60
#shortputs
$WYNN BTC 3/16 200/190 BECS @ .20 STO 2/7 at 1.82
$ALGN BTC 3/16210/220/BUPS at 82% profit
VXX buy Mar 16 $40 put for $1.87, if volatility settles down even half way to 50 ma this should pay off big. VXX $43.87
#shortcalls
NUGT Jan 2019 $64 call closed $2.10, sold $4.10. redeploying cash
Bought to close $WBA Apr 20 60 puts @ .40. Sold for 1.43 and 1.85 from 10/9/17-10/13/17.
With earnings estimated before April expiration I decided to close this down for most of the profit.
Big move up after earnings but has come back to the lower end of today’s range.
Selling some premium in April with the IV still elevated (IVR 60).
Sold $STMP Apr 20 230/240 bear call spread for 1.72 credit.
Short strike is near the Oct highs.
Be careful with this one–markets are really wide; both of these contracts have low volume and OI.
$MU #shortputs I decided to close mu Feb 23rd 45 Put at .99. Just not feeling the love today. Just too early yesterday. 0.44 loss plus fees.
#Earnings – Thanks @Jeff for pointing this one out…I almost over looked it. Playing fairly aggressively and skewed bullish. Selling the put side just inside the expected move and the call side at twice the expected move…
Sold OLED FEB 23 2018 145.0/180.0 Strangles @ 4.25
BTC April 125 puts @ .10, sold @ 1.25
STO Feb 23 2645/2640 .15 #Itty-Bitty
#Earnings – Just a small low risk low probability iron fly. 3 wide on a 5.30 expected move risking 40 to make 260.
Sold FSLR FEB 23 2018 63.0/66.0/69.0 Iron Flies @ 2.60
BTO ERX 26 CC 8 DTE for 25.54. $278 income on 6 contracts in IRA.
Forgot earlier, should be assigned on AAL 52.5 CC tomorrow as well. I had cost basis down to 39.75 or so for decent profit in 3-4 weeks.
SRCL #FallingKnife
Taking a huge hit after earnings. Sold $SRCL Aug 17 50 puts @ 1.25 with the stock at 61.48.
#Earnings Sold $OLED Feb 23rd 140 puts for 2.15. Biggest UP move: 23.9%, Biggest DOWN move: -11.5%, Average move: 9.6%. Bias: +3.7%. My strike is -9.1% OTM.
Never traded this one before, but it has a nice upside bias. The -11.5% move in Feb 2016 was its biggest ever move down. Last Feb it went up 20%.
I will sell more if stock drops a bit.
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 28th 2750/2775 call spreads for 4.45. Offset Feb 28th put spreads sold yesterday.
On the down move today, bought to close $SNAP Mar 16 20 calls @ .20. Sold for 1.20 on 2/9.
looks like we need 17.75 on the vix now to get out of inversion/backwardization.
Of course it seems like it is taking forever (at least a lot longer than previous spikes) because we all need it to get there.
My accounts took a huge haircut on SVXY and at this point I would be happy just to see it get back to 20. At least that would only be a 50% chop instead of an 80% trimming like it is now. Actually at 50 I would be back to the starting value of the accounts, would just be down the house money I made and lost and I can live with that.
As for the rest of the week, looks like everything will expire ITM on the CC and will let them call out (ERX, FAS, GILD).
On the put side have GM 42.5 and SMH at 103 for next Friday and will add some other #pietrades on Monday.
$ROKU Sold to open Mar 2nd 41 Put @ 1.25 with stock at 42.91.
#fuzzy MCD
My contribution to the fuzzy world. MCD appears to be coming back from an earnings drop and the correction.
September 165/165/160 for 717, sold March 2, 165 call for .30
#ShortStrangles – Back to the old grind on this long running repair trade. Getting partials trickling in one at a time….
Sold AAOI MAR 16 2018 30.0 Calls @ .60
#shortputs ROKU
Sold March 16, 40 put for 2.20, thanks to you guys and the ROKU #earningstrades
#ShortStrangles – Decent premium in these….170 percent return on margin (over 400 percent annualized) and even higher if I’m out sooner than expiration.
