Sunday, December 31, 2017

2017 Year 652-66 Grade B-

I count 652 winners, 66 loser for the 2017 year. I am up about 18% for the year, which is right behind SPY. Overall, I am pleased. I’ll take +18% every time.

My best dollar winners over the course of the year:
BRKB NVDA TSLA SPG UNH

losers: BA PANW FL ULTA.

It was another remarkably calm market year. So many kept waiting for volatility to return, but for the most part, they were disappointed. So many on the Internet keep looking for a crash. Many lack the basic understanding that crashes are rare events. Real market crashes might be once every 20 to 30 years. Corrections, bear markets are more common. If we could time all the market hiccups we could print money.

Put sellers did very well, some call sellers saw losses. Many of my big loser trades involved sold calls.

Here are a few etfs and how they did in 2017:

EEM +34.6% emerging market equity
SPY +19.0% SP500, U.S. large cap

IWM +13.0% Russell 2000 U.S. small cap
GLD +12.8% gold

TLT +6.5% U.S. 20 year treasury bonds
SLV +5.8% silver

The main groups to lose money were bearish. One of these days, they will be right, but it wasn’t in 2017. Predictions tend to be for entertainment. Money management, risk management is where I tend to make my money. My predictions are no better than coin flips.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Two weeks of trades

Not much exciting as the year winds down. There was some minor selling at the end of the year. For now, I’ll just report. I’ll try to get a 2017 summary post up in the next few days.

12/26/17 Tue Apple dips on news, I sell some way otm calls on a few tech stocks. Retail has a good day. I missed the boat on Macys.
Sell AAPL Jan 185 c 19
Sell FB Jan 190 c 26

Sell NFLX Jan 210 c 20
Sell QQQ Jan 145 p 22

Sell SPY Feb 243 p 44
Sell TIF Jan 98 p 82

Wed I do my first butterfly ever. The concept is to land on the center strike to make a huge profit. I target SPY 245 in April.
SPY April butterfly for 46 debit:
Buy SPY Apr 255 p 307
Sell 2x SPY Apr 245 p 192 each
Buy SPY Apr 235 p 126

Sell NFLX Jan 172.5 p 56

12/18/17 Mon After third-week expiration, I have a mountain of buying power. I open a few positions, way out of the money.
Sell BABA Jan 150 p 47
Sell IBB Feb 95 p 40

Sell QQQ Jan 149 p 32
Sell SPY Jan 256 p 40

Tue Sell NVDA Jan 167.5 p 47
Sell AAPL Jan 155 p 27
Sell IWM Jan 143 p 27

Wed Sell MCD Feb 150 p 38
Sell QQQ Feb 135 p 29
Sell SPG Feb 145 p 57

Thu Sell FB Jan 160 p 37
Sell MSFT Jan 80 p 17
Sell NFLX Jan 160 p 40

Sell ROKU Jan 35 p 30
Sell XLU Feb 48 p 14

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Monthly: Zombie Bull and the Tax Bill, 62-4 Grade B+

Some big losers mar an otherwise stellar month. The near invincible bull market continues to roll for another month. The likely passage of the tax bill brings good cheer to Wall Street.

Here are a few etfs year to date:
EEM +31.9% emerging market equity
SPY +19.2% S&P 500, U.S. large cap

IWM +12.9% Russell 2000 U.S. small cap
GLD + 8.7% gold

TLT + 7.7% U.S. 20 year treasuries
SLV + 0.3% silver

It is a bit remarkable that all are up for the year. IWM was about break even a couple of months ago. GLD and SLV started the year strong and have faded. Perhaps most surprising is a good year for bonds, despite several Fed rate hikes.

My account is up 17.9%, which is nothing to sneeze at. However, it is behind SPY’s bull market year. I haven’t had much time or energy for trading lately. I’m sure readers had remarkably good results this year. I try to remain in learning mode at all times. The market is always evolving.

Weekly: Holidays markets are early

The relative calm of holiday markets arrive early. As the zombie bull market continues to slowly lurch forward. Hardly anything seems to cause as much as a bobble in the march forward. It continues to be a remarkably unnaturally calm market.

