#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.
Recent Updates Page 62
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
Economic Calendar 7/29 – 8/2
CONY NVDY TQQQ TSLA SPYI QYLD SOXL
#smallbuy
#dividends
BOT CONY @19.83
BOT NVDY @25.81
BOT SPYI @49.59
BOT QYLD @17.28
———
#rolling
SOLD TQQQ 2 AUG 24/26 JUL 24 67.5 PUT @1.49
———–
SOLD to close half of spread TQQQ 26 JUL 2024 65.5 PUT @1.45
BOT TSLA 26 JUL 2024 205/200 PUT @.09
————
#optionsexpiration
52 call soxl
OptionsExpiration
EXPIRED
CMG 42.4/47.2 Bull Put Spread
CRWD 210/220 Bull Put Spread
DXCM 55/60 Bull Put Spread
FCX 40/42.5 Bull Put Spread
LVS 35.5/38.5 Bull Put Spread
LVS 35/38 Bull Put Spread
NOC 395/412.5 Bull Put Spread
NUE 175/165 Bear Call Spread
NUE 150/155 Bull Put Spread
SCHW 72/68 Bear Call Spread
SCHW 60/63 Bull Put Spread
SOXS 18/21 Bull Put Spread
SPY 528/533 Bull Put Spread
SPY 535/540 Bull Put Spread
TQQQ 82/78 Bear Call Spreads
TSLA 300/310 Bear Call Spread
TSLA 305/315 Bear Call Spread
UPS 122.0 Diagonal Put
UPS 123.0 Diagonal Put
UPS 124.0 Diagonal Put
UPS 125.0 Diagonal Put
UVXY 35/31 Bear Call Spread
1 BOIL 15.5 Covered Call
1 SBUX 84 Covered Call
WBA 13.0 Covered Calls
ASSIGNMENTS
1 BMY 43.5 Covered Call
BMY 44.0 Covered Calls
BMY 44.5 Covered Calls
1 BMY 45.0 Covered Call
1 SCHW 66.0 Covered Call
1 SQQQ 9.0 Covered Call
Bungee Jump Time???
SPX 0-dte trades 7/26/24
#SPX0dte Bought to Open $SPX July 26th 5420/5450-5455/5485 condors for -18.50 at 11:26am, sold to close at 12:06 for 20.50.
Going long has been best bet this week, although today certainly quieter than yesterday so not pressing this beyond 2 bucks. May try again in a bit when the ATM condors are cheaper and require less of a move to turn profit.
SPY Expiration
1 SPY 07/25/2024 565/553 Bear Call Spread
1 SPY 07/25/2024 533/538 Bull Put Spread
SPX trades 7/25/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 25th 5330/5350-5500/5520 condors for 1.35, IV 29.61%, deltas -.06 +.07
A 150-pt spread and now that data caused only minor movement we might have a quieter day than yesterday.
I didn’t post yesterday because I was experimenting with a bearish bias. I lost a bit with an overnight short condor, fortunately getting a little bump higher at the open that allowed me to get out. Then I BOUGHT the ATM tight condor for 18.50, and later closed it for 22.50. Could have let it expire and gotten 30. I also made a couple more bucks by buying a put spread with 25 minutes before close and cashing out at expiration. A good day but a bit haphazard and off-plan. More often lately, buying rather than selling is the safer bet.
SPY
Can’t resist. Selling outside the expected move and down at the 200 day.
Sold SPY Sep 20 2024 500.0 Put @ 3.00
NVDY AMDY
BOT NVDY @26.38
BOT AMDY @14.70
UVXY Calls
Sold 1 UVXY 07/26/2024 35/31 Bear Call Spread at $0.14 Credit
#EveryLittleBitHelps
Upside Warning canceled
#VIXindicator We touched on a new low on Friday of 10.62, but it seemed like some anomaly and I thought it might be corrected. But it remains on the charts, which means the upside warning was actually canceled on that same day, when VIX hit 50% above that low, and closed that way which would have meant a Downside Warning. Now that we see the activity this week, that warning is solid.
But in any case, we just hit over 50% of the previous 11.52 low (May 23rd), so now the Upside Warning is officially canceled.
Measuring from the 10.62 low, if we close above 15.93 it will mean a downside warning.
