STO January 19, 2018 95 puts @1.10 with the stock at105.91
Recent Updates Page 391
XBI rolled 15 DTE 79…
XBI rolled 15 DTE 79 put to 43 DTE 80 put for 0.81 credit to keep the ladder rolling 4 weeks at a time.
Now I have the day off, maria passed through, we have sun and wind and 2 other friends have the day off so going kiteboarding!
I rolled most of my trades yesterday so unless something really good comes along I am done trading for the week. Hope everyone has a good expiration tomorrow.
Cheers
Good morning
$ZGNX #ShortPuts – Sold ZGNX…
$ZGNX #ShortPuts – Sold ZGNX OCT 20 2017 2.0 Puts @ 0.25 with the stock above 13.
Rolls. Too busy to post at lunch.
WDC 9/29 86 calls rolled to 10/13 for 0.95 credit
WDC 10/6 84 calls rolled to 10/20 for 0.68 credit
WDC 10/6 85 calls rolled to 10/20 for 0.81 credit
WDC 10/6 84 calls rolled to 10/20 for 0.57 credit TS account, TOS seems to get much better fills
WDC 9/29 85 put rolled to 10/6 87 for 0.83 or so.
This was to stay in the positions to collect the 0.50 dividend on Friday so I was keeping the time value above 0.50 so no one would exercise early.
Cash machine last few weeks, dropped the cost basis another 1k+, collect the dividend then will let them get called out and start the put ladder again. Great premiums and stays in range. New range 81-90. Previous was 85-97.
$SPX #spxcampaign Closed the call…
$SPX #spxcampaign Closed the call side of my Oct 06th 2550/2570/2440/2420 IC. Closed this leg for 0.30 or a 50% profit when the SPX spiked this afternoon. I wanted to take the risk off. I will close the Put side next.
Sold to open Oct 27th 2585/2565/2320/2300 Iron Condor for 1.15 when SPX was at 2507.18. This is a class styled trade that I am studying. I put the order on this morning but wasn’t filled until the afternoon spike.
$TAP #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$TAP #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 TAP Apr 20 2018 70.0 Put @ 1.65
$RRC #CoveredCalls – Sold RRC…
$RRC #CoveredCalls – Sold RRC Nov 17 2017 23.0 Calls @ 0.50 with the stock at 20.33
SPX new highs
#VIXIndicator #SPXcampaign Well there’s the result of the Upside Warning after 2.5 days of uncertainty.
$AAOI exercising some caution
I was reading a discussion below about rich premiums in $AAOI and what that could mean in terms of someone gunning for the company or some other piece of news that the options market may be pricing in. While I believe in the company’s long term prospects (as of now at least), short term it would be unwise of me if I didn’t lighten up some more in this. So I took off two positions today:
Bought to close $AAOI Sep 29 65 puts @ 1.50. This was a rollout, sold 5.79 on 8/17. Overall profit of 1.12 per contract.
Bought to close $AAOI Oct 20 50 puts @ 1.15. Sold for 2.40 on 8/28.
I’m still short Oct 65 and 75 puts from previous rollouts–I may take the 65s off before the end of the day.
I’m also short Nov and Dec 30 puts which are at much safer levels.
TRTN
#ShortPuts Been in and out of this one for its div @ 5.5%
STO Oct 20 30 puts @ .65.
#shortputs NBR Closed Oct 8…
#shortputs NBR
Closed Oct 8 put originally sold in July, rolled to Sept and Oct, made $67
ZION
BTC October 20, 40 puts @.05,sold @ 2.00 and closed 3 weeks early.
$CLX #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$CLX #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 CLX APR 20 2018 110.0 Put @ 1.30
$VRX #ShortPuts – Bough to…
$VRX #ShortPuts – Bought to close VRX OCT 20 2017 7.5 Puts @ 0.01. They won’t trade any lower.
Originally sold at 1.05 on 04/05/2017 and again at 1.35 on 04/21/2017 as #FallingKnife trades.
#butterfly ZGNX bought a 3/8/8/13…
#butterfly ZGNX
bought a 3/8/8/13 put butterfly for .40 (TT trade) profitable between 3.37 and 12.63, risk 40 to make 463
$TAP #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$TAP #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 TAP Jan 19 2018 75.0 Put @ 1.60
Not letting this whippy market…
Not letting this whippy market ruin a road trip. This is where we stayed last night. Heading to Jackson WY today.