Here are the trades (p=puts, c=calls, number near end is price per contract, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close)

Mon Sell ULTA Jan 195 p 95
Sell SHAK Jan 52.5 c 25
Sell SHAK Jan 42.5 p 55
Cover SPY DecW4 241 p 04 for profit

Tue Sell BA Jan 250 p 53
Sell TSLA Jan 250 p 56
Sell WYNN Jan 140 p 44

Cover three trades for profit:
Cover TSLA Dec 225 p 01
Cover SPY Dec 240 p 01
Cover IWM Dec 135 p

Thu Sell YY Jan 80 p 35
Sell TIF Jan 87.5 p 49
Sell TIF Jan 110 c 35
Cover DE Dec 155 c 01 for profit

Fri Sell PYPL Jan 65 p 22
Sell YY Jan 80 p 40
Cover DE Dec 155 c 01 for profit

Saturday, December 09, 2017

Weekly: C’est la vie

It is a philosophical week that starts with more declines in tech stocks, then a modest recover. I close some positions for losses. I follow my rule to take the loss if the option crosses the strike price. It is painful to do. Twice as painful as the stocks bounce back after I get out. Still, all in all, I am up a tad for the week.

Losses are part of the game. Traders that never take a loss tend to be wizards, scammers or liars. On the Internet, it is mostly scammers and liars that claim never to lose. Often they have something to sell.

Here are the trades (p=puts, c=calls, number near end is price per contract, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close)

Mon Dreams turn into nightmares as the market opens higher, closes lower. I take significant losses in my tech positions. I am down about 1.0% for the day.

Roll BRKB for 95 debit: Cover BRKB Dec 195 c 415 for loss
Sell BRKB Jan 200 c 320

Sell TSLA strangles Sell TSLA Jan 400 c 35
Sell TSLA Jan 200 p 45

Sell BABA Dec 190 c 30
Sell BABA Dec 187.5 c 56

Sell FB Dec 185 c 24
Sell NFLX Dec 197.5 c 74

Cover NVDA Dec 187.5 p 600 for a whopper loss
Cover NVDA Dec 260 c 02 for profit

Cover BABA Dec 220 c 02 for profit

Tue Cover BABA DecW4 170 p 545 for a huge loss
This is not the time to be ignoring my trading rules.

Wed Markets calm down, though I take another big loss in a tech stock (Palo Alto Networks)

Sell SPY SPY Jan 240 p 48
Sell LMT Jan 290 p 90

Sell WMT Jan 87.5 p 23
Cover WMT Dec 77.5 p 01

Cover SPG Dec 145 p 03 for profit
Cover PANW Dec 142 p 280 for a big loss

Thu I take profits to free up buying power
Cover QCOM Dec 50 p 01

Cover WYNN Dec 135 p 02
Cover AAPL Dec 145 p 03

Fri Sell MCD Jan 155 p
Sell BABA DecW4 160 p 30

Sunday, December 03, 2017

Weekly: NVDA meets the iceberg

Tech wreck spoils my week. I am down a modest 0.7% or so. Not the end of the world, but not pleasant. Some nimble traders played both ends and did well. As readers know, I tend to be a relatively slow moving trader that tends to balance back towards delta neutral. That wasn’t a good idea this week, and I lost a few sheckels.

Here are the trades (p=puts, c=calls, number near end is price per contract, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close)

Mon Sell FB DecW4 167.5 p 21
Sell PANW Dec 170 c 12

Sell SPY DecW5 248 p 49
Sell QQQ DecW5 147 p 35

Tue Sell IWM DecW4 144p 32
Sell ROKU Dec 70 c 15

Sell DE DecW5 140 p 44
Sell BABA Dec 170 p 48

Sell NFLX Dec 180 p 24
Sell NVDA Dec 187.5 p 31

Sell NVDA Dec 230 c 46

Wed Nvidia hits an iceberg, down over 10% from its highs. I quickly reduce my delta. My account loses about 1.5% today. Yikes.

Sell NVDA shares half position 194.60 for 20% gain
Sell NVDA Dec 220 c 45

Sell NVDA Dec 227.5 c 71
Sell BABA Dec 200 c 55

Sell NFLX Dec 205 c 47

Thu Sell PANW Dec 160 c 19
Broad market rebounds, with new highs on the DJIA. I recovery about 40% of Wednesday’s losses.

Friday means another sell off and I finish the week in the red. Down about 0.7% in my trading account. 

