My Options Account on June 28, 2013 Part 2

The stock market is now closed.  I can never have a relaxing Friday in the market.  I got a major scare when Apple decided to move up to 400.  When Apple scaled back a little I sold 2 contracts of the 400/405 Call Credit Spread for .24.  Apple went over 400 a few times and then headed back down and finished at 396.70.  I managed to make $230 on my Apple options today.  Mastercard also just exploded higher over the last 30 minutes or so and I had to buy back my 570 Call for 2.50.  That was my only loss this week other than my one Apple 400/395 Put Credit.  My account was up $1,210 on the day. 

Overall a great week.  I finished up $3,165 on the week (after commissions) for a percentage gain of 32.63%.  The cool thing is I don't really feel I put on all that much risk this week.  The only time I felt nervous about my options was over the last 30 minutes today.  Crazy things seem to happen during the last hour on Friday.  These can be opportunities if you know how to spot them. 

I was going into the week with a low risk approach.  I made some adjustments and some additional trades that really worked out.  Last week was a huge loss week so I'm glad I could get back a lot of those losses.  Over two weeks I am still down $1,671 but over the past four weeks I am up $397.  I've been having a hard time getting up to $15K and staying over $15K.  Next week should be another really good week.  There will be less volume with the holiday.  With this there will be less premium so I am just going to make a small gain 5-10% next week and move on. 

My trades on Monday will start with selling put credit spreads in Apple, Google, Priceline and possibly Tesla.  I might take a few weeks off on Telsa since the stock has risen so much and could pull back at any time.  Apple is cheap so the weekly 385/380 put credit spreads look good and if the stock drops on Monday we could move down to the 380/375s.  I'll post my trades on Monday.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 28, 2013 Part 1

Today is weekly expiration and my account has been performing very well so far today.  Much different than last friday.  The stocks I am watching closely today are AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, MA, PCLN, and TSLA.  Here's a status of where the stocks are at and where I need them to close at:

AAPL is down 2.74 to 391.03.  I already bought back my 400/395 Put Credit Spread for 4.60 but I am still up $84 on my options today.  I just need Apple to stay between 385 and 400.  This shouldn't be a problem unless something crazy happens. 

AMZN is up .95 to 278.58 and I just need Amazon to stay below 280 for full profits.

GOOG is up 1.01 to 878.08.  I need Google to stay above 875 and below 890 today.  I'm feeling good about this and am already up $175 on these options today.

MA is down 1.08 to 569.60.  I need Mastercard to stay below 570 for a full profit. I'm up $71 on these options today.

PCLN is up 4.66 to 827.05.  I just need Priceline to stay below 830.  My options are down $95 so far today.

TSLA is down .56 to 108.69.  I'm sitting on 3 contracts of the 110/115 Call Credit Spread so I need Telsa to stay below 110 today.  My options in TSLA are up $142 so far today.

I'm looking good so far today and as long as the market stays calm I will walk away a big winner this week.

I'll post an update later.  So far my account is up $458 on the day.  If all goes well I should be able to add another $600-800 to that by close.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 27

Sorry for my late post.  Today was another good day.  My account managed to be up $970 today.  Apple was my big winner.  The stock was down 4.29 to 393.78.  My one 400/395 Put Credit Spread lost a lot but my 4 400/405 Call Credit Spreads more than made up for the losses and I ended up $350 on all my Apple options.  I really wanted to buy back my 3 410/415 Call Credit Spreads and Sell three more 400/405 Call spreads but I just ran out of time.  If Apple can go up a little tomorrow I would be happy.

AMZN was even on the day and I made $180 on my 3 contract Iron Condor.  The stock is at 277.55 and I just need Amazon to stay below 280 for full profits.

GOOG was up 4.26 to 877.91.  The stock gave back some gains from earlier in the day.  I sold 2 contracts of the 875/870 Put Credit Spreads so I need Google to stay above 875 and below 890 tomorrow.  I ended the day up $197.50 on my Google options. 

MA was up again today .68 to 570.68.  I actually need Mastercard to stay below 570 for a full profit.  I was up $49 on the day on these options.

NFLX was up 2.9 to 215 and I should be just fine on my 3 Iron Condors.  Need the stock to stay between 200 and 230.  That was the easiest 27% weekly gain I've had this year.  I wish I would have had more contracts on this.  My options were up $63 today.

PCLN was up 2.83 to 822.39.  I just need Priceline to stay between 800 and 830.  My options were up $245 today.

TSLA was up 3.53 to 109.25.  I'm sitting on 3 contracts of the 110/115 Call Credit Spreads so I need Telsa to stay below 110 tomorrow.  Anything can happen so I'll be checking this out tomorrow.  My options in TSLA were down $115 today.

Good day overall but still a few stocks I'll be watching closely tomorrow.  Google, Mastercard and Telsa are my riskier plays going into expiration tomorrow.  Hope it all goes well.  I'm already up $2,000 on the week.  I really don't know how that happened except Options can be like that.  It is really easy to make money doing these strategies.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 26

After yesterday's $865 gain I finished up $123 today.  Apple was down and Google was up today.  This seems to be a general trend over the past six - eight months.  I'm still looking pretty good on my options but am now in a loss situation on my Apple 400/395 put credit spread.  I only have one contract at this level so I'm not too worried about it.  I also repositioned the call side and have 3 contracts of the 400/405 call credit spread.  Apple just seems really weak and I just don't see the stock going up much the rest of the week.  A down day tomorrow wouldn't be the worst thing for my positions. 

Jonny

My Options Account on June 25, Part 1

After last week's huge losses I'm back this week making money again.  So far today my account is up $435 (10:35am Central).  I put on mostly low risk positions this week and just need a positive week to get me back on track.  Here are my positions:

AAPL $401.14 5 385/380 Put Credit Spreads; 1 400/395 Put Credit Spreads, 6 420/425 Call Credit Spreads.  I entered the one 400/395 on Friday and the stock dropped a bunch on Monday so this is my only big risk position on this stock.