SPY Put Ladder
Sold 1 SPY 07/24/2024 536/541 Bull Put Spread at $0.13 Credit
Sold 1 SPY 07/25/2024 533/538 Bull Put Spread at $0.24 Credit
Sold 1 SPY 07/26/2024 528/533 Bull Put Spread at $0.24 Credit
#EveryLittleBitHelps
VXX Reverse split
Effective today – 1 for 4
TSLA TQQQ
STO TSLA 26 JUL 2024 205/200 PUT @.21
STO TQQQ 26 JUL 2024 67.5/65.5 PUT @.11
SPY Expiration
SPY 535 /550 Bull Put Spread
SPY 535/551 Bull Put Spread
SPY 561/559 Bear Call Spread
SPY 560/559 Bear Call Spread
TQQQ Calls
Sold 1 TQQQ 07/26/2024 82/78 Bear Call Spread at $0.32 Credit
CRWD – Testing the waters
Sold to open $CRWD 8/30 240/230 bull put spread @ 1.78
CRWD – Testing the waters
Sold to open $CRWD 8/30 240/230 bull put spread @ 1.78
UPS Puts
Partly a disaster recovery trade
Bought 1 UPS 08/02/2024 115 Put / Sold 1 UPS 07/26/2024 124 Put at $0.54 Diagonal Credit
Bought 1 UPS 08/02/2024 115 Put / Sold 1 UPS 07/26/2024 123 Put at $0.33 Diagonal Credit
Bought 1 UPS 08/02/2024 115 Put / Sold 1 UPS 07/26/2024 122 Put at $0.28 Diagonal Credit
SPX butterfly
Taking profits. So the trade I posted a few weeks ago needed an adjustment with the market run up. At the time another butterfly adjustment was used as it was the cheapest. I will also use verticals, calendars, or diagonals. Now it is time to take profits. I typically target profits of 5-10%. Rinse and repeat.
I chose the butterfly at the time because the market makers have been manipulating the volatility between the expirations on the calendars so they don’t have to pay out on winning trades. I first noticed that as the VIX contracted and would watch the individual legs and can also see it on the algo. Anyway, by using butterfly adjustment in lower volatility they cannot mess with the IV on the legs as much. I saw this happen on the service once to the tune of 600k on expiration day. We were up over 1 million on a winning fly and they managed to crush the vol of the longer options so they only had to pay 400k by the end of the day. Lesson learned, they can’t change the IV that much in the same expiration cycle or they would have to do it to the entire option chain.
This is how I morphed it and you can see my current profits are around $1100-1300 on 10k margin. I have this exact trade in 6 different account so $1100 x 6 = $6600 in profits for about 2 weeks of “work” so not a bad payday.
The trick is not over or under adjusting. Adjust only when necessary.
SPY Trades
Sold 1 SPY 07/23/2024 559.0 Call at $0.27
Sold 1 SPY 07/23/2024 550.0 Put at $0.31
SPX 0-dte trades 7/23/24
#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 23rd 5530/5560-5565/5595 condors for 16.95, IV 20.17%
Last Night: Sold July 23rd 5480/5500-5615/5635 condors for 1.25, deltas -.08 +.06
SPY Expiration
1 SPY 537/547 Bull Put Spread
1 SPY 538/548 Bull Put Spread
1 SPY 570/556 Bear Call Spread
1 SPY 565/555 Bear Call Spread
1 SPY 559/555 Bear Call Spread
More SPY Spreads
Bought 1 SPY 07/25/2024 534 Put/ Sold 1 SPY 07/24/2024 544 Put for a $0.44 Diagonal Credit
FCX SCHW SOXL Covered Calls
Sold 1 FCX 07/26/2024 46.0 Covered Call at $0.86
Sold 1 SCHW 07/26/2024 66.0 Covered Call at $0.35
Sold 1 SOXL 07/26/2024 54.0 Covered Call at $1.20
All written against stock put to me on Friday
Monday Spreads
Sold 1 SCHW 07/26/2024 72/67 Bear Call Spread at $0.19 Credit
Sold 1 CRWD 07/26/2024 210/220 Bull Put Spread at $0.24 Credit
Sold 1 SOXS 07/26/2024 18/21 Bull Put Spread at $0.36 Credit
Sold 1 TSLA 07/26/2024 310/300 Bear Call Spread at $0.24 Credit
TQQQ Stock and Calls
So the TQQQ 71.0 put that I thought had expired last Friday got assigned anyway after the stock drifted a few cents below the strike price after hours.
Lucky Me 🙂
Sold the TQQQ stock position on the open at $73.66 !!
Also sold 1 TQQQ 07/26/2024 82/78 Bear Call Spread at $0.46 Credit.
SPY Calls
Bought 1 SPY 07/23/2024 560 Call/ Sold 1 SPY 07/22/2024 555 Call for a $0.29 Diagonal Credit
Bought 1 SPY 07/23/2024 561 Call/ Sold 1 SPY 07/22/2024 556 Call for a $0.16 Diagonal Credit
