Weekly: plowing ahead

After recent losses, I plow forward. This week, I rebalance several positions by selling December puts. I hit another bump in the road (or rock in the field) with another big loss on some short calls, this time on YHOO. ASH is also near the strike price of those short calls. GLD and some oil related stocks finally have a relief rally after some relentless selling. DIS earnings disappoint. Here are this week's trades:

Fri Cover short YHOO Nov 48 calls @48.2. Another big loss on short calls, about 600% basis the premium collected. The rally in Yahoo has been substantial since the BABA IPO. The call side of my short strangles got crushed.

Wed I open December positions in 3M Corp, Anadarko Petroleum, United Healthcare and Whirlpool.

Sell MMM Dec 145 puts @155.0

Sell APC Dec 75 puts @91.5

Sell UNH Dec 82.5 puts @95.5

Sell WHR Dec 150 puts @173.0

Tue I open December positions in Honeywell and Nordstroms.

Sell HON Dec 85 puts @95.1

Sell JWN Dec 62.5 puts @71.9

Mon A busy day, nine trades, mostly rebalancing trades on existing positions. I sell some December puts to offset some of the short November calls that may be threatened. I make too many trades to notate the prices of the underlyings. Most are done between 45 minutes and 1:15 after the open. These days I have limited computer access, and that time is one of my trading windows.

Sell ASH Dec 95 puts

Sell DIS Dec 82.5 puts

Sell FDX Dec 145 puts

Sell IWM strangles: Dec 127 calls / Dec 103 puts

Sell YHOO Dec 41 puts

Sell VRX Dec 110 puts

Sell BRKB Dec 130 puts

Position Summary:

long HON ILMN MMM NKE UNH UNP WHR YHOO

net long AMGN APC BRKB GLD IWM TLT VRX

net short ASH FDX HON JWN SPY

net neutral DIS GLD UNH