$SVXY #ShortCalls #Rollup – rolled…
$SVXY #ShortCalls #Rollup – rolled up this week’s farthest in the money call position.
Bought to close SVXY Sep 29 2017 85.5 Calls/Sold SVXY Oct 13 2017 88.0 Calls for a 0.25 Credit.
$SVXY #ShortCalls – Sold 1…
$SVXY #ShortCalls – Sold 1 SVXY Sep 29 2017 91.5 Call @ 1.10 with the stock at 91.17. This expires Friday
$EFX #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$EFX #ShortPuts – Bought to close EFX Oct 20 2017 65.0 Puts @ 0.05. It won’t trade any lower.
Sold these on 09/14/2017 at 1.20 and 1.35.
KMB
STO January 2019, 95 puts @2.80 with stock at 116.53
$GWW #ShortStrangle – an unbalanced…
$GWW #ShortStrangles – an unbalanced strangle, at least based on time to expiration.
Sold 1 GWW Oct 20 2017 160.0 Put/GWW Apr 20 2018 230.0 Call @ 3.00 Credit.
Also short other GWW Puts.
$AAOI Bought to close my…
$AAOI Bought to close my Sept 29th 55Puts for 0.05. Originally sold for 1.70. One member at SMM has been commenting that Schwab ahs been pressing to borrow his shares and keeps upping the offer. I don’t know how that works. Never been in that position but it gives me a pause. Why the premiums are so juicy and what is coming down the pike. Earnings are estimated to be beginning of Nov. I may sell an Oct 06th 60 or 55 Put. Any opinions out there?
CLX #FallingKnife Sold $CLX Apr…
CLX #FallingKnife
Sold $CLX Apr 20 2018 110 puts @ 1.20 with the stock at 128.56
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign.
My #ITMroll for the day: Closed $SPX Oct 4th 2470/2495 call spreads for 21.95. Sold for 20.05 last Thursday. #Rolling to Oct 11th 2475/2500… missed the highs so waiting.
Sold a couple NTM put spreads to offset my call spread positions:
Sold Oct 6th 2485/2460 put spreads for 2.80
Sold Oct 9th 2500/2475 put spreads for 5.40
Stopped: Oct 9th 2510/2535 call spreads for 7.70. Sold for 7.50 on Sep 18th. At least that was almost break-even… will add to the list of rolls I need!
TSLA
#Shortstrangles – Another busy week away from the market but still getting a couple trades in.
Started with 345/435 strangle and have been rolling the 435 down. Rolled to 380 earlier and today rolled down to 365 for additional credit.
Currently sitting at Oct 20th 345/365 @ 9.05…
This is still in the week before earnings. Saving earnings week in case a roll into high IV is needed.
SPX woes
#SPXcampaign. Monday seems to have existed just to confuse everyone. Now Nasdaq is up after its stocks were in free fall. The VIX popped to multi-week highs, then settled quickly. My indicator shows an Upside Warning, but it seems we’re stuck in a range. A very tough market to call.
The standard SPXcampaign sells spreads with short strikes at around .10-.15 delta. Lately I have been carrying too many high-delta NTM, ATM, and ITM spreads, making me vulnerable to whipsaw. My mistake was not closing those aggressive positions in late August when my ITM call spreads all paid off and I reached account highs. What’s transpired since then would have been easy to manage if I was holding only the .10-.15 delta spreads. Instead, the market is Moe and I am Curly.
$ZGNX #ShortStrangles – Sold ZGNX…
$ZGNX #ShortStrangles – Sold ZGNX OCT 20 2017 3.0 Puts/31.0 Calls @ 1.75 Credit with the stock at 13.70.
Adding to my position.
$EFX #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$EFX #ShortPuts – Bought to close 1 EFX Oct 20 2017 70.0 Put @ 0.05. It won’t trade any lower.
Originally sold on 09/14/2017 at 1.20.
Out much sooner than I expected.
Closed REGN
#ShortStrangles Taking profits early only to release margin. I’m getting stretched to the upside on SPX.
BTC $REGN Oct 6th 412.5/447.5 strangles for 4.85. Started as Sept 29th 430/530, and then rolled, with 8.00 total credit, so profit in end is 3.15.
Good morning from Rigby, Idaho
No internet yesterday so I just updated the site now. Click “Home/REFRESH” above.