Sold ROKU JUL 20 2018 25.0/80.0 Strangles @ 2.62
#ShortStrangles – These were in the money until the earnings flop…LOL On the bright side, with all the long puts I’m holding I’ll make more at zero. 🙂
Bought to Close AAOI FEB 23 2018 33.0 Calls @ .05 (sold for 1.10)
#Earnings – That was fun…
Bought to Close ROKU FEB 23 2018 40.0/60.0 Strangles @ .15 (sold for 2.00)
Bought to Close STMP FEB 23 2018 160.0/230.0 Strangles @ .12 (sold for 3.20)
BTO Apr 271/271/269 Long #Fuzzy 5.57
STO Apr 280/282 .54 2x #atomicfuzzy
Rolled Feb 23 79 Call to Mar 2 77 .25 #Hedge
STO CC #Hedge Mar 2 97.5 Call .15
STO UPS Mar 29 111/113 Calls .32 2x #atomicfuzzy #Hedge
Sold $ROKU Apr 20 30 puts @ 1.35 with the stock at 40.15
Good Morning
#spxcampaign
Closed Early
$SPX BTC 2/23 2725/2750 BUPS @ 10.00 STO @ 2.10 GTC order thank goodness.
$SPX BTC 2/23 2665/2690 BUPS @ 1.00 STO @ 6.70 Thank you @jeffcp66
#shortcalls
$MSFT STO 3/16 95 call at 1.15 (Covered)
Feb 21 #Fuzzy Land
Hi there everyone! It’s been a couple days since I’ve posted, but I didn’t want to bore you with the same trades. As it turns out, I’m really liking the #AtomicFuzzy! The built in hedge is working really great this week. I was having problems sleeping over the weekend, when I can’t sleep I plan out trades in my head. The first trade I mapped out was a series of laddered SPY fuzzies in Apr/May/Jun, unhedged, totaling 250 contracts (across multiple accounts) when fully built. This would equal 25,000 shares of SPY, total risk approx $175,000, with about $87,500 profit on every $5.00 up move in SPY (assuming .7 delta). That was a fun dream. The next night I designed the same trade but as an Atomic Fuzzy. 250 contracts, risk is now aprox $87,500, and a $5 move in spy = $43,750 (assuming .35 delta).
I’ve got Atomics now on SPY, QQQ, TBT, JPM (based on #UOA today–Mar 120 calls). 45 SPY contracts, 40 in QQQ. I won’t be adding anymore unless I can get some good strike diversification.
Q’s: May 166/166/164 @ 5.86 170/175 Call Credit Spread @ 2.00 double size.
SPY: Apr 272/272/270@ 5.91 278/283 Call Credit Spread @ 1.69 double size.
There’s a chance we’re entering a range bound market here for awhile, meaning I will need to be opportunistic on taking profits, vs if we are in a trending market (that’s another reason why I went heavy on Atomics vs Unhedged). But I am trying to set up longer term trades that require little management. I do realize that SPY and Q are heavily correlated. Until more profits start getting booked, it’s still an experiment! BTW, Atomics won’t work on Fuzzy Bears due to the put skew, you can’t get enough selling put spreads to even come close to covering the cost of the protective calls.
Sue
p.s. My 45 SPY contracts have about $18,000 total risk, for virtual control of $1,215,000 of SPY shares. The beauty of fuzzies! I probably won’t post a lot unless some of these start coming off, or need some kind of management.
#Fuzzy – BTC UPS Feb23’18 110 calls for 0.05, sold for 0.43. STO UPS Mar02’18 109 calls for 0.43.
STO XBI Mar02’18 95 calls for 0.48
#SPXcampaign Sold $SPX Feb 28th 2675/2650 put spreads for 3.80.
#Earnings Got put the stock last quarter so was going to skip it, but then saw @fuzzballl‘s trade and couldn’t resist. Going 10-pts lower than he did.
Sold $STMP Feb 23rd 150/230 #ShortStrangles for 2.30.
Biggest UP move: 38.1%, Biggest DOWN move: -22.6%, Average move: 17.1%. My strikes are +23.0% and -19.8% OTM.
#SPXcampaign In pre-market, closed on GTC order:
$SPX Feb 23rd 2775/2800 call spreads for .45. Sold for 5.70 on Feb 6th.
Sold on the post-Fed spike: SPX March 23rd 2860/2885 call spreads for 1.75
#Earnings – This thing could go anywhere but at least it’s cheap enough to roll into synthetic if it tanks…
Sold ROKU FEB 23 2018 40.0/60.0 Strangles @ 2.00
Stock at 51 with an expected move of 8.25. Weekly IV of 248%…that is some serious IV priced in!
