Options trade: Amazon short put (semi-bullish trade)

Fri. 4/12/2019 (12:14:39 pm, PT)

sell short -1 April 18, 2019  $1790 put at $2.06

Facts:

• Amazon at $1844.67
• "overbought" stochastics
• 6 days 'til expiration
• 10.28 delta

Tue. 4/16/2019 (7:54:51 am, PT)

buy back put at $0.50 (take profits)

PROFIT:  $156 (in two days)

Options trade: Amazon short put (semi-bullish trade)

Thu. 4/11/2019 (10:33:36 am, PT)

sell short -1 April 12, 2019  $1820 put at $1.28

Facts:

• Amazon at $1843.96
• 1 day 'til expiration
• "overbought" stochastics
• 12.42 delta

Fri. 4/12/2019 (9:44:23 am, PT)

buy back put at $0.05 (to remove the risk & take profits)

PROFIT: $123 (in one day)

Options trade: Tesla (TSLA) short call (semi-bearish trade)

Thursday, 4/11/2019 (12:04:22 pm, PT)

sell short -1 April 18, 2019  $285 call option at $1.40

Facts:

• TSLA was trading near $268.02
• bad news about TSLA manufacturing plant
• 15.13 delta
• 7 days 'til expiration (DTE)
• stochastics: middle
• margin:  $2274.97

Friday, 4/12/2019 (11:12:19 am, PT)

buy to close at $0.90 (take profits)

PROFIT:  $50 (in one day)

SEE SIMILAR TRADES ON YOUTUBE

Options lesson for beginners: opening & closing trades (video)

Watch the free video here: VIDEO.

When you're trading options (puts and calls), your "opening" trade can be either a "sell" transaction or a "buy" transaction.  That's right, you can SELL options first, get paid up front, and then buy back the options later.  Thus, you sell high and hopefully, buy back low.  The difference between your initial "sell" price and your subsequent "buy back" price is your profit.

Summary:

If your opening trade is a "sell," then just buy back the option to close your "short" position.

If your opening trade is a "buy," then just sell the option to close your "long" position.

For more details, check out THIS SHORT VIDEO.

Options trade: Amazon short put (semi-bullish trade) (rolled once)

Trade 1

Tuesday 3/5/2019 (12:13:54 pm, PT)

sell short -1 March 8, 2019  $1660 put at $2.61

Facts:

• 3 days 'til expiration
• 14 delta

Trade 2

Thursday, 3/7/2019 (12:56:53 pm, PT) [AMZN dropped $45, so I rolled down & out to April 12]

buy (to close) 1 March 8, 2019  $1660 put at $36.49
sell (to open) 1 April 12, 2019  $1590 put at $38.41

net credit:  $1.92



Trade 3

Wednesday, 3/20/2019 (9:13:26 am, PT)

buy back April 12  $1590 put at $3.25

PROFIT:  $128

I decided to close my trade before the FOMC announcement at 11 am (PT).

Options trade: Amazon short call (semi-bearish trade)

Thursday, 2/28/2019 (11:19:31 am, PT)

sell short -1 March 8, 2019  $1705 call at $2.74

Facts:

• 8 days 'til expiration
• "overbought" stochastics
• 10 delta

Friday, 3/8/2019 (8:19:34 am, PT) (Expiration Friday)

buy back March 8 $1705 call option at $0.01 (to remove the risk and take profits)

PROFIT:  $273 (in one week)

Options trade: Amazon short put (semi-bullish trade)

Monday, 3/4/2019 (11:05:10 am, PT)

sell short -1 March 8, 2019  $1632.50 put at $2.47

Facts:

• 4 days 'til expiration
• 10.52 delta

Tuesday, 3/5/2019 (11:58:12 am, PT)

buy back put option at $0.80 (take profits)

PROFIT:  $167 (in one day)

Options trade: Amazon short put (semi-bullish trade)

Thursday, 2/28/2019 (11:19:31 am, PT)

sell short -1 March 8, 2019  $1565 put at $2.63

Facts:

• 8 days 'til expiration (DTE)
• 10 delta

Friday, 3/1/2019 (12:54 pm, PT)

buy back put option at $0.95

Amazon rose $33, so it's time to close my trade and take profits.

PROFIT:  $168 (in one day)

Options trade: SPX credit call spread (bearish trade)

Tuesday 1/22/2019 (Expiration Day)

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

Trade 1 (10:25:33 am, PT)


buy +2 Jan 22, 2019  2665 calls at $0.05 (cheap wings)
sell -2 Jan 22, 2019  2635 calls at $2.00 (29 delta)

margin:  (2665 － 2635) x 2 x 100 =  $6000
credit (max potential profit):  ($2.00 － $0.05) x 2 x 100 =  $390


Trade 2 (11:54:09 am, PT)

buy back both short calls (2635) at $0.30
let the long calls (2665) expire worthless

PROFIT:  $330 (in 90 minutes)

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

Options trades: SPX credit call spreads (semi-bearish trades)

Friday 1/18/2019 (Expiration Friday)

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!


Trade 1 (10:48 am, PT)

buy +2 January 18, 2019  2705 calls at $0.05 (cheap "wings")
sell -2 January 18, 2019  2675 calls at $1.80 (27 delta)


Trade 2 (11:38 am, PT)

buy back the 2 short calls (2675) at $0.60 (take profits and remove the risk)

PROFIT #1:  $230 (in 45 minutes)



Trade 3 (11:55 am, PT)

sell -2 January 18, 2019  2675 calls at $0.80 (17.46 delta)

Comment:  I'm selling (to open) two new calls (same strike) so I don't "waste" my two long calls ("wings") (there's still 1 hour left in the trading session)


Trade 4 (12:49 pm, PT)

buy back the 2 short calls (2675) at $0.10

Comment:  The market makers were "torturing" me by making me wait until 12:49 pm.  They refused to sell me the 2675 calls for $0.10 even though they were pretty far out-of-the-money

PROFIT #2:  $140 (in 55 minutes)

TOTAL PROFIT:  $370

Comments:

• at 12:52 pm, SPX was at 2663.37 and then staged a sharp reversal (back up)
• at 1:00 pm, SPX closed at 2670.71
• I'm VERY glad I bought back my short calls at $0.10 because that late-afternoon reversal would have completely stressed me out

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

Options trades: SPX short calls (bearish trades)

Wednesday 1/16/2019 (Expiration Wednesday)

Trade 1 (9:52 am, PT)

sell -1 January 16, 2019  2630 call at $1.00 (16 delta)


Trade 2 (9:58 am, PT)

sell -1 January 16, 2019  2630 call at $1.05 (18 delta)


Trade 3

buy +2 January 16, 2019  2655 calls at $0.10 ("wings")


Trade 4 (12:46 pm, PT)

buy back both short calls (2630 strike) at $0.05 (to take profits & remove the risk)

PROFIT:  $175 

Options trade: SPX credit call spread (bearish trade)

Monday, 1/14/2019 (Expiration Monday)

Trade 1 (10:15 am, PT)

buy +2 January 14, 2019  2625 calls at $0.05 ("wings")
sell -2 January 14, 2019  2595 calls at $1.15 (21.86 delta)


Trade 2 (11:46 am, PT)

buy back both short calls (2595 strike) at $0.30 (take profits & remove the risk)

let long calls expire "worthless"

PROFIT:  $160 (in 90 minutes)

SPX closed at 2582.61

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

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!