STO PNRA March 18th 210 calls for 3.20. Making up for some losses on the earnings play last week. Seems to be fairly murky getting through the 200-210 level, but only using half-position thus far. #Earnings
Tag Archives: Earnings
FB and PNRA earnings mgt
#Earnings Since I sold too many puts after being assigned, I’m taking off a couple today to leave my short stock position on:
BTC FB Feb 19th 108 put for 3.50. Sold for 1.10 on 2/2
BTC FB Feb 19th 105 put for .50. Sold for .70 on 2/1
BTC FB March 18th 100 put for 2.10. Sold for 2.30 on 2/5
STO FB April 1st 112 call for 1.50
BTC PNRA Feb 19th 200 calls for 3.45. Sold as part of a condor for 1.95 on Wednesday. Patience didn’t work with this one. May look to sell a roll next week.
JWN earning closed
#Earnings Bought to close $JWN Feb 19th 45 puts for .15. Sold yesterday in a condor for .50. Wanted to let this expire but I don’t trust it or the market, especially with any big drops in retail stocks on earnings lately.
JWN earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $JWN Feb 19th 42.5/45/57.5/60 condors for .50. Max gain .50, max loss 2.00. Biggest UP move: 14.7% , Biggest DOWN move: -15.0% , Average move: 4.6% . Nordstrom’s has had these two large moves, but all other moves over the last 12 were under 6%. So I’m willing to go a bit inside the extremes, as the short strikes are 14% (puts) and 10% (calls) OTM. Stock rallied a bit since I got my fill, so you may want to skip the call side. But in any case, max loss is manageable.
EQIX earnings
#Earnings A bit of a crazy fill I got on this.
Sold to Open $EQIX Feb 19th 240/260/320/340 iron condors for 1.80. The long strikes are illiquid, so the fills were at the ask where there is no current bid, as follows:
240 long put 1.57
260 short put -2.61
320 short call -3.77
340 long call 3.01
If I try to sell the 320 naked, even at 3.20 I get no fill; so the 3.77 is due to the spread only. If you’re interested, might be worth watching during the day. But the short strikes are outside normal earnings moves. I added longs due to market environment and recent slaps from naked earnings plays.
Over the last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 7.8%, Biggest DOWN move: -3.7% , Average move: 2.9%. These strikes are both about 10.3% OTM.
DATA dump
#Earnings STC DATA stock for 41.78. Had a trailing stop from yesterday’s rise. Leaves me with only a small part of my original trade, which was put assignment at 62. This and NOW are ones which I’m taking some losses and not waiting out, due to uncertainty with the companies and the overall market.
FB mgt
#Earnings Still working around a short stock position with numerous short puts and a few short calls.
STO FB June 130 call for 1.23
PCLN earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to close $PCLN 1275/1300 call spread for .90. Sold yesterday as part of condor for 1.35. Taking this off to avoid possible tendency to run higher into week’s end.
Earnings update
#Earnings – PCLN’s move up is highest on earnings since Aug 2012. I will look to close the call spread today, at breakeven or small loss if necessary, as this one could definitely be a runner.
FOSL also broke its downward trend to pop on earnings… I have the rest of this week to see if it can drift below 35, which is breakeven area on my put butterfly.
FOSL earnings
#Earnings Trying a low cost speculative play on this. FOSL usually goes down on earnings, so…
Sold to Open bearish butterfly: Feb 19th 28/32/36 put fly for .83. Volatility should plummet tomorrow; breakevens on Friday are 28.85 (16% down) and 35.18 (2% up). Look to make a double or more if we spend any time in 32.00 area for rest of the week.
Earnings timing
#Earnings — Just a quick note to share an observation. While volatility typically keeps rising in the weeks and days before earnings, the same is not always true in the hours before the close… If selling naked options or credit spreads, it is often much better to sell in the morning before the release, whether than waiting until afternoon. The problem with selling early is if the stock makes a big intraday move, which can throw off your trade dynamics before the close. But often, an intraday move won’t matter; the drop in IV will overpower a move in the stock.
Take my PCLN trade from this morning, STO Feb 19th 875/900/1275/1300 iron condor for 1.35. Since I traded it, PCLN has moved UP 35 points, or 3%. However, the condor has already bled out. The call side alone was sold for .75 and now is trading for about the same, even though we’ve had a 3% move against the calls. The put side has dropped from .75 to .25.
Just something to keep in mind. I’ve heard some say they that last half-hour before earnings is highest IV. This is normally not true (although it is sometimes). Best IV is most usually in the first half-hour, even on earnings days.