AMZN $271.17 3 260/255 Put Credit Spreads; 3 280/285 Call Credit Spreads.

GOOG $870 2 865/860 Put Credit Spreads; 2 845/840 Put Credit Spreads; 2 890/895 Call Credit Spreads; 2 910/915 Call Credit Spreads.  I entered the 865/860 Credit Spreads on Friday and the stock dropped a lot on Monday.  This is a lesson for me not to enter spreads on Friday unless I am convicted the stock will move one way or the other.

MA $563.85 1 550/545 Put Credit Spread; 1 570/575 Call Credit Spread

NFLX $209.85 3 200/195 Put Credit Spreads; 3 230/235 Call Credit Spreads

PCLN $810.89 2 790/785 Put Credit Spreads; 2 770/765 Put Credit Spreads; 4 830/835 Call Credit Spreads

TSLA $101.55 3 95/90 Put Credit Spreads; 3 110/115 Call Credit Spreads

I have some risk but so far so good.  I think we have a really good flat week and I can get back on the profit wagon.  Here's a few trades I'm considering today:

AAPL 385/380 Put Credit Spread.  Credit .36 for a 7% profit if Apple stays above 385 by Friday.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 24th

Last week didn't go so well for me.  What could go wrong did go wrong.  The market started up on Monday and Tuesday but just crashed after the Fed meeting.  My strategies work very well when stocks do not move a lot one way or the other.  Last week that happened and I lost a lot (about $4500).  My account balance dropped all the way back to $9,700.  I'm still up from May 15th were my balance was $6,800 but it hurts to lose that kind of money in one week.  That really shows the damage trading options can have on one's account.  So please make sure you are not taking more risk than you can handle and do not trade options with money you can't afford to lose. 

With all that said, I think this week is a perfect time to put on Iron Condors.  I see a lot of downward pressure but after last week I can't see any huge down days this week.  Most likely we'll see some flat days.  I put on all my put debit spreads this morning when the market was down big and then started selling my call credit spreads.  I've diversified more this week.  I have 6 contracts in Apple, 3 contracts in Amazon, 4 contracts in Google, 1 contract in Mastercard, 3 contracts in Netflix, 4 contracts in Priceline, and 3 contracts in Tesla.

Things are going well so far and I'm up $200 on the day.  I'm taking on less risk this week just to make a profit.  My goal is to make about $1,000 this week.  My original goal was to get my account balance up to $100,000 by year end.  This is going to be much more difficult but still very possible.  I need to make the right choices and will try to post my trades as I go. 

Jonny

My Options Account on June 20th, 2013, Part 2

Wow.  The market just completely crashed today.  I really hate days like this because my account never does well when the market moves so much.  I went from wanting Google to go down to wanting Google to go up and at this point I really want almost all my stocks to go up except NFLX.

I didn't exit any of my positions due to the large premiums I would have to buy back at so I'm heading into expiration Friday with all my positions in tack.  I'm actually not looking all that bad even though I lost about $2K today.

Here's a recap in alphabetical order:

AAPL $416.64.  I just need Apple to go up a little tomorrow.  Looking for 420-425 for max profits.
AMZN $273.44.  I need Amazon to go up over 275 for max profits.
GOOG $885.50.  I did a lot of trading on this stock today and if the stock ends at 895 tomorrow I will make around $5-6K.  But basically I just need the stock to go up.  Anywhere between 890-900 would be good.
MA $572.72.  I just need MA to stay between 565 and 595 tomorrow.  Only one contract however.
NFLX $223.52.  I need NFLX to stay between 215 and 225 tomorrow for max profits.
PCLN $815.69.  I need PCLN to stay between 815 and 825 tomorrow.
TSLA $100.65.  If TSLA can finish right at 105 I will make full profits.  But I'll be happy if the stock can move up a few points tomorrow.

I would love it if the market can rebound tomorrow.  After two huge down days I just had to hold my positions for a potential rebound.  I'm not sure if Google can go up $10 tomorrow but that is what I'll be watching closely.  Also really would love it if Apple can go up about $5 tomorrow.  That's asking a lot but after the past two days we deserve a little rebound.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 20th, 2013, Part 1

It is now 9:05am CDT.  The overall market opened down pretty big today and things couldn't be better for my options account this morning.  I wanted Google to go down and they are down $6 currently to 894.52.  This is helping me make a lot on my 900/905 Call Credit Spreads (13 contracts) and my two 905/900 Put Debit Spreads.  I am down on my 895/890 Put Credit Spreads but overall I'm up a total of $663 on my Google options this morning.  I'm expecting much larger gains as the day goes on as long as Google stays down but not too much down.

I wanted Apple to go up today and even in a big down market day, Apple is bucking the trend and is currently up 1.62 to 424.62.  My options are up $293 so far.

Another stock I was watching today was NFLX.  I needed this stock to decrease and it is down 4.43 to 227.88.  This is huge and I'm up $271 so far on my options.

I also wanted TSLA to increase and they are up 1.69.

Today has started off really good and I hope this will continue throughout the day.  If it does I will be looking at a plus $2K easy.  So far I'm up $1,508 on the day.  I'm going to look at what I should exit and what I should hold. Google is very risky and I may need to scale out of some of my positions today.

Trade of the day:  Buy GOOG 875 Put and Sell GOOG 880 Put for a credit of .50.

