Weekly: new long LUV, new neutral GLD

Spreads were wide on many of the less active stock options. Mostly I go for the mid or a penny or two below the mid. Sometimes I get filled, sometimes not. New positions: sell puts on LUV for a new long position, sell strangles on GLD for net neutral.

In the news was the ECB news, more earnings, and Mercury going retrograde. I remember hedge fund manager David Tepper talking about his reaction to the Fed's most recent QE news. Tepper thought it would be good for just about all U.S. stocks and went all in on the long side. It remains to be seen whether the European version will be good for stocks, more particularly for us, U.S. stocks. I am out of my depth there, but it is worth looking at. So far, the European QE has been very good for U.S. bonds, and pretty good for U.S. stocks.

Fri Sell HON Mar 87.5 p @101.3. Add to longs in Honeywell as it moves up on earnings.

Sell UNH Mar 95 p @113.0. Rebalance short strangles on United Healthcare. UNH had a big follow through day to the upside and is nearing the strike of the short Feb 116 calls. If it does go up through 116, I plan to buy stock to cover.

Sell ILMN Mar 150 p @197.0. Rebalance short strangles in Illumina. It can be hard to get a fill on ILMN options. I tried for a couple of days. This one got filled a dime below the mid with a wide bid/ask spread.

Sell IWM Feb 107 p @118.2. Rebalance short strangles on the Russell 2000 etf.

Thu Sell UNP Mar 100 p @118.5. Add to longs on Union Pacific Railroad as it moves up after earnings.

Sell UNH Feb 102 p @109.7. Rebalance short strangles on United Healthcare. UNH closed strong yesterday and opened strong this morning. I get filled as it corrects back.

Sell LUV Mar 35 p @43.8. New long position in Southwest Airlines. LUV makes new highs on earnings news. Support at 37.

Sell FDX Mar 155 p @179.4. Add to longs in Federal Express by opening a March position. As the market rallies, I add long delta.

Wed After options expiration, I often plow the capital right back into the market. I wanted to note that the Mercury retrograde alignment starts today 1/21/15 and ends 2/15/15. Last retrograde cycle was a difficult market time for me. Some may say this is superstition, but I am making note of it. Perhaps with the shaky start to 2015, the retrograde changes the energy and we start trending.

Sell BRKB Mar 130 p @147.5. I add to longs by opening a March position in Berkshire Hathaway.

Sell GLD strangles @123.9. 
Sell Mar 110 p / Sell Mar 145 c
GLD premiums up a bit due to pending European Central Bank (ECB) news. 109 is the recent low, and the 145 strike balances it out nicely.

Sell XOM Mar 75 p @91.5. I rebalance short strangles by selling some March puts on Exxon Mobil.

Sell UNH strangles @108.6: United Healthcare up on earnings
Sell Feb 100 p / Sell Feb 116 c

Position Summary:
long APC DIS FDX GDX HON MMM UNP VRX WFC
net long XOM / net short UNH
net neutral AMGN ILMN IWM JWN SPY WHR 
new long LUV 
new net neutral GLD