Dollar made a big move down on the ECB actions/comments. But, GLD barely wiggled. Starting to place a few more $NUGT short call orders. Spreads are kind of wide so we’ll see if I actually get any orders filled.
Recent Updates Page 544
$UVXY $SVXY #VXXGame
The S&P seems to have bottomed and is now making a higher high, $UVXY pulling back so made the following trades.
STO $UVXY Dec 11 $40 calls @ $.45
STO $SVXY Dec 11 $50 puts @ $.50
Made no attempt to catch the bottom so didn’t get the highest possible fills. Waited for the market to tell me it was time to enter.
XIV #401k
Took over trading of my #401k Sept 1st once the rules changed at American. Now allowed to self manage 95 percent of it with no limit on number of trades. I’ve been using stock only with no options strictly with XIV and BIB playing the swings. Working so far with total account up 14 percent while never using more than one third at any given time.
Yesterday top ticked XIV when I dumped a tranche at 31.50 (smiley face).
Re-building the position now with orders in to buy a small amount every 50 cent drop all the way to the August low of 20. Love scaling in like this since at some point it will turn more than likely before it gets to 20. This will in total be a one third position. If we keep dropping from there I’ll start the second third and trade it. If we eventually get down to the 2011 low of 4 bucks I’ll have a nice cost basis…
$SVXY
$SVXY STO Dec 24th 50 Put @ 1.50 earlier this morning. May have been a bit quick on the send button.
$SPX
Stopped out of my Dec 11th 2150/2160 BeCS @ .10. Originally sold for 0.70 on 11/23. Stepping lightly until the big FOMC event.
$KOLD
STO Jan’16 $114 put @ $3.50
Single put at the lowest available strike.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign BTC $SPX Dec 4th 2035/2105 put spread for 1.45. This was sold as a condor on Monday for 2.60. Calls will expire tomorrow. Decided to close early to take about 40% of profit and not have the concern from further downside, especially with jobs number tomorrow that could have any effect. I will have plenty to roll if we keep going down.
SPX Dec 31st puts
#SPXcampaign STO $SPX Dec 31st 1915/1890 put spreads for 1.25.
This is the second put spread for the week.
If weakness continues some rolling will have to happen.
$VIX levels to watch are 18.34 and 19.20. These are the next two signal levels for a downside warning.
SPX BeCS
Morning all. BTC my Dec 4th 2140/2150 BeCS @ .05 on a GTC order. Didn’t think to cancel it this morning. Oh well. ToS needs the comissions
AVGO earnings
#Earnings BTC $AVGO Dec 4th 120 puts for .05. Sold yesterday for 1.00.
This is yesterday’s 15 min…
This is yesterday’s 15 min chart with today’s support and resistance levels on it. Those levels are normally not apparent on the daily charts, but sometimes, those levels hold the SPX or at least act as points where the price consolidate for a while.
#SPXCampaign STO Dec 19 1980/1975…
#SPXCampaign
STO Dec 19 1980/1975 BuPS @ 0.40
AVGO EARNINGS
Getting to this late, but this one almost never moves down on earnings. You have to go back to Dec 2010 for its only significant down move, -6.5% Last 12 reports, Biggest UP move: 14.7% , Biggest DOWN move: -0.2% , Average move: 6.2% . This trade is 9.4% OTM.
STO $AVGO Dec 4th 120 puts for 1.00.
SPXCampaign STO Dec 4 $SPX…
SPXCampaign STO Dec 4 $SPX 2030/2025 Bull put spread @ .35 will probably open other side for IC tomorrow
$KOLD BTC $KOLD 100 put @ .50 sold on Nov 11 for 2.92 80% close 16 DTE early. Thanks optioniceman, jeff
SVXY Jan weeklies
Starting to fill in the first Jan weekly.
Sold $SVXY Jan 8 (weekly) 45 put @ 1.26.
TZA call spread
#ContangoETFs – Adding to some winners…was almost completely out of this ticker.