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Weekly: Grateful heart

I’ve been thinking about all I have to be grateful for during this Thanksgiving week. Sure almost all have some “missing tiles,” in the mosaic of life. However, there are many great and wonderful tiles present. Those that live in the U.S., that have the time, money and intelligence to invest have a cornucopia of riches. Ok, it was a quiet week of holiday trade. New positions in AVB DE PANW

Here are the trades (p=puts, c=calls, number near end is price per contract, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close)

Mon Third week option expiration frees up a lot of buying power.
Sell WYNN strangles:
Sell WYNN Dec 145 p 77
Sell WYNN Dec 172.5 c 34

Sell SPY DecW4 241 p 40
Sell QQQ DecW4 140 p 23

Sell TLSA NovW4 330 c 20

Tue Sell SPG Jan 140 p 73Sell NFLX Dec 180 p 58

Sell PANW Dec 142 p 65
By the end of the day Palo Alto Networks fades and my new position is in the red.

Wed Deere higher after earnings, I sell strangles
Sell DE Dec 155 c 11
Sell DE Dec 135 p 45

Sell AAPL DecW4 160 p 36
Sell AVB Jan 170 p 95

Friday, November 17, 2017

Monthly: Shorter days, less trading, 44-4 Grade B

As the days grow shorter, so does my time for the stock market. I count 44 winners, 4 loser for the Novemeber option cycle, self-grade B. I make modest gains, slightly closing the gap between my portfolio and buy-and-hold of SPY.

Here are a few etfs, best to worst YTD:
EEM +33.7% Emerging market equity
SPY +15.4% S&P 500, U.S. large cap

GLD +12.1% gold
IWM +10.1% Russell 2000, U.S. small cap

SLV +7.9% silver
TLT +6.1% 20-year U.S. treasury bonds

my trading account +15.4% right with SPY, but SPY also has +1.5% in dividends.

With less time, I will tend to be ever more cautious. The bull market is intact. Corrections are likely to be shallow, but eventually we will get a scare. The big one? Likely a good ways off, considering how much chatter there still is about a crash. Seems like only a few people have the money and mentality to invest in the market, that the mania often seen at major tops seems far off. Most of the chatter at the gym, the coffee shop or church isn’t about the stock market. Of course, there will be a correction, a bear market, but for now, seems like most corrections are shallow.

Bear market? Again, look for an inverted yield curve, transports leading the market lower. Semi conductors and financials can also lead the market lower. Yes, valuations are stretched, but they have been for a few years now. A blow off top could bring about a sharp down turn, but it would be from higher levels.

Weekly: ROKU YY

I add new longs in the volatile stocks ROKU YY. The options aren’t liquid, so use caution. Other than that, not much going on. My time and energy for trading is low this time of year, so I am doing fewer trades. Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, any percentages are basis the premium collected, the number near the end is price per contract).

Mon Sell AAPL Dec 155 p 30
Sell BABA Dec 165 p 72

Sell BABA Dec 220 c 22
Sell WYNN Dec 135 p 54

I take profits, most are in the 90% to 95% range:
Cover BRKB Nov 170 p 01
Cover WYNN Nov 143 p 05

Cover CMG Nov 325 c 05
Cover IBB Nov 285 p 05
Cover BA Nov 210 p 01

Tue Cover BA Nov 285 c 01
Cover ULTA Nov 175 p 05

Sell IBB Dec 330 c 65
Sell PYPL Dec 67.5 p 26

Sell FB Dec 160 p 39
Sell BWLD Dec 110 p 30

Wed Cover AAPL Dec 200 c 03
Sell AAPL Dec 185 c 27

Sell NVDA Nov 220 c 19

Thu New positions in two not-so-liquid underlyings.
Sell YY Dec 90 p 45
Sell ROKU Dec 25 p 45

Fri Cover CAT Dec 155 c 02
Cover TSLA Nov 250 p 01
Cover TSLA Nov 350 c 02

Sell NFLX Dec 220 c 23
Sell NFLX Dec 170 p 42

Sell TSLA NovW4 340 c 41
Sell TSLA NovW4 287.5 p 34

Sell WMT Dec 90 p 23

Friday, November 10, 2017

Weekly: NVDA chugs ahead

I do better this week. Not quite as scatterbrained, but I have a lot on my mind besides the stock market. Highlights of the week are reducing risk in BRKB and a good earnings report in NVDA.

Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, percentages are based on the premium collected, number near the end are price per contract).

