#SPX0dte Sold 6770/6800-6805/6830 condors for 9.95, BTC for 6.50. That took my small loss for the week and made it a small gain. Short trade wins after all. Downside Warning was canceled yesterday which hopefully means a period of calm. I think these last five weeks where I have struggled and abstained started right after a calm period ended and a wild one began. The wild swings began 14 trading days before the China tweet that dumped the $SPX. It’s like the market knew it was coming. And nine days after that VIX is back down and I get a calm Friday afternoon to save the week.

That said, I’m not going back to business as usual. Still going to be cautious.

#SPX0dte Sold to open $SPX Oct 22nd 6650/6670-6790/6810 condors for 1.05, IV 19.36%, deltas -.06 +.05

#SPX0dte Another day, another EM breach. Got some profit on a long put spread, bought for .35 at the open, legged out for 1.875.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Oct 10th 6660/6680-6780/6800 condors for 1.05, IV 16.78%, deltas -.07 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Oct 9th 6700/6730-6735/6760 condors for 10.60, IV 14.04%. Gotta try something.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Oct 8th 6645/6665-6765/6785 condors for 1.10, IV 16.50%, deltas -.07 +.06

The overnight was mellow so the long trade from yesterday isn’t working, so I’ll either keep it for some protection on upside or close for breakeven or small loss.

#SPX0dte Bought to Open $SPX Oct 8th 6775/6795 call spreads for .35. This same spread for Oct 7th was running about .45 before market and peaked at about 1.60 at the open. Since the market is so swingy any up move overnight should work.

#SPX0dte I’m back from 6-day hiatus and looking at futures shooting to all-time highs (25-point move in last 4 hours); there just is not a safe 0-dte selling opportunity. I’ll watch to see if anything develops.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX 6540/6560-6675/6695 condors for 1.00, IV 19.45%, deltas -.07 +.05

.10 close orders on each leg. Manual stop level is Expected Move in each direction.

#SPX0dte BOUGHT to Open 6505/6525-6655/6675 condors for .90, IV 20.77%, deltas -.05 +.05

No choice but to take a long position and assume the sharp moves continue. $VIX has not gone up very much after two down days, so a bounce could be in the cards. When I entered this trade about 40 minutes before open it was going for 1.20 and deltas of -.07, +.06. A half hour reduced all of that significantly.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 24th 6620/6640-6690/6710 condors for 3.40, filled at open, deltas -.17 +.17. Going for $1

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 23rd 6630/6650-6730/6750 condors for .95, IV 13.60%, deltas -.08 +.05

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 22nd 6575/6595-6680/6700 condors for .95, IV 14.85%, deltas -.07 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 19th 6550/6570-6695/6715 condors for 1.05, IV 20.11%, deltas -.07 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 18th 6550/6570-6695/6715 condors for 1.05, IV 20.33%, deltas -.07 +.06

No trades yesterday as the big drop then bounce during presser kept me away.

#SPX0dte No trades yet, and I may have none. Depends on whether market is calm as presser winds down. I’m monitoring both a wide and narrow condor since pre-market and both have gone UP in premium, meaning there is no decay happening before the announcement.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 16th 6565/6585-6655/6675 condors for 1.00, IV 13.13%, deltas -.09 +.07

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 15th 6580/6610-6615/6645 condors for 10.00, IV 15%

Pre-market trades not really tenable lately so I skipped them and waited for market to calm down.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 11th 6500/6520-6575/6595 condors for 3.80, deltas -.18 +.16. Looking for $1 profit

#SPX0dte Sold to open $SPX Sep 9th 6435/6455-6540/6560 condors for 1.05, IV 15.08%, deltas -.07 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 8th 6465/6495-6500/6530 condors for 13.15, IV 15.18%

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 4th 6375/6395-6490/6510 condors for 1.05, IV 16.15%, deltas -.07 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Sep 3rd 6405/6435-6440/6470 condors for 14.25, IV 16.20%

#SPX0dte Bought to Open $SPX Sept 2 6300/6280 put spreads for .50, IV 25.31%, delta -.05

