... for a 2.18/contract debit. Metrics: Max Profit: $82/contract Max Loss: $218/contract Break Even: 26.82 Notes: Adding some on this little VIX bump we have today. I don't think there's a new weekly opening up this week (monthly expiry), so adding a smidge here in the expiry nearest 45 DTE. As always, staying small, keeping powder dry to add on pops ... .
It's not often that I play leaps or think of myself as "playing leaps." In case you're wondering, a "leaps" is a "long term equity anticipation security" -- basically, a long-dated option. My most frequent use of them is in my individual retirement account where I'm working a covered call, want to hold onto the underlying for dividend generation, but also want...
More earnings ... . EBAY announces on the 31st (Wednesday) after market open: implied volatility percentile/rank 72/background 33. FB, on the 31st after: 90/34 MSFT, also on the 31st after: 100/29 BABA, on February 1st before: 94/40 AAPL, on February 1st after: 97/30 XOM, on February 2nd before: 91/19 Of these, BABA looks the most promising. Preliminarily, the...
... for a 2.20/contract debit. Max Profit: $80/contract Max Loss: $220/contract Break Even: 26.30 Notes: This filled immediately at open, so I wasn't able to adjust the price (to be honest, wasn't expecting it to fill right off the bat). You may still be able to get a fill for slightly better than I did or shoot for the 26/29's for less than 2.25/contract ... .
... for a 2.23/contract debit. Max Profit: $77/contract Max Loss: $223/contract Break Even: 26.27 Notes: My standard Thursday or Friday weekly expiry play. You can probably still get a fill in the neighborhood of 2.25 (or .75 credit for a short call vert) if it doesn't move much come Friday open. Will look to take it off for >15% of what I put it on for ... .
Earnings season is in full swing, with a bevvy of announcements: NFLX: announces on Monday after market close, with a rank of 79 and a background of 44. VZ: Tuesday, before market open -- rank 80/background 25. PG: Tuesday, before market open -- rank 86/background 17. GE: Wednesday, before market open -- rank 100/background 39. CAT: Thursday, before market open...
EARNINGS The earnings on tap aren't looking very enticing to me, as I generally look at getting in on these where the implied volatility rank is >70% and the background implied volatility is >50%. However, they might be worth watching running into earnings to see if implied ramps up. KMI (implied volatility rank 79/implied volatility 30) announces earnings on...
... for a 2.24/contract debit. Snuck 'er in on that a.m. weakness ... . Max Profit: $76/contract Max Loss: $224/contract Break Even: 27.76
... for a 2.20/contract debit at the close on this little bump up in price here. Max Profit: $80/contract Max Loss: $220/contract Break Even: 26.80 Notes: Going out a little farther than I'd like, but it's a bit crowded in February with the setups I currently have on.
... for a 2.25/contract debit. Metrics: Max Profit: $75/contract Max Loss: $225/contract ROC%: 33.3% (at max profit) Break Even: 28.25 Notes: I've been sticking these three-wides out there for fills at 2.25, but in any event don't want to pay any more than 2.30 (30% ROC). This one filled at 11 minutes after open, so I didn't have to fiddle. I'll rotate back...
... for a 2.24 debit. Metrics: Probability of Profit: 89% Max Profit: $76/contract Max Loss: $224/contract Break Even: 14.76 Metrics: Here's the live trade for the VXMT-guided, medium term volatility trade referenced in the post below. At the time of the trade, VXMT was at 14.46, which is approximately the price at which the April futures contract is trading...
As I thumb twiddle a bit here waiting for another VXX weekly expiry to open up and for a UVXY reverse split, I'm pondering potential long-dated plays in UVXY I can put on immediately post-split that are basically "set and forget" plays. I have seen evidence in both open interest and volume of people playing both ends of the stick at split when the price of the...
Another mechanical short volatility trade put on in the weeklies in VXX (while I wait for UVXY to do "the splits"). The February 9th weekly should open tomorrow and with VXX trading slightly below the 28 handle, I'm going to look at filling some 28/31's in that expiry for a 2.25/contract debit. Given the fact that the February 16th 28/31's are trading around...
... for a 2.28/contract debit. Frankly, was somewhat surprised that this appeared to have a 2.27 mid at open, since 28 is right at the money, and the market doesn't usually accommodate that kind of fill unless the short put is deeper ... . I was going to wait for the February 9th's to open, but I have a "spot" within the nooks and crannies of my February 16th...
As 2017 comes to a close as one of -- if not the -- lowest volatility years ever on record for the S&P and Nasdaq, I'm not hopeful that this low volatility won't continue for some time to come. To be honest, though, no one really has any way of knowing or predicting volatility going forward, except in the most obtuse of ways, such as forecasting market...
... for a 2.22/contract debit. Metrics: Probability of Profit: 64% Max Profit: $78/contract Max Loss: $222/contract Break Even: 30.78 Notes: With UVXY sliding below 12, it's losing a bit of granularity here due to its size, so I'm switching over to VXX for a bit until UVXY reverse splits (which usually occurs around $8-$9) (i.e., it's a bigger move for UVXY to...
Since there's no February 2nd weekly available for me to use, I'm going out to the monthly to put on my weekly short volatility product play. Here, I'm going narrower with the spread, but doubling the number of contracts to show how to scale trade size with both width of the spread and the number of contracts. As compared to the 3-wides, which I normally get...
With the trading year winding down here, I'm not keen to pile into a great number of trades, but there are a few underlyings that may be worth playing here if holiday frivolity just doesn't provide you with enough and/or you're just a hard core trading addict that has to put something on in order to satisfy your need for market engagement ... . BBBY announces...