Another trade I like is on PCLN, Buy 800 Put and Sell 805 Put expiring tomorrow for a net credit of .30.  The stock is currently at 823.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 19th, 2013, Part 2

The market is now closed and man it was a roller-coaster of a day!  The overall market did go down quite a bit as I was predicting but Google was up 9 after the Fed's decision.  At that time I bought two put debit spreads at 905/900 and moved up some of my put credit spreads to the 895/890 (5 contracts).  Google proceeded to drop like a rock after that and ended about even on the day.  Most of my other stocks went down with the biggest loser, Apple, being down 8.50.  I'm still in profit position on all my options except Netflix which I still have the one contract at 225/230 call credit spread.  If today was expiration Friday I would be up a lot.  Bascially if all stocks stayed where they are now I would be up an additional $6K.  But I need to wait two more days and I can guaranttee I won't be up $6K.  I'll take $1K at this point.  Most likely I will look to get out of some of my Google positions tomorrow.  Here's a little recap of how my account did at various times this afternoon:

1:52pm -1,561
1:59pm -173
2:18pm +166
2:29pm -540
2:31pm -749
2:41pm -70
5 sec later -478
2:45pm -195
2:46pm +53
2:46pm +270
5 sec later +362
3:00pm +4.36

Yeah, that's right.  After all the ups and downs I ended up make a whopping $4.36.  Well, after commissions I was down about $40.  Tomorrow is going to be just as crazy I think but I really need a nice calm day to make some serious profits.  I'm still up about $400 on the week.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 19th, 2013, Part 1

The overall market is flat today in anticipation of the Fed decision that will come out at 2pm EDT.  My options aren't as flat.  It hasn't been a good day so far.  I wanted Google to go down today and they were down early but now Google is up about 4.  Apple was down $3 and Net Flix was up 5.50.  Basically what I didn't want to happen is happening.  My main concern is focused on Google.  I am holding on because I still believe the stock will drop a good amount by Friday from where it is now.  I am expecting a "sell on the news" later this afternoon.  Let's see if I am correct.  My account balance was down $1,158 just a few minutes ago and now I'm down $1,027.  This is a huge day for me and the decision and market reaction will be key later today.

One Trade I would recommend today is:

Buy GOOG 925 Call and Sell GOOG 920 Call for a credit of .47.  I'm doing this trade because I don't think Google will continue going up the rest of the week.  Its currently at 904.82 so it would just have to stay below 920 for a nice 9.7% gain.

** Update at 11:25am CDT.  Google has decreased and is now only up .68.  My overall account balance is still down but only down $330.  Let's keep this up.  I'm looking for a large positive day. 

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 18th, 2013, Part 2

The market is closed and I'm a little relieved it is.  All my positions are looking good with the exception of Google.  Google has gone up 25 points in two days to reach my call strike $900.  Basically I can't afford anymore upside the rest of the week.  I really hate being in these situations because they generally end badly.  But I still have a 50% probability of a full profit.  The overall market has been up two straight days and I think we are in for a down day tomorrow so I'm holding.  I even bought a put debit spread 895/890 in Google at 1.50 just for fun and because I have conviction the stock will drop.  Google is a great company but does the stock ever go down?  Yes, it does and it will at some point this week.  I lost a total of $1238 in my Google strategies.  I only lost $775 in my account so my other strategies pulled through.  That's why you diversify. Unfortunately for me I have about 30% of my account in Google. 

I did some repositioning today and here's a recap:

Google $900 13 900/905 Call Credit Spreads; 5 875/870 Put Credit Spreads; 8 885/880 Put Credit Spreads - Daily Loss 1,238.  I will make a lot of money if the stock drops tomorrow. 

Apple $431.25 8 420/415 Put Credit Spreads; 8 445/450 Call Credit Spreads - Daily Profit $226

Tesla Motors $103.70 9 92.5/90 Put Credit Spreads; 6 97.5/95 Put Credit Spreads; 7 115/120 Call Credit Spreads - Daily Profit $107.50

Netflix $228.70 6 215/210 Put Credit Spreads; 5 240/245 Call Credit Spreads; 1 225/230 Call Credit Spread - Daily Profit $298

Amazon $282 3 275/270 Put Credit Spread; 3 285/290 Call Credit Spreads - Daily Loss $62

Mastercard $584.41 1 565/560 Put Credit Spread; 1 595/600 Call Credit Spread - Daily Loss $25.50

Priceline $834.82 2 815/810 Put Credit Spreads; 2 845/850 Call Credit Spreads - Daily Loss $26

For tomorrow, I am looking for the market to give back some gains and decrease.  There's a lot of good trades left this week and I'll try to add a few tomorrow.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 18th, 2013, Part 1

Today the overall market is up again and my account is down.  Google is up just over $8 per share so I am getting close to my 900 strike price.  I'm down $400 on my Google options.  Tesla Motors is down about 1.75 so far today and I'm down $140 on my options of TSLA.  NFLX is down .82 so far and I'm up on these options $172.  Overall I'm down a total of $400 so far today.  I fully expect to be in the green by the ends of the day. 

For trades, here are my suggestions:

GOOG $895 Buy 870 Put and Sell 875 Put for a credit of .40 or 8% profit if the stock stays above 875 by Friday.  Google has been so strong lately and I don't see this stock moving down 20 points from here. 

TSLA $100.55 Buy 92.50 Put and Sell 95 Put for a credit of .40 or 17.6% profit.  I don't see TSLA moving down over $5 but this is a little riskier play. 

PCLN $837 - Buy 810 Put and Sell 815 Put for a credit of .45 or 7.6% profit.  As long as Priceline stays above 815 we make a full profit. 

I may have more trades later. 

Jonny

My Options Account on June 17th, 2013, Part 2

The market is closed and boy oh boy it was a good day.  I'm not sure things could have gone better for me today, besides NFLX.  The market was up big and when it was I sold my call credit spreads.  Then the market scaled back which was just what I needed to maximize my gains for the day.  Normally I would be happy to just break even on Mondays due to all the trades I make but today was a little different.  I spent $207.50 on commissions and my final profit after commissions was $1,361.57.  This is a percentage gain of 9.3%.