At midnight PDT the futures started their drop for the beginning of the historically worst month for the stock market. I’m staying away from the selling, taking a cheap shot for a further downside move after the open.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 29th 6425/6455-6460/6490 condors for 14.90, IV 19.64%

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 28th 6415/6435-6525/6545 condors for 1.10, IV 15.70%, deltas -.07 +.07

It has been a well-contained week and this trade would havew worked all three days. So I’m lifting my moratorium.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 27th 6435/6465=6470/6500 condors for 12.35, IV 13.43%

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 26th 6405/6435-6440/6470 condors for 12.70, IV 14.07%

#SPX0dte Taking a pause on the pre-market entries for the 6-delta condors. Although this has been my strongest strategy for about 7 years, it hasn’t been consistent for many months now. I will reinstate the normalcy when I feel the market has restored some normalcy. Meantime I will look for tighter condor opportunities after the mornings calm down, and occasional shots with long spreads.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 22nd 6255/6275-6470/6490 condors for 1.50, IV 34.76%, deltas -.06 +.05

Was considering sitting on hands but this is pretty good width and premium anticipating Powell’s 10am speech.

#SPX0dte BOUGHT to open $SPX Aug 21st 6305/6285 put spreads for .55, IV 20.74%, delta -.06

I’m sticking with long trades at least until we get a day or two of muted moves. I’m only bothering with put side today, given we have trickled lower overnight.

I have also been watching for tight condor options later in the trading day, but the swings have kept up in last two afternoons.

#SPX0dte Yesterday was a decent drop. $VIX closed higher but made a LOWER high and a lower low than the day before. The internals just not in sync. I’m buying long condor today.

Not fill yet…. I will increase buy price if not filled before the open.

BUYING $SPX Aug 20th 6325/6345-6450/6470 condors, bidding .90, IV 17.10%, deltas -.05 +.05

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX 6390/6410-6480/6500 condors for 1.15, IV 13.13%, deltas -.085 +.065

IV, EM, premium not expecting much today so this condor a bit aggressive.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 18th 6375/6395-6485/6505 condors for 1.05, IV 15.75%, deltas -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 15th 6400/6420-6520/6540 condors for 1.15, IV 17.87%, deltas -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open 6355/6375-6485/6505 condors for 1.15, IV 19.70%, deltas -.06 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 13th 6400/6420-6495/6515 condors for 1.05, IV 14.18%, deltas -.08 +.07

Sharp drop in IV and premium today, so this one is a bit aggressive. Overnight move was bullish but only represents about 20 SPX points which is modest compared to recent weeks.

#SPX0dte I’m skipping the wide condor given the large move after CPI report. Until this market returns to some semblance of normality I will be picking my spots more selectively.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 11th 6315/6335-6435/6455 condors for 1.00, IV 17.11%, deltas -.07 +.06

I’m taking the brief Downside Warning’s end on Friday as a sign the moves will quiet a bit. At least for today. We’ll see if CPI starts to get ugly tomorrow morning.

#SPX0dte BOUGHT to open $SPX Aug 8th 6275/6295-6405/6425 condors for .95, IV 19.26%, deltas -.06 +.07

After 9 straight days of big moves, I feel forced to reverse strategy and try this long on both sides. Over these nine days the pattern has mostly been to start the move about a half hour or more into the day. So I found my strikes at my usual time, about 45 minutes before the open. This time they would gave SOLD for 1.05. I waited until after the open for a cheaper BUY price. So we’ll see if this becomes the 10th day, two full trading weeks, where the SPX moves past the expected move on 6-ish-delta condors. Since I’m now long, it’s probably the day it won’t happen!

