Weekly: cautious trade

A cautious week for me. I feel like I've been over trading, and May can be a difficult month. I close out some losers as the market continues to chop around. I initiate new positions in AAPL CNX DAL MRK. All are low risk, low reward (aka worms). There are two story time posts just below this, one about The Biggest Losers, the second about the blogger The Fly.

Fri Buy to close KORS May 100 calls @94.3. I close these calls out at a break even loss. I got clipped on both sides of the short strangle on Michael Kors. Grrr. Double Grrr as KORS fades back lower later in the day.

Sell MRK Jun 50 puts @58.1. I open a June position in Merck.

Sell IWM strangles @112.1

Sell IWM Jun 95 puts

Sell IWM Jun 121 calls

I add another layer of short strangles on the Russell 2000 etf. Again, this is a bet on a trading range.

Thu I add longs for Apple, Honeywell, Wells Fargo, and Delta Air.

Sell AAPL put verticals (bullish position) @592.4:

Buy AAPL Jun 525 puts / Sell Jun 515 puts

Huge stock buy back, and 530 is the pre-earnings price, and that is chart support.

Sell HON Jun 82.5 puts @92.4

Sell WFC Jun 46 puts @49.5

Sel DAL Jun 30 puts @37.1

Sell CNX Jun 39 puts @45.0

Mon Buy to cover KORS May 82.5 puts @86.3. Ouch, that hurt. I cover these short puts on Michael Kors at a big loss as the stock knifes lower. I am still short May 80, May 77.5 puts, and May 100 calls.

Buy to cover UAL May 38 puts @38.4. Another big ouch, as United Continental continues to move lower and I cover short puts.

Grr, both stocks rebound a bit by the close. I continue to have a difficult time navigating this choppy market.

Position summary:

long BA CNX DAL HOG HON HPQ KORS MSFT VRX

net long AAPL AMGN APC ASH DIS GLD IWM

net neutral SPY

net short GILD UAL