Sold TZA JAN 15 2016 45/55 Bear call spreads @ .92
#SVXY #ShortPuts #ScalpTrade – Sold…
SVXY #ShortPuts #ScalpTrade – Sold SVXY DEC 4 2015 55.0 Puts @ 0.55. Expires is 2 days
SVXY and UVXY in the #IRA
Couple small trades in the IRA…
Sold UVXY JAN 15 2016 45/60 Bear call spreads @ .78 (half position for now)
Sold SVXY DEC 11 2015 55.0 Puts @ 1.35
STO Dec2 2005/1990 1.15
STO $SPX Dec2 2005/1990 1.15
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold…
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold 1 UVXY Jan 08 2016 50.0 Call @ 1.67 . Highest strike
$UVXY #ShortCalls #ScalpTrade – Sold…
$UVXY #ShortCalls #ScalpTrade – Sold UVXY Dec 11 2015 70.0 Calls @ 0.12. Paired with short puts
UVXY calls
#VXXGame STO $UVXY Dec 11th 32 calls for .75, to offset 23 puts on same expiry. May add more if premium goes up. Won’t hold these if UVXY gets up toward 30; in that case I would roll into longer dated, much higher calls.
New Years Eve #VXXGame Sold…
New Years Eve #VXXGame
Sold $UVXY Dec 31 56 calls @ .70. Highest strike.
Is this down move a…
Is this down move a reaction to Fed?
SPX roll
#SPXcampaign STO $SPX Dec 24th 1990/1965 put spreads for 2.00. This is a roll from stopped spreads on 11/6. Does not cost much in margin since I already have extra call spreads on this expiry from an earlier roll.
KOLD puts
#ContangoETFs I’m a bit stretched margin-wise to sell more calls, but puts still going for great rates, and I get margin credit for selling them.
STO $KOLD Dec 18th 128 puts for 1.90, adding to my position.
Long Term VXX longs
#VXXGame Today I STC $VXX Jan 15 2016 20 puts for 3.35. I started buying these in December 2013, and added over the last two years. My average price ended up being 2.75. The best time to have sold them was a few months ago, before the August crash, when VXX hit new lows and these options traded for over 6.00. But I held on and time decay took its toll. I haven’t had a chance to buy 2017 puts because we are overdue for a reverse split, but I will try this again when the price is right for the 20 puts on $VXX or $UVXY, either 2017 or 2018 LEAPs. I am also long the VXX March 2016 25 put, bought for 5.00, now trading for 8.60.
Will it ever get KOLD again?
Sold Dec 18 200 (highest strike) for 2.00, with $KOLD at 162.
$NUGT $UVXY $KOLD $SVXY
Made several trades this morning.
$NUGT STO Jan’18 $38 call @ $13.40
$UVXY BTC Dec 11 $22 puts for very small loss. Making room next week to roll my Dec 4 $24 puts out and down to next week if I need to.
$KOLD BTC Dec 18 $185 call @ $4.30, very small loss. At the rate it is moving there is plenty of time for my call to get into trouble, so just stepping aside watching my short puts make money. May re-enter 1 week before expiration.
$SVXY BTC Dec 18 $61 put. Had nice profit and pretty close to ATM so just taking it off the table. Nearly all of my remaining puts are $50 and below.
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY…
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY Dec 24 2015 67.5 Calls @ 1.15. Short trading week for this cycle
$NUGT $DUST – sharp reversal…
$NUGT $DUST – sharp reversal from yesterday’s move. Short NUGT calls and DUST Puts looking good
STO Dec 12 SPX 2020/1995…
STO Dec 12 SPX 2020/1995 BuPS at $1.30; this completes the IC with the position I placed yesterday.
UVXY puts
#VXXGame Added a couple more at lows today. These are getting a bit frothy; may end up in a roll situation, but it may start getting tougher for it to go lower quickly.
Adding to positions:
STO $UVXY Dec 11th 23 put for 1.20
STO $UVXY Dec 18th 20 put for .75
Also short this week’s 23 puts.
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls – sold both…
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls – sold both of these as I keep adding during the stock’s recovery
Sold SVXY Dec 18 2015 70.0 Calls @ 0.30
Sold SVXY Jan 08 2016 70.0 Calls @ 1.40
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY…
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY Dec 31 2015 71.0 Calls @ 0.65. Jumped up to a slightly higher strike price
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls- Sold SVXY Dec…
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls- Sold SVXY Dec 31 2015 70.0 Calls @ 0.75. I will continue to add as long as the premium rises.
Edit: Added on at 0.85.
UVXY, new low
For the first time since August 4th, $UVXY just notched a new all-time low by breaking below 24.34. Four months is quite a stretch for this dog to have another day.
$VXX is still over 15% above its August 5th all-time low of 15.48.
$SVXY has once again been the laggard, as recently discussed by @vxxkelly; at 61.00 it is 37% below its June 24th all-time high of 98.13.
SPX puts closed
#SPXcampaign BTC $SPX Dec 17th 1890/1865 put spreads for .20. Sold as a roll on Nov 13th for 2.00.