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 6th 6225/6245-6360/6380 condors for 1.05, IV 19.60%, deltas -.06 +.05

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 5th 6250/6270-6385/6405 condors for 1.15, IV 19.53%, deltas -.07 +.06

forgot to click “post” but this was placed about 38 minutes before the open.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Aug 4th 6170/6190-6325/6345 condors for 1.30, IV 23.20%, deltas -.06 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open 6335/6355-6470/6490 condors for 1.10, IV 19.75%, IB deltas -.07 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 30th 6285/6305-6430/6450 condors for 1.20, IV 21.43%, deltas -.07 +.06

Surprises are not expected from the Fed announcement, but increased IV giving a better width on the condor.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 29th 6345/6365-6435/6455 condors for 1.10, IV 13.20%, IB deltas -.09 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 25th 6310/6330-6405/6425 condors for 1.05, IV 14.15%, deltas -.09 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 24th 6290/6310-6395/6415 condors for 1.05, IV 14.80%, IB deltas -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 23rd 6265/6285-6365/6385 condors for 1.05, IV 14.21%, IB deltas -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 22nd 6240/6260-6345/6365 condors for 1.05, IV 14.90%, deltas from IB: -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 21st 6265/6285-6325/6345 condors for 3.75, IV 14.22%. Delta reads were completely out of whack on both ToS and IB, so I estimated as distance from ATM. IV is lowest in premarket that I’ve seen all year.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 18th 6255/6275-6345/6365 condors for 1.15, IV 17.09%, deltas (IB) -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte I’ve thrown in the towel on neutral trades for the week, given the failure of every trade I have tried, the out-sized intraday swings every day, and another big move in the futures this morning. On this spike higher I did buy a put spread. If we get another drop down I will close that and look for something long. Keeping it cheap, however.

BTO $SPX July 17th 6225/6205 put spreads for .50, IV 15.70%, delta estimated -.055

#SPX0dte Sold to Open a 20d condor a few minutes after open: July 16th 6210/6230-6280/6300 for 3.95, IV 17.10%, deltas -.20 +.18

After two days of stop outs I held off on pre-market wide condor… probably means this will be a straight-down-the-middle day!

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX july 15th 6230/6250-6335/6355 condors for 1.10, IV 15.85%, deltas (estimated) -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 14th 6175/6195-6280/6300 condors for 1.20, IV 16.11%, deltas -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 11th 6150/6170-6295/6315 condors for 1.15, IV 21.26%, deltas -.07 +.05

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 9th 6170/6190-6280/6300 condors for 1.05, IV 16.43%, deltas -.06 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 8th 6190/6210-6260/6280 condors for 4.30, IV 17.62%

I skipped the wide condor today as more tariff news likely to come and there have been too many stop outs in recent days. I may look at selling something at extremes, or even buying something if it gets cheap early in the day.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 7th 6175/6195-6300/6320 condors for 1.05, IV 19.01%, deltas estimated -.08 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 3rd 6170/6190-6270/6290 condors for 1.15, IV 14.72%, deltas -.08 +.07

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX July 2nd 6105/6125-6230/6250 condors for 1.15, IV 18.16%, deltas -.06 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open July 1st $SPX 6100/6120-6230/6250 condors for 1.10, IV 19.54%, deltas -.06 +.06

Higher IV due to Powell/LaGarde speeches, and lots of data coming after the open. Likely won’t consider another trade until after 10am ET.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Jun 30th 6110/6130-6240/6260 condors for 1.05, IV 19.15%, deltas -.06 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Jun 27th 6085/6105-6195/6215 condors for .95, IV 16.10%, deltas -.07 +.05

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Jun 26th 6065/6085-6130/6150 condors for 1.10, IV 16.80%, deltas -.07 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Jun 25th 6030/6050-6145/6165 condors for .95, IV 16.88%, deltas -.07, +.06

This is lowest chain IV since the February market highs. A pretty massive drop overnight.

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Jun 24th 5970/5990-6115/6135 condors for 1.05, deltas -.06 +.06, IV 21.82%

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Jun 23rd 5880/5900-6030/6050 for 1.15, IV 23.24%, deltas -.06 +.06

#SPX0dte Sold to Open $SPX Jun 20th 5900/5920-6060/6080 condors for 1.05, IV 24.23%, deltas (from IB) -.06 +.06