The market has been pretty volatile lately but I think its a great situation to do Iron Condors.  No one really knows which direction the market is going to go.  Some people think we have over-extended and the market is going to crash.  Other people think we are in a bull market and you should ride the momentum higher.  For me, I don't really know and don't care.  I will keep selling my credit spreads and for every minute that goes by I'll make money.  Its seems the market will go up one day and then down the next.  As long as my stocks don't move substantially one way or the other I will make money.

Here's a recap of my larger positions:

Google $886.25 12 900/905 Call Credit Spreads; 9 865/860 Put Credit Spreads; 3 875/870 Put Credit Spreads - Daily Profit $715

Apple $431.98 8 420/415 Put Credit Spreads; 8 445/450 Call Credit Spreads - Daily Profit $380

Tesla Motors $102.20 9 92.5/90 Put Credit Spreads; 5 97.5/95 Put Credit Spreads; 5 115/120 Call Credit Spreads - Daily Profit $340

Netflix $229.46 6 215/210 Put Credit Spreads; 5 240/245 Call Credit Spreads; 1 225/230 Call Credit Spread - Daily Loss $184.50

Amazon $278.06 2 265/260 Put Credit Spreads; 1 275/270 Put Credit Spread; 3 285/290 Call Credit Spreads - Daily Profit $118

I also have 2 contracts of PCLN and 1 contract of MA.  Daily profit on these were $8 on PCLN and $41.50 on MA.

I'll post a few trade suggestions tomorrow morning.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 17th, 2013, Part 1

After a wild and crazy ride last week I'm up for the same this week.  At the end of the day on Friday I did put on some credit spreads and ended up with 9 contracts of Google's weekly 865/860 Put credits.  I was looking for an increase in the stock today and I got that.  I was up $500 in Google when I turned my computer on this morning.  I started to sell some call credit spreads in Google to complete my Iron Condor.  I sold the 900/905 call spreads.  The stock continued higher so I am down on these calls and am looking for Google to stay with a range of 875 and 900 this week (I sold 3 contracts of the 8750/870 put credits today).  I have a ton of premium so I may buy back some of my position of I get the feeling Google will move one way or the other. 

In Apple I have 8 contracts of the Iron Condor 420/415 put credits and 445/450 call credits.  Apple is currently at 433 so I'm looking goo so far.

In Amazon I have 3 contracts.  2 of the 265/260 put credits and 1 of the 275/270 put credits and 3 of the 285/290 call credit spreads.  The stock has been increasing and is up to 279.55.

In NFLX I have 6 contracts of the 215/210 put credits and 5 of the 240/245 call credit and 1 of the 225/230 call credit.  I entered one contract on Friday so that is why my 225/230 is now in a loss position.  News came out this morning to bump the stock up 15 points.  I'm still fine with my position and this is my only loser on the day so far.  (down $200).

In TSLA I have 9 contracts of the 92.50/90 put credit spread and 5 contracts of the 97.50/95 put credit spread.  I also have 5 contracts of the 115/120 call credit spread.  This stock has been up nicely today to 103.85 so I'm looking good so far.

I also have a few contracts in MA and PCLN.

Overall my account is up $937 (before commissions) today.  After commissions I'm up about $730ish.

I'll report back after close.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 14th, 2013, Part 2

Today was just one of those days.  I needed Apple to go up and Google to go down and the exact opposite happened.  I was in a position where I had three choices, hold, buy back one of the two or buy back both.  I decided to buy back both Apple and Google positions for a partial loss.  It was the right move at the time but it sure hurts taking big losses.  If I would have held Google I would have gained a full profit on my 675/680 call credit spreads.  But how was I supposed to know the stock would dive with 20 minutes left in the day?

Anyway, I lost a lot on the day but overall I made just over $300 on the week.  A 2% gain in a week isn't bad but I feel very disappointed with how things ended.  I'm confident next week will go much better. 

Jonny

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 14th, 2013, Part 1

Today is expiration Friday for my weekly options.  Its about 10 minutes before open and the futures are pointing slightly down.  That is what I was hoping for.  Unfortunately, Google is up about $3 pre-market.  I really need Google to stay flat or decrease so I'm looking for a gap up then decrease.  At the the same time I want to see Apple flat or up.  So, either way you look at it I'm expecting to take a decent loss on one of the two strategies.  Hopefully not both.  I'll give an update soon.

** Update at 9:11am Central.  Google is up 5.25 and was up as high as $7.  I'm down $1,108 on my Google options.  I'm going to work on getting out at a partial loss soon unless I see some downward momentum.  Apple is down 1.64 so its not going so well.  Even on Apple options so far.

***Update at 9:40am Central.  Google has gone down and is now only up about 1.00.  I'm now even on my options.  I haven't bought back anything yet.  On the other hand, Apple is also down from where it was and is down 3.62 and I'm down $581 on my Apple options.  Overall I'm up $80 on my account.  My goal is just to make a profit today.  

Jonny

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium using the best software please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

My Options Account on June 13th, 2013, Part 2

The market is now closed and wow it was a crazy day!  The market started off down and just went up in a straight line throughout the day with the biggest push towards the end of the day.  My big winner was Apple.  I needed the stock to increase and it did!  Up 3.60 to 435.79.  When it was down earlier I repositioned by Call Credits and moved to the 440/445s.  I was up a total of $1,065 on my Apple options today.  I have 11 contracts on my Iron Condor and would love it if the stock can stay between 435 and 440 tomorrow.  Its very risky and not a position I want to be in but I see a calm day tomorrow so I should be fine.

