35-5 for December, Grade A-

I count 35 winners, 5 losers for the December option cycle. I blundered into my biggest dollar winner, CMG assignment then selling on the first day of the option cycle. Some of the other winners include AMZN, DIS, FB (Amazon, Disney, Facebook). Some losers include LUV JBLU TSO (Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Tesoro Petroleum). 

 

I was extra cautious this month. Given the volatile end to the option cycle, caution was a good thing. As the year winds down, I am up 11%+ in my trading account. Nothing to write home about, but I'll take that every year. As always, risk often correlates with reward. For a cautious trader, 11% is a good result.

I'm still too busy to be doing much deep thinking on the stock market. Sometimes overthinking is what gets me in trouble so being busy might be a blessing.

An early Merry Christmas to all. Cheers.

Weekly: Rollercoaster market brings losses

I take some losses in this week's volatile market. I no longer enjoy rollercoasters. I'll post the monthly round up on Sunday.

Here are the trades (c = calls, p = puts, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, all are third week expiration unless noted).

Mon red ink as airlines dip

Cover JBLU Dec 23 p 75 300% loss

Cover JBLU Jan 23 p 140 600% loss

Cover LUV Jan 43 p 195 400% loss

Sell TSO Dec 109 c 32

Tue Sell BRKB Jan 125 p 52

Sell MCD Jan 100 p 27

Wed Sell DIS Jan 100 p 50

Thu Sell MCD Jan 105 p 30

Fri Sell DIS Jan 125 c 30

Cover BA Dec 139 p 5

Pop goes the weasel (TSO)

Tough week for me. I took a 1000% loss on some sold Tesoro Petroleum TSO puts. Other than that, there was a large swath of red ink. Here are the trades: (c = calls, p = puts, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, all options are third week expiration unless noted)

Mon Sell ALK Jan 72.5 p 25

Sell JBLU Jan 23 p 20

Sell NKE Jan 150 c 28

Sell XOM Jan 60 p 19

Sell LUV Jan 43 p 30

Tue Turns into deep doo-doo as LUV declines

Sell LUV Jan 50 c 43

Sell FB Jan 120 c 25

Sell BA JanW2 157.5 c 22

Sell XOM Jan 85 c 27

Sell MCD Jan 125 c 20

Wed Sell ALK Dec 90c 22

Sell BRKB Jan 140 c 45

Thu Sell JBLU Jan 27 c 25

Cover TSO Dec 103 p 335

Weekly: Blurred vision

I was so busy with other things, that the market week feels like a blur. I did make some trades, mostly erring on what I see as the side of extra caution. I didn't navigate the big dip and big rally very well. Rarely do I. I tend to balance back towards delta neutral and this results in whipsaws on the short sharp moves.

Here are the trades, not much stands out in my mind. A lot of cautious chicken-ish trades for not much premium, at a high probability. (c = calls, p = puts, sell means sell-to-open, cover means buy-to-close, all are 3rd week expiration unless noted).

Mon Sell BA Jan 130 p 53

Sell DIS Dec 122 c 20

Tue Sell IWM Jan 103 p 24

Sell FB Jan 87.5 p 30

Sell TSO Jan 95 p 50

Sell BRKB Jan 120 p 25

Wed Sell TSO Dec 130 c 24

Sell TSO Jan 135 c 41

Thu Sell BA Dec 152.5 c 19

Sell IWM Jan 124 c 20

Sell V Dec 82.5 c 17

Sell DIS Jan 125 c 31

Sell SPY DecW4 185 p 31

Cover FB Dec 95 p 37 for about a 66% winner

Fri Sell BA Dec 139 p 30

Sell DIS Dec 105 p 32

Sell V Dec 74 p 17

Sell SPY Dec 196 p 40

Sell SPY Jan 186 p 48