It was a nice day to be on a 12-hour drive, compared to Monday. No trades. I will be round for an hour or two at the open, then checking in later.
good morning
$CELG #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$CELG #ShortPuts – Bought to close 1 CELG OCT 20 2017 95.0 Put @ 0.01. It won’t trade any lower.
$ZGNX #ShortStrangles – Sold ZGNX…
$ZGNX #ShortStrangles – Sold ZGNX OCT 20 2017 3.0 Puts/31.0 Calls @ 1.65 Credit with the stock at 13.35.
It’s been a long time since I played one of these small biotech binary events.
#T and TLT sto T…
#T and TLT
sto T , Oct 6, 38.50@.50 put ,if assigned get divi then cc…if not,no problem
sto TLT sept 29 126.50 and 126 put @.52 , if assigned then cc…if not,no problem
$SVXY #ShortPuts Finished off the…
$SVXY #ShortPuts Finished off the chain in my Roth. Sold to open Oct 27th 65 Puts @ 1.15 with $SVXY at 89.97. Not a great entry. I blame it on chores.
Another DRIP dripped away
Bought to close $DRIP Nov 17 40 calls @ .05. Sold for 2.00 on 8/29.
I only have 2 positions left in this. Dec 35 and 40 calls. It’s been a great run for a few months but if the bear market in oil is really over then we may be done with this one for a while.
ZGNX
This was traded at TT, looked it up, a 1 drug(childhood epilepsy) bio with huge premium. A $13 stock price, an Oct. straddle goes for about 12. The company reports phase 3 results any day now. The TT trade is a 4/9/26/31 IC for 3.90.
Another opportunity for FANG…
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) announces the launch of the NYSE Fang+TM Index (NYFANG) with futures contracts available November 8.
http://tinyurl.com/ya9at8fu
$GWW #ShortCalls – Sold 1…
$GWW #ShortCalls – Sold 1 GWW Jan 19 2018 210.0 Call @ 1.40 with the stock at 179.39.
Paired with a number of short GWW puts which are now nicely profitable.
$LB – no longer a…
$LB – no longer a #FallingKnife – back above the 50dayMA
#optionladder STO XBI 11/3 79…
STO XBI 11/3 79 put at 0.93. Added a 4th week to the ladder.
The OTM options on this decay fairly quickly so open 30-40 DTE and usually roll when they have 1-2 weeks left so they are not open until expiration. Works well like tastytrade style but you can usually get more than 50% out of it before rolling.
$ALXN #ShortStrangles – Covered some…
$ALXN #ShortStrangles – Covered some November strangles to release some margin.
Bought to close ALXN Nov 17 2017 80/165 Strangles @ 1.35.
Originally Sold the Puts on 05/23/2017 @ 2.10 as a #FallingKnife trade.
Then as the stock recovered sold the Calls on 07/27/2017 @ 2.35 and again on 07/28/2017 @ 2.85.
The Strangle may have expired, but it’s a long time until November, and the puts were so low, they weren’t really protecting the calls anymore.
$RL #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$RL #ShortPuts – Bought to close 1 RL Oct 20 2017 55.0 Put @ 0.05.
Originally sold on 05/24/2017 @ 1.20
#shortcallspreads TSLA Sold Oct. 20,…
#shortcallspreads TSLA
Sold Oct. 20, 385/390 spreads for .60 each.
$AAOI #ShortPuts Bought to close…
$AAOI #ShortPuts Bought to close Sept 29th 60 Puts @ 0.50 as a risk off trade. I put the order in this morning on the off chance it might get filled. Originally sold for 2.45 so it definitely was time to go.
tt Research Cherry Picks
http://tinyurl.com/yd5kecfx
SPX pre-market
#SPXcampaign Just closed $SPX Sep 27th 2470/2445 put spreads for .35. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 9.90 on Sep 11th.
$AMGN #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$AMGN #ShortPuts – Bought to close 1 AMGN Oct 20 2017 130.0 Put @ 0.01. It won’t trade any lower.
Originally sold on 05/11/2017 @ 1.35.
Also still short the Jan 115 Puts
#longcalldiagonals SVXY rolled 10/6 78…
SVXY rolled 10/6 78 put to extra week for 0.60 credit. I figure as long as I can roll each week for 0.50 or so will wait for roll up until we get a pull back, maybe someday.