My next big winner was on Amazon.  I was getting really close to my 270 Put strike and the stock did exactly what I wanted it to do and it went up 4.08 to 275.75.  I made $712 on the day on my 8 contracts.  I should be fine tomorrow unless we get some sort of crazy up or down day which I don't think will happen.

NFLX was up 7.66 and I made $412 on my 4 contracts.  NFLX is currently at 215.30 and I just need it to stay between 205 and 220 tomorrow.  I like my chances.

PCLN was up 6.70 to 814.60 and I made $150 on the day with my 2 contracts.  Just need  the stock to stay between 795 and 825 tomorrow. 

TSLA was up .64 to $98.37 and I made $165 on the day.  I sold a few more put credit spreads and need the stock to stay above 96 tomorrow put most of my contracts are on the 92.5/90 put credit spread.

My big loser, which I really messed up on, is Google.  GOOG started to decrease very rapidly earlier today and was down $5 so I thought it was safe to reposition my call credit spreads.  I wanted to get in on the 885/890s but the price wasn't right so I moved to the 875/880s.  I had about a 10 point cushion and sold the spread for an average of .85 on my 7 contracts.  Then Google started to increase like the rest of the market and ended up 4.52 (after hour price now) to 876.50 so I really need the stock to decrease slightly tomorrow.  Overall I lost $518 on my Google options today.  I'll be looking for Google to stay between 865 and 875 tomorrow. 

My only other option I have is on Mastercard (MA) for 1 contract.  The stock went up a whopping 15.72 to 573.70.  There was a point where MA was up almost $18.  I need MA to stay where it is between 565 and 575 tomorrow.

In summary, my account was up $1,921.87 on the day.  One of my better days in a long time.  That's a percentage gain of 13.5%.

Tomorrow is going to be really interesting.  I could easily give all these gains back depending on how volatile the market will be.  Looking for a nice calm day which is likely considering today was up 180 on the Dow.  Tomorrow we'll probably see a plus or minus $50 on the Dow.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

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My Options Account on June 13th, 2013, Part 1

The market has been open for about an hour so far today and in pre-market most of my stocks were higher but now some of these stocks have turned lower.  The overall market is flat.  My main stock is Apple and I really need Apple to go higher.  Currently AAPL is down 1.19 up from its lows of down about 3.50.  I'm down about $360 on my Apple options.  I'm currently in a position to lose close to my max unless the stock heads back up or I exit the positions at a partial loss.  I'm going to wait it out for I see some buying interest in the stock right now.

Everything else is looking pretty good so far today.  AMZN up 1.17 and my options are up $248.  If this stock stays flat or goes up through tomorrow I'm looking at making a lot.

GOOG is down about $2 so my cushion is getting smaller.

NFLX is up over $2 so this gives me a little more room above my 205 strike.  The stock is currently at 209.73.

TSLA is down a little over $2 at $95.70.  Just need the stock to stay above $92.50.

Here's a few trade recommendations for today:

AAPL 430.88  Sell weekly 420 Put and Buy weekly 415 Put for a net credit of .26.  After commissions this would net a 4.8% gain by tomorrow if Apple can stay above $420.

TSLA $96.06  Sell weekly 92.50 Put and Buy weekly 90 Put for a net credit or .35.  After commissions this would net a 14.9% gain as long as Tesla can stay above $92.50 by tomorrow. 

Jonny

*** Update at 11am Central.  The market has improved and my account is now up $1,110.  AAPL is slightly positive which is what I'm watching very closely.  I have a huge Theta now on GOOG so I don't want to see much movement.  My AMZN options are now up $528.

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My Options Account on June 12th, 2013 Part 2

Well, the market continued lower which really hurt my strategies.  I lost on almost all my options today.  Apple was the big loser going down 5.70 to $431.90.  I'm now in major loss teritory and didn't exit my position.  I'm taking a big risk and am in a state of "hoping" the stock goes back up by Friday.  Its not a fun place to be in but its a great company and I still feel okay about my 435/430 put credit spreads.  Overall I was down $878 on Apple alone.

Amazon stayed above my 270 strike price but I still lost $264 on my options since AMZN decreased by 3.18.

NFLX was my 2nd greatest loser.  The stock was down 6.82 to settle at 207.64.  I'm still in full profit position if the stock can stay above $205.  I lost a total of $318 on this position.

GOOG was down 7.83 to settle at 871.98.  Still looking okay.  Just need GOOG to stay above 865.  Lost $143 on my options.

My big winner was TSLA.  Tesla was up 3.20 to 97.67 and I made $515 on my positions.

Overall a really bad day.  My account lost $1,210 today.  I can easily get all that back and more if the market can have a positive day tomorrow.  From experience, that doesn't always happen so I won't expect the world.

Jonny

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My Options Account on June 12th, 2013

Today has started out poor.  The overall market is now down and my stocks are down as well.  I'm watching Apple closely since I have 8 contracts of the 435/430 put credit spreads.  The stock is currently down 3.70 to 433.90 so I'm over one dollar in the money and down $493 on my strategies.  I really need Apple to rebound and head back up.  I'm not buying these positions back just yet because I think this downward movement is a little overdone.

AMZN is down 2.93 to $271 which is only one dollar above my 270 strike on the 270/265 put credit spreads.  I'm down a total of $280 on these strategies.  Still holding.

NFLX is down 4.80 to 209.70 and I have the 205/200 put credit spreads.  My overall loss is $148 so far today.

TSLA is up $4.50 which is very nice and I'm up $490 on my strategies so far today.

Overall my account balance is down $540 so far today.  Things could get a lot worse but I'm really expecting to finish the day up.  I will post after close.

