Options trades: SPX credit call spreads post-Fed minutes

Wednesday, 1/9/2019 (Expiration Day)

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!


Trade 1 (11:08:46 am, PT)

sell -2 Jan 9, 2019  2610 calls at $1.25 (14.62 delta)
buy +2 Jan 9, 2019  2640 calls at $0.05 ("wings")

Comments

• The Federal Reserve released its minutes at 11 am, PT
• Margin requirements:  (2640 − 2610) x 2 x 100 = $6000

Trade 2 (11:30:07 am, PT)

buy back both short calls (2610 strike) at $0.20 (to remove the risk and take profits)

PROFIT #1 (short calls only):  $210


Trade 3 (11:48:57 am, PT)

sell -2 new calls (2600 strike) at $1.25 (19.18 delta)


Trade 4 (12:30:18 pm, PT)

buy back second set of short calls (2600 strike) at $0.30 (to remove the risk and take profits)

PROFIT #2 (short calls only):  $190

TOTAL PROFIT:  $210 + $190 − $10 (cost of the two long calls) =  $390 (in about 90 minutes)


Comments

• I waited until after the Fed's minutes to place my first trade (I don't like uncertainty)
• After I bought back my first set of short calls, I was able to sell another set of calls for an additional credit
• SPX closed at 2584.96, so my short calls would have been fine in the end.  However, I don't like to take unnecessary risk, so I always buy back my short options before expiration if possible

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

Options trade: SPX short call (bearish trade)

Friday, 1/4/2019 (Expiration Friday)

Trade 1 (11:25:40 am, PT)

sell (to open) -1  Jan 4, 2019  2545 call option at $1.65 (delta 19.25)

Comment:  The markets gapped up right at the opening bell and continued to rise.  It had been a pretty strong "up" day, so I kept my trade small by selling only one contract.  Selling call options is a semi-bearish strategy.


Trade 2 (12:51:07 pm, PT)

buy back call option at $0.05 (to remove the risk and take profits)

Comment:  SPX closed at 2531.94 at 4 pm, ET (up 84.05).

PROFIT:  $160 (in 90 minutes)

LEARN TO SELL CALL OPTIONS HERE!

Options trade: SPX short call options (bearish trade)

Wednesday, 1/2/2019 (Expiration Wednesday)

Trade 1 (10:01:05 am, PT)

sell (to open) -2  January 2, 2019  2530 calls at $1.40  (15 delta)

Max potential profit:  $280


Trade 2 (11:59:10 am, PT)

buy (to close) both calls at $0.20 (to remove the risk and take profits)

Note:  SPX closed at 2510.03 at 4 pm, ET

PROFIT:  $240 (in 2 hours)

Learn to SELL CALL OPTIONS here!

Options trades: SPX index short call options (3 trades) (bearish trades)

Friday 12/21/2018 (Expiration Friday)

Trade 1A (9:42:23 am, PT)

sell (to open) -2  Dec 21, 2018  2490 call options at $2.35 (14 delta)


Trade 1B (10:53:08 am, PT)

buy (to close) both of the 2490 call options at $0.90

PROFIT:  $290


Trade 2A (11:40:11 am, PT)

sell (to open) -2  Dec 21, 2018  2460 call options at $1.85 (17 delta)
(notice that the strike price is 30 points lower than in Trade 1)

Trade 2B (12:12:22 pm, PT)

buy (to close) both of the 2460 call options at $0.65

PROFIT:  $240


Trade 3 (12:34:12, pm, PT)

sell (to open) -2  Dec 21, 2018  2435 call options at $2.60 (22 delta)
(notice that the strike price is 25 points lower than in Trade 2)

Note:  
I had submitted a limit order to buy back both of the 2435 calls at $0.05, but my order never filled even though my short calls were out-of-the money by $18.  I had never experienced such a thing before.  The "ask" remained at $0.55 all the way until the Closing Bell.  Those market makers missed out on taking my $10 because they got greedy!!

SPX closed at 2416.62 (down 50.80).

TOTAL PROFIT (3 separate trades):  $1050 (in 4 hours)

LEARN TO SELL CALL OPTIONS HERE!