Mon Sell MCD Dec 185 c 12
Sell QCOM Dec 50 p 16
Cover MCD Nov 170 c 172 for a 500% loss

Tue Cover M Nov 18 p 120 for 350% loss
Sell RCL strangle: Sell RCL Dec 115 p 69
Sell RCL Dec 145 c 24

Cover MCD Nov 145 p 04 for 85% profit

Wed Cover BRKB Nov 180 p 34 for 85% profitCover BRKB Nov 185 p 164 for 33% profit

New longs:
Sell WYNN Nov 143 p 34
Sell MAR Nov 115 p 35

Thu Stock market sells off, then recovers. I make some minor moves
Cover BRKB Dec 185 c 283 for 50% profit
Cover BRKB Dec 185 p 415 for breakeven profit

Sell BRKB Dec 195 c 38
Sell NFLX Nov 207.5 c 24

Fri Nvidia earnings good. I add layers.
Sell NVDA Dec 260 c 40
Sell NVDA Dec 180 p 66

Sell TSLA Dec 375 c 58
Sell TSLA Dec 225 p 59

Sell RCL Dec 135 c 45

Cover SPG Nov 135 p 05 for 90% profit
Cover AAPL Nov 148 p 02 for 98% profit

Saturday, November 04, 2017

Weekly: The absent minded trader

I feel absent minded this week, forgetting many minor things. In the stock market, I took assignment on sold AAPL calls and paid for it. Even with this unforced error, I eek out a gain for the week. It is one reason I like to play with the odds in my favor. There is more room for mistakes. Tesla’s dump on earnings news doesn’t burn me, because I sold options so far out of the money.

My mind is elsewhere at times, so try to stay out of trouble. Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, number near end is price per contract).

Mon A blue Monday for me as AAPL continues higher after my failure to close before getting assigned. Cover 100 AAPL shares 166.07 effectively about a 3000% loss on the 162.5 calls I sold that got assigned. Down the rabbit hole I go, and I come out a lot worse.Cover AAPL Nov 165 c 525 for a 260% loss
Sell AAPL Nov 185 c 35

Sell NVDA Nov 165 p 55

Wed Sell QQQ Nov 144 p 24
Sell SPY Nov 248 p 24

Thu Tesla lower on earnings, I add more layersSell TSLA Nov 250 p 57
Sell TSLA Nov 350 c 55

Fri Sell MCD Nov 160 p 23
Sell TSLA Nov 350 c 28

Sell AAPL Dec 200 c 18
Sell AAPL Nov 162.5 p 36

Close some winning positions to free up buying power:
Cover AAPL Nov 135 p 02
Cover SPY Nov 235 p 05
Cover TSLA Nov 405 c 04

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Weekly: Burritos and Bezos

The week was meh for me as I lose a tiny bit. News includes poor earnings for Chipotle and booming results for Amazon. Jeff Bezos from Amazon made approximately $8 billion on Friday, which is about the current market cap for CMG. I pivoted from near delta neutral short strangles to net short on CMG. I didn’t lose much there. I didn’t play AMZN.

I took on water in biotech etf IBB. I initiate some new longs and have mixed results. I close out my bottom fishing expedition in GE with a humbling loss.

Friday was as close to a melt up as I’ve seen. Like I said I was down for the week, and that feels twice as bad when the major averages are booming ahead. I got assigned on some AAPL calls. An oversight, I plan to close early on Monday.

Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, number near the end is price in dollars per contract).

Tue I initiate new longs in Stanley Tools, 3M Corp, and Caterpillar after earnings.

Sell SWK Dec 155 p 100
Sell MMM Dec 220 p 108

Sell CAT Dec 155 c 28
Sell NVDA Nov 230 c 128

Sell SPG Dec 145 p 77

Wed Sell TSLA strangles:
Sell TSLA Nov 250 p 62
Sell TSLA Nov 405 c 57

Sell ADBE Nov 190 c 15
Sell NVDA OctW4 202.5 c 20

Cover BABA Oct 190 c 02 for gain
Cover BABA OctW4 172.5 p 235 for loss

Sell SWK Dec 175 c 40
Sell NOC Dec 275 p 105

I pivot to net short on Chipotle after poor earnings
Sell CMG Dec 350 c 80
Sell CMG Nov 325 c 50

Sell CAT Dec 120 p 40
Sell BA Nov 285 c 21

Thu Sell NSC Dec 115 p 45
Sell WMT Dec 77.5 p 17

Cover CMG Dec 435 c 05 for gain
Sell IBB Dec 350 c 70

Fri Tech stocks leap higher, led by Amazon and Google on earnings
Sell QQQ Dec 142 p 77
Sell AAPL Dec 145 36

Cover GE Nov 21 p 81 for loss
Sell AAPL Nov 148 p 71

Sell MSFT Dec 77.5 p 27
Sell NFLX Nov 175 p 46

Sat Assignment! AAPL OctW4 162.5 calls assigned, I got busy and didn’t see this one. I plan to close it out early Monday.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Monthly: Smelling like a rose, 63-8, Grade B+

I count 63 winners, 8 losers for the October option cycle. Grade B+. There are costly whipsaws in NVDA and TSLA. I am up about 14% for the year, which is good, but nothing amazing.