Jonny

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My Options Account on June 11th, 2013 Part 2

The market is closed and man it was a rough day.  I hate when the market is down and continues that trend throughout the day.  Apple was down $1.30, AMZN down $6.29, GOOG down $10.41, MA down $5.34, PCLN down $10, and TSLA down $5.45.  The only good news is my account is up $890 on the day.  The bad news is I can't have another down day like this or I'll be in trouble.  I don't like being put in these situations and I will be ready to exit some of my positions if things get ugly early.  I'm still out of the money on all my positions currently and a rebound tomorrow would be really nice.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

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My Options Account on June 11th, 2013

Today has started out exactly how I was hoping.  The overall market is down and the stocks I wanted to go down are down.  The big stock I was looking at was Amazon (AMZN).  AMZN is down about $4 today and I sold the remaining 270/265 Put Credit Spreads to complete my Iron Condor.  I now actually want the stock to head back up a little.  After an hour and a half I'm up $422 on my Condor (8 contracts).  That is a cool 15% gain in the first hour and a half.

The other stock I wanted to decrease today is GOOG.  I have 8 contracts on the 905/910 call credit spread along with 5 865/860 Put credits and 3 855/850 Put Credits.  The stock is down 6.82 to $883.  I'm looking really good on my strategy so far this week.  Up $115 on the day so far for a percentage gain of 3.7%.

I wanted Apple to increase today since I was getting too close to my 435/430 Put credits (7 contracts).  The stock is up 1.31 to 440.20 today.  Still want them to go up a little to give me a some cushion.  But I'll take the $172 gains so far today.

NFLX is down 2 today.  I'm up $50 on my 4 Contract Iron Condors.

PLCN is down 6 today.  I'm up $35 on my 2 Contract Iron Condors.

The only position I'm down on today is TSLA.  The stock is down 2.90 to 97.20.  My 8 contract Iron Condors are down $60 so far today.  I expect to make money by days end on this position due to more time decay.  If the stock drops more then I will be down.

Overall, my account is up $817 or 5.6%.  Not bad when the overall market is down about 0.50%.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

Also, I have have teamed up with Amazon.com and can offer a special promotion at my store. 20% of all proceeds are donated to charity.  Please check it out at Jonnys Electronics

My Options Account on June 10th, 2013

Monday's are very important.  Its the day I put on most of my positions for the week.  Today wasn't the best.  I got in on more of my positions this morning and I started with Apple.  Apple was up early by about $5 and I was expecting the stock to stay up or continue the uptrend so I got in on 7 contracts of the 435/430 Put credit spreads.  The stock was around $447 at the time.  Later in the day to the stock started heading lower on a "sell the news" situation when people were not amazed by the new products Apple announced at their conference.  So I lost some on the 7 contract spread and now will be watching the stock very closely each day since I only have about a $3.50 cushion before I'm in loss territory. The gains on my call credit spreads reduced my overall loss on Apple to only $61 on the day.

My big winners today were on my position in TSLA (+100) and NFLX (+82).  Even though TSLA decreased slightly from where I got in on my put credit spreads the time decay helped me gain on the day.  NFLX didn't really move much today which again helped me bank some time decay.

I basically broke even on my GOOG, PCLN and MA positions and lost about $80 on my AMZN positions.  AMZN moved up $4.20 today to settle at $281.  I put on a riskier $285/290 Call Credit spread and continued selling more of these spreads as the stock increased.  I ended up selling a total of 8 spreads with an average premium of $113 per contract.  This will bank me a profit percentage of 29% on the call side if AMZN can stay below $285 by expiration.  Big Risk Big Reward.  I still like my chances on this.  If the stock drops at all I will make a large gain.

Overall I was up about $50 on the day but lost after taking into account commissions (I pay $1.50 per contract)

I'll get into more details on my GOOG position and will send an update on my AAPL and AMZN tomorrow.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

Also, I have have teamed up with Amazon.com and can offer a special promotion at my store. 20% of all proceeds are donated to charity.  Please check it out at Jonnys Electronics

My Options Trades June 10th

Mondays are always busy since I normally put on my weekly strategies on Monday morning.  I try not to over think it.  The market overall is pretty flat today and I like to start with my put credit spreads and move into call credit spreads once the stocks move up.  Here's what I'm doing today. 

AAPL Current Price: $447
 - 425/420 Put Credit Spread (less risky and as the stock started going up today I am already up a lot on this position)
 - 435/430 Put Credit Spread (once the stock moved higher I put on this position which is more risky but good return of over 20%)
- 470/475 Call Credit Spread (low risk but still a nice 6.8% gain if the stock stays below 470 by Friday)

TSLA Current Price $101
 - 92.5/90 Put Credit Spread.  I was able to sell these at .40 and .45 and after commissions I'm looking at a 18% gain if the stock stays above 92.50 by Friday.  This stock is a large mover but I really like this position and have a good probability of full gains by Friday

GOOG Current Price $884
 - 855 / 850 Put Credit Spread
 - 865 / 860 Put Credit Spread
 - 905/910 Call Credit Spread

I have about 6 contracts total of GOOG (three each on the Put side) and am really liking this position.  Google will have to move a lot one way or the other for me to lose on this.

MA Current Price $563
 - 550/545 Put Credit Spreads - only one contract so far

NFLX Current Price $218
 - 205/200 Put Credit Spread - 2 contracts so far

I still have some funds available and am trying to get into a PCLN and AMZN position.  I'll keep you posted.

Jonny

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

Also, I have have teamed up with Amazon.com and can offer a special promotion at my store. 20% of all proceeds are donated to charity.  Please check it out at Jonnys Electronics

My Options Account on June 7th, 2013

Today was expiration Friday for my weekly options.  I knew it wasn't going to be a clean day but things ended up pretty good.  My most important position was on Apple and Apple closed at $441.80 which was right between my $435 and $445 strikes on my Iron Condor.  I made over 30% profit on Apple this week!