PCLN earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $PCLN Feb 19th 875/900/1275/1300 iron condors for 1.35. Over last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 8.5% , Biggest DOWN move: -9.6% , Average move: 4.8% . Short strikes are each over 17% OTM.
FB mgt
#Earnings #ShortStock Sold to Open $FB March 4th 110 calls for 1.00 and April 1st 112 call for 1.75. Also, BTC Feb 12th 110 put for 9.20. This is management against my short stock position… sold too many puts when it was above 110, so backing out of some to hold the short stock for lower prices.
TSLA earnings trade
Going out about 3 standard deviations to a strike the stock hasn’t seen in over 2 1/2 years. I’ll go long TSLA at 108.35 if it comes to it.
Sold $TSLA Feb 12 110 put @ 1.65.
Starting small. I may add if the premium gets better into the close.
NOW hedge
#Earnings STO $NOW March 18th 60 call for 1.05. Selling against underwater puts.
PNRA earnings
#Earnings Bought to close $PNRA Feb 19th 165/155 put spreads for .10. Sold as part of condor yesterday for 1.95. Will close calls when price pulls back.
PNRA earnings
#Earnings Filled while driving yesterday: Sold to Open $PNRA Feb 19th 155/165/200/210 iron condors for 1.95. Slightly bearish placement, seeing 200 as resistance near all-time high.
NOW hedges
#Earnings STO $NOW March 18th 55 call for 1.35 (thanks @Ramie)
STO NOW May 20th 60 call for 2.05
BWLD earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $BWLD Feb 19th 170 calls for .10. Earnings strangle sold last week for 2.40, now closed for .20 total.
NOW and DATA
#Earnings For any that followed on these trades, they are obviously busts. Patience is usually a virtue, but in this market and these two tickers, it is hard to say. I peeled off some of DATA on Friday, had a chance to take a small loss on NOW but stayed in and got hit by DATA’s collateral damage. If you are uncomfortable I suggest taking the loss, or at least starting to peel some off. If you want to try Tasty Trade techniques, you can sell calls (even ITM) and just work to bring in more premium as the days go by. When and if these will regain pre-earnings levels is too difficult to predict. Sorry for anyone stuck in these, but this is the peril of selling naked. Going forward, this market has shown that earnings trades must be very cautious with earnings trades.
FB & DATA management
#Earnings
Bought to close $FB Feb 5th 110 put for 6.40, and covered 100 shares of short FB stock for 103.67. Decided to take advantage of the overdone day and roll the put. I have sold several FB puts and will sell more next week.
Bought to close (1) $DATA Feb 5th 62 put for 20.50. Reducing risk over weekend by taking assignment of fewer shares. Also earlier, I sold (1) March 18th 45 call for 3.00.
CMI calls closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $CMI Feb 5th 98 calls for 1.30. Sold as part of earnings strangle for 1.05. Taking the small loss on this one as I don’t need another stock position to manage.
FB puts
#Earnings STO $FB Match 18th 100 put for 2.30 (earlier), and April 15th 87.5 put for 1.60.
I now have more puts than I do short stock, ranging from 87.5 to 110, so now I will have to control which ones I allow to be assigned and which ones I will roll.
DATA mgt
#Earnings BTC (1) $DATA Feb 5th 62 put for 18.75. Covered 1 of 5 in case we drop further from here. Looking to sell a March call if we get more bounce.
DATA bouncing, but now it’s NOW
#Earnings DATA bounced off the 40.00 level and has been trending up, even as markets are dropping. The collateral damage though is against sector sister NOW, down 15% today, for which I am short the Feb 19th 60 puts.
DATA earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $DATA Feb 5th 62/100 strangles for 1.20. The largest moves over the last 12 earnings reports: Biggest UP move: 21.4% , Biggest DOWN move: -10.7% , Average move: 10.5% . These strikes are both 23.5% OTM.
Earnings results
#Earnings Two trades from yesterday worked perfectly, with BWLD and CMI both with minimal movement this morning. BTC BWLD Feb 19th 100 puts for .10. Bidding to close the 170 call for .10, and both CMI options for .02, or they’ll expire tomorrow.
BWLD #following Jeff #earnings #ironcondor…
BWLD #following Jeff #earnings #ironcondor It’s taken all day and a couple of tries STO Feb 19 110/100/170/180 for 1.18
a few trades…
CMI earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $CMI Feb 5th 81.5/98 strangles for 1.05. These are the largest 1-day moves after last 12 reports: Biggest UP move: 6.8% , Biggest DOWN move: -8.7% , Average move: 4.2% . These strikes are 8.9% (puts) and 9.5% (calls) OTM.