#Earnings – Had to work a couple quarters ago to get a profit out of this ticker so going back in again for round two…IV for the week an incredible 194%.
Sold STMP FEB 23 2018 160.0/230.0 Strangles @ 3.20
Stock at 189 with an expected move of 24.30…skewing this slightly bullish.
Lowest VIX reading since the correction and on track to have Downside Warning canceled today…. UNLESS, we get another round of selling, which might spike VIX right back above 18. 2 hours to go…
$VIX and /VX are within pennies. We’ll see what happens with the Fed minutes. As long as the market doesn’t freak out, could be in contango very soon.
SMH STO the 9 DTE 103 put at 0.89, 3 contracts so $261 credit.
Trying to collect 900 a week on 3 contracts with 3-4 names. Staying close in the 750-800 range.
#Fuzzy – BTC SLB Feb23’18 68.5 calls for 0.04, sold on Friday for 0.21. Gonna wait and see how the market reacts to the Fed minutes before selling calls for next week.
Have been tweaking my charts a little to better pick up the reversal points.
The SMI trigger was giving too many signals and too many false signals. Went back to percent r with a setting of 55 based on a netpicks reversal system. Picks up the extremes a little better.
Not quite as good as @fibwizard and still not trading fully directionally but this may help me sell options more accurately at the pivot points.
Any feed back or additional thoughts appreciated.
I was exercised over the weekend and last night on a few…
Jun 2018 120 puts (part of 120/105 reverse roll…basis 24.85)
Jan 2019 45 puts (basis 41.52)
Jan 2019 135 puts (part of synthetic with 132 disaster puts….basis 48.55)
$MU #ShortPuts #PIE Trade Sold to open 1 Feb 23rd 45 Put for 0.50. MU has earnings on 3/22 After market close at 4:30 EST. I will take assignment here and sell calls until the 16th and either be called away or sell the stock before earnings. If not assigned sell another Put.
$SPX Morning all. #SPXcampaign Closed my Feb 23rd 2840/2860 BeCS for 0.05. Amazing how long that took. This was the cheap side of the IC so not much profit from the 0.40 premium taken in. Hey, buys a beer to drown my sorrows from the stopped out BuPS side.
I rolled my Feb. 23 190 calls out to March 9, 195 calls for a credit of .34 cents. This is part of a 2019 Fuzzy.
I am still getting assignments. Today I was assigned the January 2019, 40 puts.It is reducing my average cost to below $50 so if we can get a stable market I have a chance of breaking even some day.
#spxcampaign
$SPX STO 3/23 2500/2525 BUPS at 1.60 Thank you @jeffcp66
#shortstrangles
$WYNN STO 2/23 160/170 strangle at 1.60 Thank you @honkhonk81
#coveredcalls
$ETE STO 2/23 17 call at .30
$DVN STO 3/2 35 call at .81
Closed Early
$NFLX BTC 3/16 230/240 BUPS @ .40 STO 2/5 for 2.15
$NFLX BTC 3/16 220/235 BUPS @ .40 STO 2/13 for 2.06
#Fuzzy – I’ve got a LOT going on this week so didn’t even get to watch any of the action today, but I did BTC XBI Feb23’18 95 calls for 0.05, sold for 0.40. Waiting to sell calls for next week…
SPX
Did we have any news that caused the SPX to drop?
#SPXcampaign Heartbreaking… these were trading for 1.50 a couple hours ago… but had to step away and I lost them.
Closed $SPX Feb 20th 2725 puts for 14.60. Sold in the 2700/2725/2765/2790 condor on Friday.
I will get some credit back by selling the 2700 long puts…
#LongPuts – It’s bouncing so selling my first hedge to begin covering the cost of the long puts. Using a spread just for margin reduction….
Sold VXX MAR 9 2018 38.0/33.0 Bull Put Spreads @ .62
#SyntheticStock – Different oil stock in a different account. Taking this one way out in time with same size as SLB.
Bought Jan 2020 75/75/72.5 Synthetic Stock @ 7.05 debit
9.55 max loss with 99 weeks to run so .10 per week to cover.
Order in but not filled to sell the hedge for next week…
#shortputspread ANET
Sold April 220/230 for 2.22
Options Bistro 