SPX put spread
#SPXcampaign STO $SPX Dec 31st 1960/1935 put spreads for 1.30, with SPX at 2101. This is my first put spread of the week, having missed a fill on Monday’s weakness. Action looks bullish; I believe we will grind sideways to higher into year end. I doubt we’ll get a strong push higher, but I have kept all call spreads above 2130 to be safe.
#VXXGame – reports coming in…
#VXXGame – reports coming in after the close
Sold UVXY Dec 04 2015 23.0 Puts @ 0.43 – these hopefully expire Friday or can be covered for a penny
Sold UVXY Dec 31 2015 20.0 Puts @ 1.32 – another holiday shortened week.
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY…
#VXXGame #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY Dec 24 2015 66.0 Calls @ 1.35.
#VXXGame – sold these hoping…
#VXXGame – sold these hoping to SVXY continues to rally. It’s working today (so far)
Sold SVXY Dec 18 2015 70.0 Calls @ 0.25 – adding on to my covered calls
Sold UVXY Dec 24 2015 20.0 Puts @ 0.88 – holiday shortened week.
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY…
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY Dec 31 2015 70.0 Calls @ 0.70
$DUST #ShortPuts – trying to…
$DUST #ShortPuts – trying to convince NUGT to rally some more –
Sold DUST (Weekly) Dec 4 2015 15.5 Puts @ 0.25
Sold DUST (Weekly) Dec 4 2015 16 Puts @ 0.35
These expire Friday.
#VXXGame – sold these in…
#VXXGame – sold these in an IRA hoping to convince SVXY to rally 10%
Sold SVXY Jan 08 2016 66.0 Calls @ 2.30
Sold UVXY Dec 11 2015 21.0 Puts @ 0.31
Sold UVXY Dec 18 2015 20.0 Puts @ 0.57
SVXY…closing one of my hedges
Bought to Close SVXY DEC 18 2015 65.0 Calls @ 1.10 (sold for 1.55)
Scaling back a little just in case we keep running…
NUGT calls
Sold $NUGT Jun 17 2016 72 calls @ 3.00. Highest strike.
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY…
$SVXY #CoveredCalls – Sold SVXY Dec 18 2015 70.0 Calls @ 0.20
UVXY puts
$UVXY STO December 4 25/21…
$UVXY STO December 4 25/21 BuPS for 1.04, won’t mind owning down here for a week or 2.
Senate panel accused drug company…
Senate panel accused drug company Gilead of they knew many patients can not afford it but went ahead priced it at $1000/tab. and they don’t care about patients with hepatitis C. This is what I am afraid of that some drug companies CEOs will destroy other good drug companies by their exaggerated greed
STO Dec 12 SPX 2140/2165…
STO Dec 12 SPX 2140/2165 for $1.35 Credit.
RUT back down to almost…
RUT back down to almost flat on day
$NUGT $UVXY
STO $NUGT Jan’17 $60 Call @ $7.00
STO $UVXY Dec 18 $20 Puts @ $0.50
GM all
GM all
All cylinders
Well, I did sell a same-week condor yesterday, but missed a fill on a Dec 31st put spread… thought I’d get a chance this morning, but no beans… Indices off and running… sell some call spreads if you need them!
SVXY covered calls
Sold the following:
$SVXY Dec 31 65 call @ 1.75
$SVXY Jan 15 70 call @ 1.35
Added:
$SVXY Jan 15 68 call @ 2.00
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold…
$UVXY #ShortCalls #VXXGame – Sold UVXY Dec 11 2015 55.0 Calls @ 0.22
edit:
ZZZZZ….. this market is putting me to sleep
STO SPX 2030/2020 This Fri…
STO SPX 2030/2020 This Fri .75 to complete IC
#VXXGame – Volatility-products + prayer…
#VXXGame – Volatility-products + prayer
http://statisticalideas.blogspot.com/2015/06/volatility-products-prayer.html
$SVXY not digging it right now.
$SVXY just isn’t performing well. $VIXY is about 4% above where it was a couple weeks ago but $SVXY is about 10% below where it was. $VIX term structure has a nice contango going on ( >5%) but $SVXY still can’t manage to get out of it’s own way.
I have the fewest open put positions that I’ve had in years. In the past with $SVXY this low, we would have been piling on the short puts in the out month’s bringing in big premium. But with the way it is performing, I really haven’t been too tempted to do that. I know Fuzzball has continued to sell some, but for the most part, I think we have been just continuing to let open positions burn off. I really have all the shares I want right now. If I had none, I’d be more aggressive on the put selling myself. I was selling weekly puts about 8 trading days out and 8 to 10 points OTM but that premium has somewhat dried up so not as good a risk/reward.