BWLD earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $BWLD Feb 19th 110/170 strangles for 2.40. These are the 21-day moves over the last 12 reports: Biggest UP move: 19.4% , Biggest DOWN move: -15.9% , Average move: 10.2% . These strikes are both about 21% OTM. IV should also drop by 50% tomorrow.
CMG earnings
#Earnings, I am skipping this one due to the recent news-driven volatility. But if you want to try, over the last 12 reports, Biggest UP move: 18.4% , Biggest DOWN move: -9.2% , Average move: 9.2% . Based on current price of 473.00 and its largest move of 18.4%, its Max Proj UP move is to: 560.17 , and Max Proj DOWN move is to: 385.83. That is only based on past earnings. This is the first report after all of the e-coli news.
Short Stock, covered puts
#Earnings – now I have two short stock positions from earnings trades. VLO has been working nicely, assigned in 4th quarter at 65 and now cost basis above 70. FB, not so pretty yet, with cost basis just above 105. The danger on that one is it will start flying very high. So I will just sell puts against these as often as I can.
STO $VLO Feb 12th 66 put for 1.95
Yesterday: STO $FB Feb 5th 110 put for .75, and Feb 19th 105 put for .70
Hot Wheels and Barbie
An earnings trade. Selling puts below the recent Jan 20 low in the stock. Cost basis of 22.60 if assigned. Strike is 14% out of the money.
Sold $MAT Feb 19 23 puts @ .40
$WYNN #ShortCalls #Weeklys – Sold…
$WYNN #ShortCalls #Weeklys – Sold WYNN(Weekly) Feb 05 2016 73.5 Calls @ 0.64. Check out the 3-month chart. This strike price is at or above the highs since early November. One week until expiration.
$GILD Our old friend GILD…
$GILD Our old friend GILD down in the lower 80s, must think it’s an energy company, #earnings next week
AAPL earnings closed
#Earnings Bought to Close $AAPL Jan 29th 100/95 put spread for 4.10. Sold as part of iron butterfly on Tuesday for 3.85, plus calls closed for .13 on Wednesday, so loss was only .38 + commission. Decent recovery saved us .75 today!
AAPL iron butterfly management
I plan to do a webinar on the placement, management, and closing of iron butterflys… look for it later this quarter.
For those of you who followed on the AAPL butterfly this week, the trade didn’t work out. However, the good thing about these trades is the risk/reward, so losses are minimal. You brought in a 3.85 credit when you sold the butterfly, so whatever you pay today to close will count against that.
First, realize that you sold two credit spreads: a 100/105 call spread, and a 100/95 put spread. Assuming we stay below 100, the call spread will expire worthless and requires no action (regardless of whether you closed the short calls on Wednesday). The put spread MAY require action.
If AAPL closes the day at or above 95.00, you WILL be assigned stock at 100.00 if you do not act. This is because the long 95 puts will expire worthless, but your short 100 puts will expire in-the-money. To avoid this assignment, buy-to-close the 100 calls. You can try to get the cheapest price to close by waiting later in the day and/or for AAPL to move higher intraday.
If AAPL closes below 95.00, your whole put spread will expire ITM. You can do nothing if you wish, and your broker will execute the options and you will be debited $500 per spread (buy the stock at 100, then sell it at 95). My broker charges nothing for this execution, so I often let these expire. But if your broker charges for it, you may want to close manually during the day, as commission charges are probably cheaper. Put in the order to close the spread for 5.00. You might be able to get a lucky fill for 4.90 or something.
The goal today is to try to get out for less than 5.00. You can do this with a lucky fill on the spread, or legging out based on the intraday swings. If it’s a bullish day, waiting until right before the close might be beneficial as all extrinsic value will drain out, and hopefully the stock will be near high of the day.
Feel free to ask further, I am here until about 10:30 PT, 1:30 ET.
#Earnings
FB update
#Earnings I have now sold all of my $FB long 107 calls, leaving me short the 102 calls. If I am assigned short stock tomorrow, cost basis will be 105.00.
$NOW #earnings We might be…
$NOW #earnings We might be OK NOW
AMZN earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $AMZN Jan 29th 710 calls for 1.20. Waiting for some pullback to sell 515 puts.
FB adjustment
#Earnings Sold $FB Jan 29th 107 calls for 2.00 (from the condor). Half the position, giving me cost basis of 105.20 on short stock if assigned tomorrow.
BABA closed
#Earnings BTC $BABA Jan 29th 76 calls and 64 puts for .05 each. Condor sold yesterday for .88.