Cost basis now 12.12 and 17.2 depending on lot.
The diagonals work on the high vol. products. Does not work as well for spy/qqq as it used to. Infact the leaps are priced with higher vol so hard to make up the theta decay by selling weeklies. Up 4k+ on 8k initial investment so 50% return in 6 weeks but this ticker I think it makes more sense just to go synthetic long on a vol. spike.
However this is an ongoing experiment so will continue it until the end but I may set up another batch on the next vol spike and see how the synthetic long without selling weeklies works.
Adding a little NUGT in Jan
Sold $NUGT 1/19/18 66 calls @ 1.15. Highest strike.
SPX trades
#SPXcampaign $SPX Took several stops today on put spreads but only rolled one of them. I am lightening up on positions since I will be traveling. Was caught in the head fake high and then the plunge, resulting in crappy trades for the Oct 27th standard spreads and the #ITMroll.
In chronological order from this morning:
Closed on GTC order: Oct 2nd 2425/2400 put spreads for .25. Sold for 1.70 on Sept 1st.
Sold Oct 27th 2415/2390 put spreads for 1.50.
Closed Oct 2nd 2475/2500 call spreads for 19.85. Sold for 19.00 last Monday.
Rolled to: Oct 9th 2470/2495 for 17.75 (dropped DOWN a strike and lost 2.10 – horrible timing)
Stopped Sept 27th 2490/2465 put spreads for 5.25. Sold Friday for 2.00.
Sold Oct 27th 2545/2570 call spreads for 1.70.
Stopped Oct 9th 2480/2455 put spreads for 4.25; rolled to:
#CondorRoll Sold Oct 16th 2380/2405/2530/2555 condors for 2.90 (1.5x position size)
Stopped Oct 6th 2475/2450 put spreads for 4.35. Sold for 2.60 on Friday.
Stopped Oct 4th 2475/2450 put spreads for 3.30. Sold in a #CondorRoll for 9.25 on Sep 15th.
UVXY proceeding slowly
Sold $UVXY Nov 17 70 calls @ 1.00
NVDA URI WDC WYNN
#401k #IRA – Going thru some long term positions that were more delta plays as opposed to theta. Clearing the decks just a little to make room for some #Earnings possibilities or the occasional #FallingKnife opportunity.
Bought to Close NVDA JAN 19 2018 110.0 Put @ .81 (sold for 2.50)
Bought to Close NVDA JAN 19 2018 120.0 Put @ 1.39 (sold for 4.25)
Bought to Close URI JAN 19 2018 75.0 Put @ .35 (sold for 2.30)
Bought to Close URI JAN 19 2018 80.0 Put @ .48 (sold for 3.10)
Bought to Close URI JAN 19 2018 85.0 Put @ .64 (sold for 4.20)
Bought to Close WDC JAN 19 2018 70.0 Put @ 1.43 (sold for 2.70)
Bought to Close WDC JAN 19 2018 75.0 Put @ 2.43 (sold for 3.95)
Bought to Close WYNN JAN 19 2018 100.0 Puts @ .62 (sold for 2.70)
SVXY
#ShortPuts – Closed a lot of these last week. Coming back in with one but a little higher…
Sold 1 SVXY NOV 17 2017 65.0 Put @ 2.63
Closing a GWW position in Dec
Lightening my exposure a little to this ticker.
Bought to close $GWW Dec 15 130 put @ .50. Sold for 2.10 on 7/19.
#shortputs #fallingknife EFX Closed Oct….
#shortputs #fallingknife EFX
Closed Oct. 65 put for .15, sold for .73, still have a Jan. 50. My margin on the 65 was $658. Even though EFX is back over 100, the plan is to free the margin with only $15 remaining, 11 day trade.
#spxcampaign btc oct 6, 2500/2525…
btc oct 6, 2500/2525 @ 6.40 had sold for and roll… roll…….. roll ………..
for 3 months. had collected 7.05 in credit,thanks to what ever is driving this down bus today.(and thanks Jeff for good ideas and getting out of ditm spreads.)
This had been a problem child …done.!!
I am basically all cash now .
Looking for next thing out there.!
Adding some AAOI
Sold $AAOI Dec 15 30 puts @ 1.60
$SIG #ShortPuts – Bought to…
$SIG #ShortPuts – Bought to close SIG OCT 20 2017 45.0 Puts @.05. with the stock at 65.33.