My Google Condor ended up in the money on the call side as Google was up the entire day.  I closed my positions for a loss but not a full loss.  The only other position that ended in the money was AMZN which I had to buy back my call credit spread for a partial loss.

Overall on the week I made a profit of $2,177 after commissions for a percentage gain of $17.46%.  That's a two week gain of 39.16%.

Now the key is to keep it going next week.  I am going to take a lot less risk next week.  My goal is to make at least 5% next week and keep it going.  I set a goal to be over $100K by the end of the year.  Right now I'm sitting at about $14,650.  I'll run the numbers but most likely I'll need to average about 6-7% per week.

I'll post my trades on Monday.   Most likely I will be doing a lot of the same strategies I did this week.  Start with Put Credit Spreads and then put on the Call Credit Spreads.

For Books on options investing and trading please click here: Options Investing

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

 Jonny

Also, I have have teamed up with Amazon.com and can offer a special promotion at my store. Please check it out at Jonnys Electronics

My Options Account on June 6th, 2013

The market was down early and I repositioned some of my strategies (AAPL, GOOG) by buying back some of my call credit spreads and re-selling the call credit spreads closer to the stock price.  Reversal in GOOG's stock price hurt me along with Apple being down over $6.  I only lost 0.83% on the day so it wasn't the worst day.  But I created some very risky situations and will be watching Apple and Google's stock closely tomorrow.  Apple is currently at 438.85 and I need the stock to stay above 435 and below 445.  Its a small window.  GOOG is up to 864.49 and I repositioned 2 of my 5 contracts to the 860/865 call credit spread and this is currently in the money and in the red so I need Google to go down a little tomorrow, which I'm not too confident in.

If I have to take a loss on the 2 spreads I'll be just fine.  My other strategies are all looking good.  I'm guessing I won't see full profits tomorrow especially with the jobs report coming out but as long as I make a profit tomorrow I'll be happy.

Jonny


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My Trade Suggestions June 6

This morning Apple is trading down 7.26 to 437.85.  I would recommend putting on a put credit spread expiring Friday (tomorrow).  Sell the 425 Put and Buy the 420 Put for a net credit of .35.  This would generate a profit of 7.5% in two days.  As long as Apple can stay above 425 by close tomorrow you will collect on this 7.5%.

Also, NFLX is down $5 points today at 218.50.  My suggestion would be to sell the 210 Put and buy the 205 Put which expires on Friday.  This will give you a net credit of .40 which would be a profit of 8.7% and you will realize this profit if the stock stays above 210 by close tomorrow. 

Jonny

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My Options Account on June 5th, 2013

As the market is about to close for the day I see that the DOW is down again today, about 1.15%.  Many of the stocks within my options account have decreased in value as well but currently I'm up just over 5% on the day.  My largest position is in an Iron Condor with Apple (AAPL).  The stock is trading down about 4.20 for a price of $445.  This is still well within my Condor of $435 - $465.  I actually adjusted some of this and now have 3 contracts of the 455 Call / 460 Call Credit Spread and 7 contracts of the 465 / 470 call credit spread.  I now need Apple to stay within 435 and 455.  I have a ten point cushion either up or down and I'll pocket over a 30% gain in one week on the position.

I divisified as well and have Iron Condors on the following stocks.  These are all my favorite stocks to trade options with:

AMZN $268.28 1 Contract -  I repositioned my 255/250 Put Credit and moved up to the 265/260 Put Credit after they announced they will be getting into the online grocery business.  I also have the 275/280 Call credit.

GOOG $861 5 Contracts - I repositioned my 890/895 Call and moved to the 880/885 Call Credit Spread.  I also have the 840/835 Put Credit Spread.  I have about a 20 point cushion either up or down until Friday.

NFLX $222.20 4 Contracts - 210/205 Put Credit and 235/240 Call Credit.  Looking good so far!

PCLN $796.72 6 Contracts - 770/765 Put Credit and 830/835 Call Credit.  I'm up a lot on this position so far this week.

TSLA $96.75 - 8 contracts of 87.50 / 85 Put Credit (repositioned from 85/80) and 4 contracts of 105/110 Call Credit Spread.  I also just added 2 contracts of the 92.5/90 Put Credit and added one more 105/110 Call Credit.

From the time I wrote this my account just gained another $60 so my day end gain moved up to 5.6%.  I just love options and I love that I can make money when the overall market is down so much!

As you can see, I repositioned some of my spreads.  I will do this if a stock has moved one way or the other by a decent margin.  I can lock in the profits I had on the spread by buying it back and then sell another spread for a larger credit.  By doing this I take on more risk so I need to anaylze if the reward is worth the risk and also I need to determine the probability of the stock price touching the strike price. I feel really good about all the repositions I did but I know AMZN and TSLA don't have much room so another down day could hurt me on these spreads. 

Happy trading.  Jonny

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My Options Account on June 4th

I'm having a great day in the market using my selected options strategies.  My account is up 5.91% on the day while the Dow is down 0.74%.  I'm not shorting or buying puts.  You make the more consistent money by selling options.  My main strategy is credit spreads.  The market can go up, down or stay the same and I'll make money in all situations.  Only way I lose is if my individual stocks move drastically in one week.  Any other situation I make money!  And I have certain guidelines to minimize any losses in the rare case that one of my stocks move a lot one way or the other.

One of my favorite stocks is Apple as you probably could tell from my previous examples.  I love to do weekly credit spreads on Apple, more specifically the put credit spread (mostly called a bull put credit spread).  On Monday Apple traded down to around $447 and at that point I decided to sell the $435 Put expiring on June 7th and I also bought the $430 Put expiring on June 7th.  I ended up doing 10 contracts of this strategy.  My average price that I sold the $435 Puts was 1.62 and the average price I bought the $430 puts was $.93.  I instantly made a premium of (1.62 - .93) * 100 * 10 = $690 on this position.  My buying power was reduced by $500 for each spread less the credit so 500*10-690 = $4,310.  As long as Apple's stock can stay above $435 by the close on Friday I will make a profit of $690 or 690/4310 = 16%.