Here are some etfs I track and their ytd performance, best to worst:

EEM +32.1% emerging markets equity
SPY +15.0% S&P 500, US large cap

IWM +11.2% Russell 2000 US small cap
GLD +10.9% gold

SLV +6.4% silver
TLT +4.1% US 20-year treasury bonds

Precious metals and bonds are slipping, after a strong first half of the year. Equities continue to power ahead. The surprise continues to be EEM considering the chatter about trade wars early in the year. My trading account is at +14% s, right in line with SPY and IWM.

Again, for newer readers, I tend to describe myself as a cautious, slow moving options trader. During strong bull moves I often lag. Considering that I expected a 5% to 8% correction in September/October, and made several trades in early September based on that, I have come out smelling like a rose.

I try not to let my expectations paint me into a corner. Listen to the markets. It remains a bull market. Those expecting a sharp pullback to let them in have been waiting for years now. I signaled a red flag warning on this blog in April 2014 at SPY 187 mostly based on valuations. SPY is 257 today, almost 40% higher in 3 1/2 years. If I had stayed stuck on valuation warnings, I would have missed out on those gains, Some traders have taken losses while the most hated bull market of all time, continues to march to new highs.

Weekly: ADBE CMG PYPL ULTA

I initiate positions in ADBE CMG PYPL ULTA. Otherwise, not too much going on. I nip and tuck at other existing positions. Markets continue their slow yeast rise. Will the souffle crumble? Way too many novices seem worried about the market for any significant downside.

Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-cover, cover means buy-to-close, percentage gain/loss are based on the premium collected, number near the end is price per contract).

Mon Sell CMG Strangle: Sell CMG Dec 435 c 41
Sell CMG Dec 240 p 90

Sell LMT Dec 285 p 85
Cover BA Oct 215 p 02 for 95% profit

Roll BRKB for 195 debit: Cover BRKB Oct 180 c 800 for 470% loss
Sell BRKB Dec 185 c 605

Sell IBB Dec 290 p 70
Sell AAPL NovW1 147 p 53

Tue Sell BABA OctW4 190 c 22

Thu Sell BRKB Dec 200 c 45Sell ULTA Nov 175 p 65

Cover SPG Oct 140 p 01 for 98% gain
Sell ADBE Nov 155 p 39

Sell UNH Nov 190 p 49
Sell AAPL OctW4 162.5 c 20

Fri Sell UNH Dec 185 p 65
Sell ADBE Dec 150 p 71

Sell PYPL Nov 65 p 19
Sell QQQ Dec 133 p 41

Cover TSLA Oct 400 c 01 for 99% gain

Friday, October 13, 2017

Weekly: Not enough bull, bottom fish GE, M

I am up for the week, but take a few more losses. I get whipsawed in Shopify and cover some calls in Nvidia and McDonalds for losses. Overall, I wasn’t bullish enough.

Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, percentage gain/loss is vs. premium collected, number near the end is price per contract, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close):

Mon I rebalance in BABA, FB, NVDA
Cover NVDA OctW2 157.5 p 02
Cover SHOP Oct 125 c 05

Sell NVDA OctW2 175 p 14
Sell FB OctW2 167.5 p 12

Cover FB OctW2 162.5 p 05
Sell FB Oct 165 p 40

Sell BABA Oct 170 p 43
Cover BABA Oct 155 p 05

Tue Crunch time in Shopify as I close one leg for a huge loss. I close some trades for gains to free up buying power. I add more layers to Nvidia as it rallies.