A former #FallingKnife trade that isn’t going to trade any lower.
Sold on 03/03/2017 @ 1.60 and on 05/25/2017 @ 2.40
Playing catch up today.
$SPX Sold to open Oct 20th 2550/2570 / 2360/2380 Iron Condor for 1.45 when $SPX was at 2500.36 near the open.
$SQ Stopped out of my last portion of stock at 27.50 when $SQ tried to ping the 20dma.
$SVXY 9/22 OpEx Sept 60 Puts expired.
And That’s all she/he/it wrote.
#spxexpectedmove
NVDA Jan puts
Sold $NVDA Jan 19 2018 120 puts @ 1.20. I don’t know if it will get down that far but I’m looking to accumulate a long term position in this stock and I would love to get some below 120.
#spxcampaign btc oct 2515/2540 1.40…
btc oct 2515/2540 1.40 and 1.30 had sold 1.70
btc oct 11 2530/2550 1.15 had sold for 1.60
btc oct 2535/2560 1.10 had sold 1.75
consider today gift from option gods and Christmas time.
still have one more to get off my plate.
$SVXY $UVXY
A couple of small trades
STO Oct 6 $UVXY $40 calls @ $0.45
STO Oct 13 $SVXY $55 puts @ $0.45
STO Oct 20 $SVXY $50 puts @ $0.45
Sell off?
Got head-faked and made some long trades at the market top today. Sell-off now looks compelling, even though TICKs are not showing usual -600 readings. VIX is at day’s highs. Big failure on upside warning, but not surprised this time. VIX has not had usual correlation to SPX movement for much of this year.
#spxcampaign btc sept 29 2525/2550…
btc sept 29 2525/2550 @ .45 had sold for 1.50
btc what was a roll to sept 29 2510/2535 for 2.40 had sold for 3.00
$KR #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold…
$KR #ShortPuts #FallingKnife – Sold 1 KR APR 20 2018 18.0 Put @ 1.15
AAOI puts
#ShortPuts Closed on GTC order: $AAOI Sept 29th 55 puts for .20. Sold for 1.90 on Sep 13th.
Replaced with:
Sold to open AAOI Oct 13th 55 puts for 1.90
Great premium on this one still. Perhaps someone is expecting a huge dump.
$DUST #CoveredCalls – Sold DUST…
$DUST #CoveredCalls – Sold DUST Sep 29 2017 26.5 Calls @ 0.25 with the stock at 24.82.
These replace last week’s strike 25.0 Calls that expired on Friday.
Econ Calendar for week of 9/25/17
Be sure to periodically click “Home/REFRESH” above to keep Bistro features updated
Good morning
Week 9/23 expiration
Did not have time to post Friday, too busy at work but managed to snap off and roll some trades at lunch and a few seconds before the closing bell.
STO next week WDC 85 puts at 1.00. Good support at 85 now.
Rolled WDC 9/23 calls out and up 2 weeks to 86 for a credit of .82. Trying to keep for 2 more weeks for the dividend then will unload and restart ladders. Good premiums!
Did the same with the 84 calls up to 85 for 0.43 credit.
Tried to do the same later with another account but the market makers became greedy at the close so rolled 84 to 84 2 weeks out for 0.67 and 0.73. That gets me past the dividend unless someone takes early assignment.
Collected $1393 on the rolls and now my cost basis on WDC is 80-82 depending on the account after being assigned at 90 so after the dividend will roll for cash 1-2 more weeks then unload and start over and the dividend is 0.50 per share.
Also closed out 5 months with a 26.6% return on entire portfolio including the losing trades since joining the bistro ranks! Thanks for helping me find new trading vehicles and improving my consistency.
With the low vol I have been scouring the market for good premiums to sell and here is what I have found for the next few weeks or until we get a vol spike. AAPL is moving up the premium ladder with the recent drop. Others that also look good for weeklies or ladders WDC, SWKS, TQQQ, GILD if you go out 2 weeks or more since the rebound, AAL and DAL are good percentage wise, FSLR and EOG. If I find any others will post and don’t know if any of them have earnings. TSO has been reborn as ANDV but the options are not real liquid yet but am watching it. TSO has been my most productive ticker for 5 months and was sad when it merged as the option premiums dried up. XBI still good for ladders but with the move up having to go closer to the money.
Hope it helps or you find something useful in there.
$VIX Futures – food for thought