Options trades: SPX short call options (bearish trades)

Monday 12/17/2018 (Expiration Monday)

Trade 1 (9:04:09 am, PT)

sell (to open) -1 Dec 17, 2018  2620 call option at $1.45  (15 delta)

Trade 2 (9:25:29 am, PT)

buy (to close) +1 above call option at $0.45

PROFIT:  $100 (in 21 minutes)


Trade 3 (10:30:59 am, PT)

sell (to open) -1 Dec 17, 2018  2590 call option at $2.25  (18 delta)

Trade 4 (11:52:46 am, PT)

buy (to close) +1 above call option at $0.20

PROFIT:  $205 (in 1 hour, 22 minutes)


Trade 5 (12:36:43 pm, PT)

sell (to open) -1 Dec 17, 2018  2545 call option at $1.95 (30 delta)

Trade 6 (12:49:05 pm, PT)

buy (to close) +1 above call option at $0.40

PROFIT:  $155 (in 13 minutes)


TOTAL PROFIT (selling call options 3 times):   $460


COMMENTS:

• As SPX started dropping, I would buy back my short calls and sell (to open) new ones that were closer "to the money"

• Notice that my "deltas" started rising with each subsequent trade (once SPX started dropping, I felt pretty confident that the downward trend would continue at least until 12:50 pm or so)

• Quite often, after a whole day of selling, the buyers come back in towards the end of the day and push the SPX back up (at 12:49 pm, PT, SPX hit an intraday low of 2530.54 and then reversed back up to close at 2545.94)

• It's a GOOD thing I bought back my short call (2545 strike) at 12:49 pm because it would have ended up "in-the-money" at the close!

Options trade: TLT ratio put spread (semi-neutral trade)

Oct 23, 2018

buy +1 Nov 30, 2018  $114 put option
sell -2 Nov 30, 2018  $113.50 put options

net credit:  $1.05 x 1 x 100 =  $105
maximum potential profit:  $155


Nov 27, 2018

close the trade

PROFIT:  $106

WATCH ALL 4 VIDEOS HERE!

Options trade: SPX short call options (bearish trade)

Monday, 11/26/2018 (Expiration Monday)

Trade 1 (9:11:23 am, PT)

sell (to open) -1 Nov 26, 2018  2670 call option at $3.40  ←  38.67 delta (a bit high)


Trade 2 (9:25:18 am, PT)

buy back short call option at $1.50 

Note:  I decided to close it at around 50% of max profit

PROFIT:   $190 (in 14 minutes)


COMMENTS:

It was very tempting to leave this trade open (until expiration) to get the remaining $150, but it's only 9:25 am and a lot can happen in the next 3.5 hours.

I got 55% of max profit in only 14 minutes, so I'm happy about that.  "Don't get greedy," right?  😉

Learn to SELL OPTIONS HERE.

Options trade: SPX credit call spread (bearish trade)

Monday, 11/12/2018 (Expiration Monday)

12:22:03 pm, PT

buy +1 Nov 12, 2018  2770 call at $0.05 ← "wing"
sell -1 Nov 12, 2018  2750 call at $1.30 ←  22 delta

margin:  $2,000
net credit:  $1.25 x 1 x 100 = $125 (max profit)



1:00 pm, PT

SPX closed at 2726.22
all call options expired "worthless"

PROFIT:  $125 (in 38 minutes)

Learn to SELL call options HERE!

Options trade: SPX short call options (bearish trade)

Thu. 10/25/2018

Trade 1 (9:38:02 am, PT)  ← SPX around 2698

sell short -6 Oct 26, 2018  2715 calls at $11.30 (very nice premium!)

delta:  35.80


Trade 2 (1:01:11 pm, PT)

buy back calls at $10.40 (for a quick profit)

PROFIT:  $540


Comments:

• SPX continued to rise after I sold (to open) my short call options (bad!)

• At 11:49 am (2 hours later), SPX hit a high of 2722.33 and my calls were trading at $20.20 (I had a temporary "paper loss" of $5340!)  😖😨

• At 1:01 pm, PT, I decided to buy back my calls at $10.40 and take a quick profit because I wasn't sure if Amazon's earnings and Alphabet's (Google) earnings were going to be good or bad

• Amazon's earnings and Google's earnings turned out to be bad, so SPX dropped in the after-hours market 

• By 1:15 pm, PT, my call options were trading between $5.40 and $6.50 😩

• The greedy side of my brain wants to say, "I wish I had held my calls longer!"

• The conservative side of my brain says, "It's a good thing I took my profits because things could have gone the other way."

What would YOU have done in this situation??

Learn to SELL CALL OPTIONS HERE!