CTXS closed
#Earnings Bought to close $CTXS Feb 19th 55 puts for .05. Sold yesterday for .55
Earnings today 1/28/16
#Earnings, here are the stocks to consider today…
I consider these the “rock stars,” symbols that have worked before and typically have juicy OTM options:
AMZN, EA
Also to look at, these have weeklys and high volume, but premium may be lower:
AAL, ABBV, AMGN, CVX, MA, MSFT, PSX, SWKS, WDC
Earnings results
#Earnings – FB condor call side is fully breached due to a stellar report and a huge overnight pop. I plan to sell half of my long calls at the open, giving me a short stock cost basis above 104.00. I will wait and see with the other half.
BABA and CTXS look good. NOW (for the first time) looks troublesome… need to give it time for a bounce. VLO looks flat.
CTXS earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $CTXS Feb 19th 55 puts for .55. Partial fill on this order during post-Fed volatility. 21-day moves after last 12 earnings: Biggest UP move: 12.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -3.7%, Average move: 6.4%. This trade is 17.4% OTM.
VLO earnings
#Earnings … a bit more speculative than my other trades. I am already short some stock from last earnings, but the chart looks more bullish to me. Selling some fairly close puts; if stock drops it will close short stock and put me long the stock.
STO $VLO Jan 29th 64 puts for .60.
This is a very minor mover on earnings: Biggest UP move: 2.4% , Biggest DOWN move: -2.7% , Average move: 1.3% . This trade is 3.9% OTM.
$NOW #earnings #followingJeff STO Feb…
$NOW #earnings #followingJeff STO Feb 19 60/50 BuPS for .82
FB trade continued
#Earnings Sold to Open $FB Jan 29th 102/107 call spreads for .70. Completes iron condor started earlier.
Put your earnings trades on NOW
#Earnings Sold to Open $NOW Feb 19th 60 puts for 1.00. One-day moves after last 12 earnings: Biggest UP move: 15.3%, Biggest DOWN move: -11.5%, Average move: 9.0%.
Since these don’t expire for 20 days, let’s look at the biggest 21-day moves after the last 12 earnings:
Biggest UP move: 16.5%, Biggest DOWN move: -10.7%, Average move: 9.6%.
So as you can see, the stock does not significantly increase its post earnings moves between 1 and 21 days after earnings.
This trade is 21.2% OTM.
I have traded this on most earnings and have closed the trade for .05 or .10 within the next couple of days every time.
BABA earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $BABA Jan 29th 59/64/76/81 iron condors for .88. Entered all at once. On last 12 earnings: Biggest UP move: 7.5% , Biggest DOWN move: -8.8% , Average move: 5.9% . These strikes are 9.6% (puts) and 7.3% (calls) OTM.
FB Earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $FB Jan 29th 89/84 put spreads for .50. Going for an iron condor; going for 102/107 call spread on next bounce.
FB moves on last 12 earnings: Biggest UP move: 29.6% , Biggest DOWN move: -6.1% , Average move: 6.3% . These strikes are 7.3% (puts) and 6.3% (calls) OTM. I’m giving the put side a bit more room. The 29.6% up move is an outlier from July 2013… the next highest is +14.1%, and then all other moves were less than 7%.
AAPL management
#Earnings Bought to close $AAPL Jan 29th 100 calls for .13. Clearing the way for remote chance of a rally back to 100 by week’s end. I am doubtful now, but closing these cheaply removes all upside risk. However, it also slightly increases your max loss.
Earnings today
#Earnings, here are the stocks to consider today…
I consider these the “rock stars,” symbols that have worked before and typically have juicy OTM options:
BABA, CELG, FB, SNDK, UA, VLO, and with monthly options only: NOW
Also to look at, these have weeklys and high volume, but premium may be lower:
BMY, BRCM, BX, CAT, CTXS, EBAY, F, LLY, LVS, PYPL, QCOM, URI, V
AAPL iron butterfly
#Earnings Sold to Open AAPL 95/100/105 iron butterfly for 3.85. Max profit 3.85, max loss 1.15. I may sell OTM options as well, but for now I am selling this while AAPL is pretty close to the center strike. These have worked before because although AAPL may move 5-10% tomorrow, it will often drift back to the mean by Friday expiration.
Trade details: Buy (1) 95 put, Sell (1) 100 put, Sell (1) 100 call,, Buy (1) 105 call. If you’re not sure about how to exit these, watch for my comments now through Friday, or ask any time.