Cover SHOP Oct 90 p 380 for a 550% loss
Cover BRKB Oct 175 p 05 for 95% gain

Sell NVDA OctW2 177.5 p 20
Sell MCD Dec 140 p 38

Sell NVDA OctW2 180 p 33
Cover TSLA OctW2 390 c 03 for 85% gain

Sell MCD Nov 145 p 29
Cover MCD Oct 145 p 01 for 97% gain

Cover SPG Oct 145 p 03 for 97% gain
Cover SPY Oct 225 p 04 for 98% gain

Sell NVDA OctW4 175 p 118

Wed I am stopped out on one leg for Nvidia.Cover NVDA OctW2 190 c 248 for 180% loss

I chicken out on Netflix before earnings, taking small profits.
Cover NFLX Oct 240 c 36 for 25% profit
Cover NFLX Oct 162.5 p 29 for 20% profit

Sell MCD Oct 157.5 p 17
Sell BABA OctW4 172.5 p 60

Thu I go bottom fishing in Macys and General Electric
Sell M Nov 18 p 29

Sell GE Nov 21 p 16
Sell MCD Nov 155 p 88

Roll BRKB for 270 debit: Cover Oct 180 c 620 for 90% loss
Sell BRKB Nov 185 c 250

Fri Rallies in McDonalds and Nvidia trigger more stops, more big losses.

Cover MCD Oct 165 c 136 for 750% loss
Cover TSLA Oct 300 p 05 for 97% gain

Sell MCD Nov 150 p 33
Sell SPY Dec 240 p 108

Sell NVDA OctW4 210 c 63
Cover NVDA Oct 192.5 c 340 for 190% loss

Cover FB Oct 155 p 03 for 85% gain
 

Friday, October 06, 2017

Weekly: broken record

The stock market breaks records. Multiple consecutive record highs for SPY for the best run in 20 years. Most the indexes march to record high after record high. My comments may sound like a broken record with descriptions such as zombie bull, the most hated bull market of all time. Newbies and Chicken Littles continue to call for the sky has to fall. Old timers might remember the cliche, don’t fight the tape. The tape is strong. Transports have confirmed record highs. The Russell 2000 is picking up speed.

I make money, but not as much as more aggressive bulls. This tends to be the fate during a strong bull move, for the cautious, hedging, often delta neutral trader.

One possible danger is a blow off top. However, to get there, we need an acceleration to the upside, such as a 10% market gain in a month or 20% in three months. Without that, there are still way too investors positioned defensively. Many are waiting for a minor 5% dip to get in. I thought we would get that dip in September, but it didn’t happen.

Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, number near hte end of the line is price per contract):

Mon Berkshire rally rolls on, I scramble to stay near delta neutral, then throw in with the bulls.

Cover BRKB Oct 165 p 03Sell BRKB Nov 175 p 83

Sell BRKB Dec 185 p 420
Sell QQQ Nov 135 p 51

Sell IWM OctW4 137 p 21
Sell TSLA OctW1 297.5 p 20

Sell SPY Nov 235 p 51

Tue Roll some, rebalance some
Cover LMT Oct 265 p 05 for 92% gain
Sell LMT Nov 280 p 60

Sell TSLA OctW2 390 c 21
Sell TSLA OctW2 300 p 31

Cover TSLA OctW1 297.5 p 03 for 83% gain
Cover TSLA OctW1 390 c 02 for a 95% gain

Sell BRKB Nov 185 p 250
Cover BRKB Oct 185 c 256 for a 200% loss

Sell AAPL Oct 147 p 43
Cover AAPL Oct 135 p 03 for a 90% gain

Wed More adjustments, add more legs on Shopify as it drops on comments
Sell RCL Oct 112 p 25
Cover RCL Oct 100 p 02 for 95% gain

Sell SHOP Oct 125 c 25
Sell SHOP Oct 90 p 60

Sell BABA OctW2 167.5 p 24
Cover IBB Oct 290 p 05 for 95% gain

Sell TSLA Oct 310 p 62
Cover HON Oct 115 p 03 for 85% gain

Thu Sell IWM Dec 135 p 62Sell NVDA OctW4 162.5 p 68

Sell FB Oct 160 p 31
Cover QQQ Oct 133 p 03 for 83% gain

Cover BRKB Oct 170 p 02 for 95% gain
Sell SHOP OctW1 93 p 35

Sell SHOP Oct 85 p 55
Cover NVDA OctW1 145 p 01 for 97% gain

Cover NVDA OctW1 210 c 01 for 98% gain
Cover NVDA OctW1 195 c 01 for 97% gain

Sell SHOP Oct 107 c 95

Fri Sell TSLA OctW2 325 p 19
Sell QQQ Oct 142 p 13

Cover IBB Oct 375 c 05 for 85% gain
Cover BA Oct 200 p 04 for 93% gain

Sell AAPL OctW4 148 p 51
Cover TSLA OctW2 300 p 03 for 90% gain

Cover AAPL Oct 140 p 05 for a 80% gain
Sell NFLX strangle 92: Sell NFLX Oct 162.5 p 40