$UVXY is only 10% above all time low, $SVXY is 40% below all time high.
Just too much uncertainty for me to be adding $SVXY exposure, sticking to $UVXY when opportunities present themselves. Fed coming up. Don’t know what will happen after year end chase for performance gets behind us. Etc…
UVXY puts
#VXXGame STO $UVXY Dec 11th 23 puts for .65. These will replace the 23 puts I have for this Friday, which should expire. Volatility has been in consolidation with the indices, and I expect that to continue. If it doesn’t, these are easy to roll.
ULTA AMBA Earnings
#EarningsScalp – Haven’t decided yet but both have earnings later this week. I’ll be watching for now and see what’s available later this week.
STO SPX Dec1 (this Fri) 2120/2130 1.10
Now will add put side
Short options, Margin, and retirement accounts
I got this question over the weekend:
Question:
What type of account are you trading in when you short naked? Regular margin/Portfolio margin account? Trying to find out what the more experienced folks setup when the run the types of strategies you use and not get killed on the tax side, but have all the strategies open to me unlike an IRA style acct.
Answer:
I use two different account types. My main account is an LLC account with portfolio margin… it is set up as a business partnership with family members. There are no restrictions on the types of trades. I also trade with 401K accounts… these are retirement accounts sponsored by the LLC for the members of the LLC (who are technically employees). Each member, including myself, rolled over portions of IRA accounts into these 401K’s. At Interactive Brokers, 401K accounts do not have restrictions against naked options. They are Reg-T accounts, so margin requirements for shorts are higher than portfolio margin. I typically sell naked options in my LLC account and stick to spreads in the 401K accounts (almost exclusively the #SPXcampaign, which is tailor made for retirement accounts).
For the short strategies such as #Earnings and #ContangoETFs, you will need to use spreads if you want to trade in an IRA. I usually don’t use spreads, but some other contributors on OptionsBistro do, such as @fuzzballl, who uses a mix of naked and spreads.
Let me know if I can help further!
#Yellin this week FYI Speed…
#Yellin this week
FYI Speed bumps…Chairwoman speaks on Wed at 8:30 and 12:25, then testifies on Thurs at 10:00 same time ISM non-manufacturing PMI comes out…mark your calendar.
$BOIL – Taking one for the (long nat gas) team
#ContangoETFs – Nothing would make me happier than a nat gas rally so here’s something for Mr. Market to shoot at…
Sold BOIL DEC 18 2015 20/25 Bear call spreads @ .80
NUGT – It just keeps working (going down)
Trying to keep a fairly full position on any little bounce. Replacing a few higher strikes that should be closing soon. Another of our #ContangoETFs These are filling above the mid so I probably could’ve done better.
Sold NUGT MAR 18 2016 45.0 Call @ 2.70
Sold NUGT JUN 17 2016 60.0 Call @ 3.30
Sold NUGT JUN 17 2016 65.0 Call @ 2.40
KOLD puts
#ContangoETFs Adding puts at any opportunity (margin free due to short calls).
STO $KOLD Dec 18th 125 put for 3.00
STO $KOLD Dec 18th 128 put for 3.70
AGQ ZSL – C’mon silver…you can do it!!
Adding to a hedge against my short ZSL position. Short ZSL is a long silver position so hedging with a short silver position. Great thing is they are both #ContangoETFs
Sold AGQ DEC 18 2015 30.0 Calls @ .75
SPX iron condor bonus/roll
#SPXcampaign STO $SPX Dec 4th 2015/2035/2125/2145 iron condors for 2.60. Expiring this Friday. Slightly risky due to data coming out this week, but looking for consolidation phase to continue. Will try to be out of this before Friday’s payroll numbers.
NFLX puts
#ShortPuts – Adding to a hedge against some short calls…
Sold NFLX DEC 4 2015 123.0 Puts @ 1.65
TZA short call spreads
#ContangoETFs – Bought to Close TZA DEC 11 2015 45/50 Bear call spreads @ .06 (sold for .90)
Just a little scalp from a couple weeks ago. Still short Jan 50/60…
SPX spread closed
#SPXcampaign BTC $SPX Dec 11th 2175/2200 call spreads for .10. Sold for 1.35 on Oct 23.
CNBC Now @CNBCnow BREAKING: Pending…
CNBC Now @CNBCnow
BREAKING: Pending home sales up 0.2% vs. up 1.5% est.