Options trade: SPX credit put spread (bullish trade)

Monday 10/8/2018 (Expiration Monday)

Trade 1 (10:21:22 am, PT)  ←  SPX around 2865

sell -6 Oct 8, 2018  2845 puts at $1.00
buy +6 Oct 8, 2018  2815 puts at $0.10

• net credit:  $0.90 x 6 x 100 =  $540 (max profit)
• margin:  $18,000

Trade 2 (10:44:15 am, PT)

buy back all 6 short puts (2845) at $0.20 to take profits and remove the risk

PROFIT:  $420 (in 23 minutes!)

WATCH FREE OPTIONS VIDEOS HERE!

Options trade: SPX credit call spread (bearish trade)

Friday 10/5/2018 (Expiration Friday)

Trade 1 (9:53:29 am, PT)

buy +6 Oct 5, 2018  2905 calls at $0.10  ←  cheap wing
sell -6 Oct 5, 2018  2890 calls at $1.40 ←  18 delta

net credit:  $1.30 x 6 x 100 =  $780 (max profit)


Trade 2 (12:57:13 pm, PT)

buy back all 6 short calls (2890) at $0.10 to remove the risk

PROFIT:  $720 (in 3 hours)

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

SPX credit call spread (options)

Monday, 10/1/2018 (Expiration Monday)

Trade 1 (10:16:44 am, PT)  ←  SPX between 2928.40 & 2929.20

buy +6 Oct 1, 2018  2950 calls at $0.05  ←  cheap wings
sell -6 Oct 1, 2018  2930 calls at $1.55  

net credit:  $1.50 x 6 x 100 =  $900 (max profit)
buying power reduction:  ($12,000)


Trade 2 (12:26:25 pm, PT)

buy back short calls (2930) at $0.10 to take profits and remove the risk

PROFIT:  $840 (2 hours, 10 minutes)

Learn to SELL credit call spreads here!

SPX credit call spread (options)

Friday, 9/28/2018 (Expiration Friday)

Trade 1 (10:05:47 am, PT)  ←  SPX @ 2914.54

buy +6 Sept 28, 2018  2945 calls at $0.05 ← cheap wings
sell -6 Sept 28, 2018  2920 calls at $1.80  ←  29.70 delta

• net credit:  $1.75 x 6 x 100 =  $1050 (max profit)
• buying power reduction:  ($15,000)

Trade 2 (12:52:01 pm, PT)

buy back all 6 short calls (2920) at $0.05 to take profits and remove the risk

PROFIT:  $1020 (3 hours)

Note: SPX closed at 2913.98

Learn to SELL call spreads here!

SPX credit put spread (options)

Friday, 9/28/2018 (Expiration Friday)

Trade 1 (9:00:05 am, PT)  ←  SPX @ 2916.63

sell -4 Sept 28, 2018  2895 puts at $0.70  ←  9 delta (safe)
buy +4 Sept 28, 2018  2850 puts at $0.05 ←  cheap wings

net credit:  ($0.65) (4) (100)  =  $260 (max profit)
buying power reduction:  (2895 − 2850) (4) (100) = ($18,000)


Trade 2 (12:41:34 pm, PT)

buy back all 4 short puts (2895) at $0.05 to take profits and remove the risk

PROFIT:  $240 (3 hours, 41 minutes)

Note:  SPX closed at 2913.98

Learn to SELL put spreads here!

SPX options: $1122 profit in 3.5 hours

Monday 9/24/2018 (Expiration Monday)

Trade 1 (9:27:08 am, PT)  ←  SPX @ 2915.81

buy +6 Sept 24, 2018  2935 calls at $0.05 (cheap wings)

sell -6 Sept 24, 2018  2920 calls at $1.25 ← 21 delta

• net credit:  $1.20 x 6 x 100 =  $720 (max profit)
• buying power reduction:  $9,000

Trade 2 (12:24:11 pm, PT)  ←  SPX @ 2920

sell -6 Sept 24, 2018  2920 puts at $1.35  ←  50 delta
buy +6 Sept 24, 2018  2910 puts at $0.05 (cheap wings)

• net credit:  $1.30 x 6 x 100 =  $780 (max profit)
• buying power reduction:  none

After I added the vertical put spread, I ended up with the following position:
a "short straddle with wings"

long +6 Sept 24, 2018  2935 calls at $0.05
short -6 Sept 24, 2018  2920 calls at $1.25
short -6 Sept 24, 2018  2920 puts at $1.35
long +6 Sept 24, 2018  2910 puts at $0.05


At the Closing Bell .....