Sell NFLX Oct 240 c 52

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Weekly: TSLA whipsaw

This week’s whipsaw is Tesla. It dipped hard, and I covered one leg of sold puts for a huge loss, then the stock bounced. Last week was NVDA. So it goes for a trader that uses mental stops. Even with the whipsaw loss, I manage a small profit for the week. It is a bit disappointing with the market near record highs.

Going forward, there are theories about what happens next. Many portfolio managers are lagging SPY in performance for the year. The hedge fund managers don’t get paid unless they beat the index. So one theory is that they will take on that much more risk for the last quarter to try and leap frog ahead. Now what they might buy or short is another interesting question. Will they buy the leaders? The high beta stocks? The laggards? Hard to say what they will do as a group, because there are many individual managers or firms in that situation.

Here are the trades for my week (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, number near the end of line is price per contract, percentage gain/loss are basis the premium collected):

Mon Sell off in some leading stocks. I rebalance closer to delta neutral by hedging or selling more layers of calls.

Sell NVDA Oct 192.5 c 119
Sell FB OctW2 175 c 43

Sell NVDA OctW2 190 c 89
Sell TSLA OctW1 390 c 50

Sell BABA Oct 190 c 35
Sell TSLA Oct 400 c 106

Sell MCD Nov 170 c 30

Tue Sell NVDA OctW2 157.5 p 48
Sell IBB Nov 285 p 65

Sell AAPL Nov 135 p 81
Sell SPY OctW1 242 p 18

Wed Sell SPG Nov 135 p 60Sell AAPL Oct 140 p 19

Sell FB OctW1 157.5 p 17
Cover SPY SepW5 239 p 01 for 97% profit

Thu Cover TSLA SepW5 340 p 595 for a 1200% lossSell IWM Nov 130 p 26
Sell TLSA Oct 390 c 84

Fri Cover TSLA Oct 450 c 02 for 97% profit
Cover BA SepW5 237.5 p 01 for 97% profit
Cover FB OctW1 157.5 p 05 for a 65% profit

Sell FB OctW2 162.5 p 38
Sell FB Oct 155 p 20

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Weekly: Persnickety

The word for the week is persnickety. It means to be fussy about small details, to nit-pick, to find minor faults. It felt like that kind of week for me. I end up with a tiny plus sign, but it felt like I was losing money every day. First was a whipsaw on NVDA where I covered some calls for huge losses only to see the stock dip two days later. AAPL also caused some consternation as it dipped.

Here are the trades (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, number near the end is price per contract, percentages are based on premium collected):

Mon NVDA run up continues, stops get taken out. I take some losses.
Cover NVDA SepW4 182.5 c 590 for a 1000% loss
Cover NVDA SepW5 185 c 555 for a 3500% loss, perhaps the worst percentage of 2017. Thankfully dollar amounts are small.

I sell some way otm calls but the debit is huge
Sell NVDA Oct 240 c 20
Sell NVDA SepW5 220 c 18

Sell QQQ Oct 133 p 20
Sell BRKB Oct 175 p 84

Sell TSLA SepW5 340 p 47
Sell BA SepW5 237.5 31

Tue Sell BRKB Nov 170 p 75Sell MCD Oct 165 c 18

Sell BRKB Oct 170 p 32
Sell BRKB Oct 177.5 p 95

Wed Sell MCD Oct 150 c 33
Sell FB Oct 155 p 28

Sell NVDA OctW1 210 c 38
Sell BRKB Nov 180 p 235

Thu Sell TSLA SepW5 400 c 23
Cover NVDA Oct 240 c 05

Sell NVDA SepW5 192.5 c 34
Cover NVDA SepW5 220 c 02

Sell AAPL Oct 170 c 25
Sell AAPL SepW5 162.5 c 14

Cover AAPL SepW5 c 02
Sell NVDA OctW1 c 94

Sell NVDA Oct 202.5 c 104

Fri Sell AAPL Nov 165 c 147
Sell AAPL Oct 135 p 23

Sell BA Nov 210 p 81
Sell TSLA SepW5 380 c 46

Cover TSLA SepW5 400 c 02