Earnings candidates today
Today earnings season kicks into high gear. Here are key symbols reporting #Earnings tonight or Wednesday morning:
AAPL, ANTH, BA, BIIB, EBAY, EMC, T, UTX, VMW
All of these have weekly options.
SBUX stopped
#Earnings Sold to close $SBUX stock for 58.02. Stopped out on my final batch, bought for 57.52 avg price after hours on earnings day last week. Not going to hold it through more potential market ugliness.
VLO short
I am still short stock from $VLO #Earnings play… assigned at 65.00, cost basis now 68.00.
Yesterday, Bought to close 100 shares for 64.00.
Today, STO VLO Feb 5th 73 call for .60.
Also have 74 call and 67 puts (likely) expiring tonight.
I will carry the position as more market volatility could bring lower stock prices to sell more puts or cover the stock position
After hours Earnings trading
#Earnings, last night I bought $SBUX stock as it spiked down after the close, at 57.90, 57.48, and 57.20. I have sold half of the position today at 58.00, 58.50, and 59.00. Holding the rest for now. This is a John Carter technique, the idea being that stocks can often have sharp spikes in both directions in the first minutes after release. You can thus set buy orders at the expected move area on stocks you believe should react positively to earnings, then sell once it moves up. In this case, SBUX didn’t recover after hours and stayed down overnight, but is now benefitting from a rallying market today, not to mention a record quarter (lower guidance was the reason for the dip).
ISRG Earnings
#Earnings Sold to Open $ISRG Jan 22nd 480/620 strangles for 2.40. Over last 12 earnings, Biggest UP move: 17.7% , Biggest DOWN move: -11.5% , Average move: 6.9% . These strikes are 11.4% (puts) and 14.4% (calls) OTM.
$NFLX I think it is…
$NFLX I think it is safe to say that my #earnings Jan. 22 125/130 for .49 BuCS isn’t going to pay off. Shattered dreams.
NFLX closed
#Earnings BTC $NFLX Jan 22nd 85 puts for .05. Sold yesterday for .72 (avg price)
$NFLX #earnings scratch off lottery…
$NFLX #earnings scratch off lottery play BTO Jan. 22 125/130 BuCS @ .49 low probability but I’ve blown $50 on bad meals
NFLX earnings
#Earnings STO $NFLX Jan 22nd 85 puts for .75. Got .85 for one earlier, so I will sell some more if price moves lower. Over last 12 earnings reports, one-day Biggest UP move: 42.2% , Biggest DOWN move: -19.4% , Average move: 15.8% . This trade is 19.4% OTM.
KOLD closing, VLO opening
#ContangoETFs BTC $KOLD Feb 19th 300 call for .90. Sold for 16.00 on Dec 18th. I don’t think this is at risk of being breached, but closing calls does release margin pressure. I am happy with over 90% of max.
STO $VLO Jan 22nd 74 call for 1.00, after selling a put on this morning’s dip. #Earnings
Covered put
STO $VLO Jan 29th 67 put for 1.50. I continue to sell puts and calls against this short stock position… assigned at 65.00 after an #Earnings play, my cost basis is now just below 68.00. It is a bullish chart, but the stock is having trouble rising due to oil and market volatility.
VLO puts
STO $VLO Jan 15th 67 put for 1.00
STO $VLO Jan 22nd 67 put for 1.30.
These puts are covered against a short stock position from an earnings play. Cost basis now around 68.00. #Earnings
NKE Earnings
#Earnings BTC $NKE Dec 24th 123 puts for .04. Sold for 1.00 yesterday.
Sorry, was out a lot…
Sorry, was out a lot today but STO IBF NKE for tomorrow Earnings play 136/130/124 4.61
NKE earnings
#Earnings STO $NKE Dec 24th 123 puts for 1.00. Biggest UP move: 12.2% , Biggest DOWN move: -5.1% , Average move: 5.2% . This trade is 5.4% OTM.
FDX earnings butterfly
#Earnings #ironbutterfly
BTC $FDX Dec 18th short 149 puts & calls for 1.45. Sold on Wednesday for 4.15, so 2.70 profit. Thanks for the idea, @mortlightman!
STO Dec FDX IBF 155/149/149/143 4.05 Cr
Earnings trade
FDS earnings
#Earnings STO $FDS Dec 18th 155 puts for 1.00. Biggest UP move: 9.7% Biggest DOWN move: -6.4%. Average move: 3.6%. This trade is 7.5% OTM.
RH earnings closed
#Earnings BTC $RH Dec 18th 75 puts for .10, sold for .95 yesterday.
BTC RH Dec 18th 100 call for .10, sold for .66 yesterday.
Options Bistro 