Today's Trades

FSLR
Sold AUG 135 put for $1.6 credit.

ANDS
Bought Aug 2.5 call yesterday afternoon for .26, gapped up this morning, currently at .75.
UPDATE:Sold to close at .70, for a .44 profit.

Today's Trades

UNG
Bought a Jan10 14/18 bull call spread for $1 debit.

DVA
Sold an AUG 45/55 strangle for $1 credit.

WMT
Bought back the short strikes (AUG 47.5/50) of the condor for $1.19. Total profit of .47 cents.

CMG
Bought back the AUG 75 put for 14 cents to close the original strangle, loss of 18 cents. Wanted to free up bp to get into a FSLR strangle but I didn't get to it in time today. Hopefully can get in tomorrow morning, IV is still pretty hot.

Today's Trades

Delta got a little high on the CMG Aug 100 call so I bought it back at $2.29 this morning. Guess I should have waited until later today, it closed well down from the high. Still in the 75 put.

Today's Trades

GMCR
Sep 45/55, 80/90 Iron Condor, $3 credit
I wanted to do a short strangle but didn't have enough bp so the IC reduced the margin enough to get me in.
IV is up near 80, 10 points up from a week ago and 20 up from a month ago. Needless to say, even the August options are juiced.

WAG
Bought back the Aug 27 put for a dime, .50 profit.

PALM
Bull Call Spread-BOT November 16 call, STO Aug 17.5 call, $1.65 debit

DIN
Bought back the Aug 40 call for .07, still in the 25 put

WHR
Bought back the Dec 35 put for $1, total trade profit was $2.05.

Could this be a topping day? We'll see soon enough.

My new theme song

Great book

Just picked up a new book, "The volatility edge in options trading", by Jeff Augen. Drills down on exactly what we're learning in the trading lab-selling options during IV spikes for max credits.

No new trades to post yet, just watching the ones I'm in-I should have several more tomorrow.

WOW!
Dow closes above 9k, first time since 1/6/09
S & P closes above 975, first time since 11/4/08
Nasdaq closes above 1950, first time since 10/2/08
Dow Trans closes above 3500, first time since 1/8/09
Russell closes above 540, first time since 11/4/08

And the list goes on-how much more juice does this thing have before it takes a break? I want to get long and score big but I think it's a little late to get on the ride this time around.

Today's trade

And another:
SPY Aug 98 Long Put, $2.49 debit-looking for the inevitable retrace, hopefully soon.

Today's Trades

Several more for today:
BLUD Aug 15 long straddle, earnings tonight, 2.2 debit
JNPR Sep 21/30 short strangle, earnings tonight, IV has been building and is above a 10 point premium to HV, .95 credit.

Today's trade

DECK Aug 85 naked call, .85 credit.

Today's trade

CMG Aug 75/100 short strangle for $2.25 credit.

WHR Strangle

Looks like this one is working out so far, I'm in the Aug 35/70 short strangle,(2.97 credit) they reported this morning and the stock is still at $53, smack in the middle of my range. The options were juiced pre-earnings so they should drop a good amount over the next week or so. Even though they beat by a whopping 53 cents, revenue was "in-line" so it looks like no gapping.

So many earnings, so little BP! I'm stuck paper trading more than I want this week since my account is already margined to the max.

I will do my best to post my new trades here as I make them. Here is a brief synopsis of my closed-out trades since April, and the profit/loss on each:
(L/S)
(S)XLE May 40P, +.87
(S)OIH May 70P, +.66
(S)OXY Jun 45P, +.85
(S)JEC Jun 30P, +.54
(L)SQNM May 5C, -.75
(S)PNRA May 50P, +.30
(S)BBBB Jun 25P, +.55
(S)BBBB Jul 25P, +.58
(S)OIH Jun 80P, +.55
(S)AZO Jun 145P, +1.8
(S)PLCE Jun 30P, -.40
(S)AMSC Jul 20P, +.35
(S)VRSN Jul 17.5P, +.48
(S)XME Jul 32P, +.05
(S)AZO Jul 145P, +1.3
(S)GS Aug 130P, +1.34
(S)FDO Aug 25/30 strangle, -.44
(S)CSX Aug 27/35 strangle, -3.63(yes, it's true)




Trades I'm currently in, and the credit received:
(S)WAG Aug 27P, $.60
(IC)WMT Aug (S)47.5/50, (L)42.5/55, $1.66
(S)JEC Jul 35P, $.25
(S)DIN Aug 25/40 strangle, $1.3
(S)WHR Dec 35/70 strangle, $3.05
(S)AZO Aug 140P, $.85


As you can see from the first list, I had a bunch of modest credits that got nearly wiped out by a big loss in one of my first short strangles. CSX gapped up the day after earnings so I legged out of the put for a .50 gain, then I figured I'd hold out for a couple days until it filled the gap. Well, the meteoric rally last week cleaned my clock, and I stayed in way too long, expecting a pullback that has yet to materialize. I got out of the call this morning at a $4.13 loss.

It's been awhile

Sorry, I haven't been on here in quite some time, I need to make a point to post my trades here for myself as well as others who are interested.
I've been going naked and short pretty much 100% for the last several months, I'm really getting into being theta positive. We all know the market makers are out to pick our pockets as often as possible, so why not put as many factors in our favor as possible? Time is the first factor we can get on our side. Time decay alone is our single greatest ally when selling options, since it can't move against us and can't be controlled by the market makers. The next factor the market makers can't control is implied volatility, which is really a measure of market sentiment or bias. Historically, volatility ramps up as earnings season approaches and falls after earnings are reported. We can easily use this common behavior to our advantage, since the higher the volatility, the bigger the option premium.
I have been putting on naked puts and short strangles exclusively, and slowly building my account back up after some bad decisions early on. It's such a temptation to go "all in" long calls and puts and hope for that huge move that will triple our account, but I've learned the hard way that I'd be better off in a casino, since I would at least be getting some "free" drinks while I lose my shirt.