SPX closed at 2919.37 ("settlement value")

My entire vertical call spread was fine, but my short puts ended up in-the-money. 😶

CLICK HERE to find out what happened!

PROFIT:  $1122 (in 3.5 hours)

IWM put options

Wednesday, 9/19/2018 (12:06:49 pm, PT)

sell -5 Oct 19, 2018  $165 puts at $1.16

Why did I place this trade?

• it's a "down" day
• stochastics in oversold region
• 29 days 'til expiration
• 26 delta

Thursday, 9/20/2018 (11:10:31 am, PT)

buy back all 5 puts at $0.71 

Why did I place this trade?

• take profits (37% of max profit in ONE day)
• remove the risk (of assignment)
• free up the capital

PROFIT:  $225 (in ONE day)


Comments:

Don't be afraid to sell put options on a "down" day (especially if the stochastics are in the oversold region).

Buy back your short puts quickly when there's a big "up" day.

FREE LESSONS HERE!  LEARN TO SELL PUT OPTIONS!

SPX credit put spread (options)

Monday, 9/17/2018 (Expiration Day)

Trade 1 (11:45:23 am, PT)

sell -4 Sept 17, 2018  2890 puts at $0.40
buy +4 Sept 17, 2018  2875 puts at $0.05 (cheap wing)


Why did I place this trade?

It was late in the day and SPX appeared to stabilize around 2895.


Comments:

At 12:54 pm (PT), SPX was trading around 2886, so my short put (2890) was in-the-money (ITM) with only 4 minutes remaining.  It was time to ROLL my short puts to the next cycle (9/19/2018 expiration).  

Simply buying back the short puts without rolling or allowing them to expire ITM would have resulted in a loss of over $1000.


Trade 2 (12:54:55 pm, PT) ← ROLL

buy to close +4 Sept 17, 2018  2890 puts at $3.46
sell to open -4 Sept 19, 2018  2885 puts at $9.21

The roll gave me a new credit of $5.75

Then I had to buy (to open) 4 new wings with a Sept 19, 2018 expiration:
+4  Sept 19, 2018  2800 puts at $0.95 (debit)


Tuesday, 9/18/2018 (7:43:24 am, PT)

my preset buy-to-close order filled at $2.00

I'm going to leave open the 4 long puts ("wings") so I can use them again on 9/19/2018 (for my next vertical put spread).  Most likely they will expire worthless on 9/19/2018.


PROFIT:   $1260 (one day)

Learn to SELL PUT OPTIONS HERE!

QQQ put options

Wed. 9/12/2018 (11:00:26 am, PT) (QQQ at $182)

sell -4 Oct 19, 2018  $177 puts at $2.07

Why did I place this trade?

• stochastics in oversold region
• down day
• attractive premiums
• delta 31.54

Thu. 9/13/2018 (11:06:29 am, PT) (QQQ up $2.00)

buy back all 4 puts at $1.37

Why did I close this trade?

• I made 33.16% of max profit in one day (ahead of schedule)
• take quick profits
• remove the risk
• free up the capital

PROFIT:  $280 (in ONE day)

Learn to SELL put options here!

SPX credit put spread (options day-trade)

Wed. 9/12/2018 (EXPIRATION DAY)

Trade 1 (10:18:05 am, PT)

sell −4 Sept 12, 2018  2880 puts at $0.80 ← 19.40 Delta
buy +4 Sept 12, 2018  2855 puts at $0.05 ← cheap "wing"

• SPX was trading near 2886 when I placed this trade
• buying power reduction:  ($10,000)

Trade 2 (12:27 pm, PT)

buy back all 4 short puts (2880) at $0.05 to remove the risk
let the long "wings" (2855) expire worthless

PROFIT:  $280

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

SPX credit put spread (options)

Wednesday, 8/29/2018 (Expiration Wednesday)

Trade 1 (10:20:01 am, PT) ← SPX trading around 2913

sell -4 August 29, 2018  2910 puts at $1.00  ←  delta 27.30
buy +4 August 29, 2018  2895 puts at $0.05 (cheap wings)


Trade 2 (12:45:13 pm, PT)

buy back short puts (2910) at $0.05 (to remove the risk)
let long puts (2895) expire worthless

PROFIT:  $380 (in 2.5 hours)

Learn to SELL put options here!  FREE lessons!