Weekly: Clobbering Time

The stock market bombed about as badly as the recent Fantastic Four movie. I took big losses. Biggest one was in NFLX, but the list is long. On Friday, I moved into bomb shelter mode and started closing positions fearing a full melt down. The market closed on its lows, but it wasn't a full on melt down like down 10% or more for the day.

Here are the trades: (p = puts, c = calls, sell means sell to open, all are third week expiration unless noted)

Fri More pain this morning:

Sell half a position in NFLX shares @105.15 leaving me with half a position. This is about a 19% loss.

Cover (buy to close) JPM Aug 65 p @64.9 JP Morgan breaks the strike price and I use the mechanical stop loss. I get out with a 15% profit.

Cover (buy to close) AMBA Aug 92.5 p @91.0 Ambarella breaks through the strike price and I cover for a 300% loss on this leg.

Cover (buy to close) GILD Aug 110 p @110.2 Gilead breaks the strike price and I cover for a 200% loss

Sell HON Sep 105 c @101.3 Rebalance in Honeywell

Cover AAPL Aug 109 p @109.6 110% loss

Cover AAPL Aug 108 p @109.3 200% loss

Mid-day Fri SPY breaks 200 and I move the bomb shelter, closing positions left and right just in case, the market is moving to melt down. I am too slow moving a trader, have too many open August positions to be watching everything if the world does go to heck into the close. So I am likely leaving a lot of money on the table. Rule #1 is to live trade another day, and that means playing it safe during fast markets.

Cover EBAY (pypl) aug 60 p 80% profit

Sell TSO Sep 110 c hedge sold puts

Cover IWM Sep 110 p close this leg for 400% loss near the mid-day lows

Cover BRKB Aug 135 p 40% profit

Cover SKX Aug 135 p 70% gain

Cover V Aug 71.5 p 12 33% gain

Cover HON Aug 100 p 25% loss

Cover GILD Aug 105 p 85% profit

Last hour:

Cover FB Aug 82.5 p 90% profit

Cover V Aug 69 p 90% profit

Thu Cover (buy to close) GLD Aug 111 c @109.8 Gold getting uncomfortably close to the strike price, so I close for a 25% profit while I still have one.

Cover (buy to close) AAPL Aug 113 p @113.6 I take a 350% loss on this leg on Apple. I don't like the way AAPL and the market is acting. In a parallel move, I cover some AAPL Aug 127 calls for a 96% profit to free up some buying power.

Sell NFLX AugW4 127 c @120.0 Rebalance in Netflix. NFLX has become yet another horror show for me. My current position is very long and deep in the red. A bit later I lighten up some more: Sell NFLX shares, I had two units, cut to one sold @115.38 as NFLX careens lower. This is about a 9% loss on my average cost around 124. A couple of hours later, I hedge even more: Sell NFLX Sep 130 c @113.8 Breathe, breathe, keep breathing.

Sell IWM Sep 124 c @118.2 Rebalance in the Russell 2000 etf.

Cover (buy to close) DIS Aug 100 p @102.4 I cover this leg for a 50% gain, though Disney has been a huge loser for this cycle.

Sell JWN Sep 82.5 c @78.2 Hedge sold puts by selling calls.

Sell SKX Sep 175 c @148.0 Hedge sold puts by selling calls on Sketchers.

Sell HON Sep 110 c @103.1 Rebalance a complicated position in Honeywell.

A lot of pain for bulls at the moment on Thursday. It feels like I have a hole in the row boat and am bailing water with a bucket, then a second hole opens. Awuuga Awuuga. [Little did I know how bad Friday would be.]

Wed Cover (buy to close) AMBA Aug 100 p @102.0 I close this leg for about a 25% loss. Ambarella has been a frustrating stock for me. AMBA rebounds to 105+ now up for the the day, so I got whipsawed out. Crunch.

Sell TGT Sep 77.5 p @83.5 New long position in Target. TGT higher after earnings. More crunchy carp as TGT drops after their conference call. I hedge my position by selling calls: Sell TGT Sep 85 c @80.5

Sell IWM Sep 126 c @119.0 I hedge sold puts by selling calls on the Russell 2000 etf. Fed minutes are now out and market is rallying off the lows. I add more long market exposure: Sell IWM Sep 110 p @120.4

Mon Sell AAPL Aug 113 p @117.5 Rebalance in Apple as it moves up. I see chart support at 114.