When Apple started to go up on Monday I decided I would also sell call credit spreads to make some additional income.  I selected the 465 call to sell and the 470 call to buy expiring on Friday June 7th.  My average prices were $1.01 for the 465 call and .57 for the 470 call for a net credit of $.44 or $440 for my 10 contracts.  The percentage gain for both spreads combined will be $(690+440)/(5000-690-440) = 29.20% as long as Apple stays between $435 and $465 by close on Friday. 

Your maximum loss on one side of the spread would be $500 less your credit multiplied by the number of contracts.  So I do have a chance to lose up to $5000-690-440  = $3,870 if the stock goes over 470 or under 430.  In this situation we would have a maximum loss.  If the stock ends between 430-435 or 465-470 then we would either have a gain or loss depending on what we buy back the spread for.  This situation would most likely result in a loss. 

This strategy is called an Iron Condor.  This is a very risky strategy because Apple can move one way or the other pretty drastically within a week.  So if you are going to put something like this on you need to watch the stock daily and have an exit strategy.  Don't just do this blindly.  You need to have a good idea of how the stock has been acting lately and where you expect it to go over the next week (or month).  

For today, Apple is down 2.50 and is currently trading at $448.  I'm still looking good for my strategies and am up $323 on the spreads so far.  And its only Tuesday.  If I am nervous about where Apple will end up later in the week I can always buy back my spreads and pocket the $323 profit which would be a nice 8.3% gain in two days.  Not bad at all.  But I'm going to hold until tomorrow to see what happens.

I wouldn't recommend putting all your money into one stock or option strategy.  I have diversified my account over multiple stock options using credit spreads.  I love this strategy because as time goes by I make money from the depreciating options (time value decreases as it gets closer to expiration).

Jonny

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Buying Calls Instead of Buying Stock

So here's another tip if you are looking for short term gains by trading stocks.  Let's say you want to buy 100 shares of Apple (AAPL) stock for a short term (1-6 months) gain.  Apple has been down a lot over the past nine months or so.  It hit its 52 week high back in September 2012 and hit its low of around $390 in April 2013.  It has started to climb back and is currently trading at $452 per share.  Apple is a great company and its potential to increase is stock price is pretty good.  To buy 100 shares it would cost you $45,200.  That's a lot of money just to buy 100 shares so one might considering buying a call option for a much lower price.  Call options have a few disadvantages vs. stocks.  #1 they expire, #2 you have to pay a premium over the intrinsic value which is called "time value".  But there are situations where buying a call is much smarter and better cost effective

Looking at the call options for Apple, we want to give ourselves enough time and we want to reduce the amount of time value we have to pay.  In this situation I would suggest buying a deep in the money call about four to six months before expiration.  Let's select the October 18 expiration and let's look at a call about $40 to $50 in the money.  The $410 call expiring on October 18, 2013 costs $52.60.  The time value is ($52.60-(452-410)) = $10.60.  We are paying a $10.60 premium over the intrinsic value.  What this means is if we hold this call option until expiration we would need Apple's stock to increase by at least $10.60 to break even ($462.60).  But our goal is to sell our call well before expiration so this time value isn't a big concern for us.

To control 100 shares of Apple (right to buy at 410) we will pay $52.60 * 100 = $5,260.  This is much more affordable than paying for 100 shares ($45,200).

The delta on our 410 call is .72 so for every $1 gain on the stock our call option will gain .72.  This delta will increase as the stock price increases so keep that in mind.

Let's say Apple increases in value to $460 in one month.  If we were to buy the 100 shares we would have made a profit of $800 for a percentage gain of 1.77%.  Not bad at all.  Our call option will increase about $570.  Our delta was .72 initially so if we took .72 *100 * 8 = $576.  Without going through all the math I would estimate this call option would increase by about $570.  We need to deduct a little time value since it took one month and we will need to increase our delta slightly since the stock went up (probably increase to .75).  Our percentage gain would be $570 / $5,260 = 10.84%.

As you can see, if we are correct and the stock price does in fact increase in value we can make a much greater percentage gain by buying a deep in the money call option instead of buying the stock.  Its a great tool to use for short term or medium term speculative plays.  These options won't tie up too much money and if you are right you are rewarded with very nice percentage gains.

My main option strategy is credit spreads and I'll cover that soon.

Jonny

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Making money on the stocks you own using covered calls

I showed you how to make money while you wait for a stock to decrease to a price you are willing to buy at using naked puts.  Today I want to show you how you can make additional income on stocks after you own the stock.  Let's say you own a stock and it hasn't really moved all that much one way or the other and you aren't making any money on the stock but you don't want to sell.  Or lets say you own a stock that has increased a lot over the past few years and you think its hit its peak temporarily and you want to make some money on the stock while it stays the same or decreases slightly.  I can show you how you can make extra income on this asset (stock) each week or month.

Here's an example.  My grandparents have owned about 600 shares of 3M (MMM) over the past 20 years.  This stock has been a great investment going from about $7 in 1983 a share to $110 where it is today.  Looking at the chart this has been a great stock to own over the past 20 years, 2 years, 1 year, 6 months, etc.  It seems it will just go up forever!  But at $110 per share it may keep going up but with the uncertainty in the market the stock price could certainly stay the same or decrease some over the next year.  In this situation I would recommend that my grandparents sell covered calls at a price about $5 above where it is now with an expiration about one month out.

A call option gives the buyer the right to buy a stock at a specific price up until the expiration date.  If someone sells a call it will give the buyer the right to buy the seller's shares at a specific price up until the expiration date.  The seller has the obligation to sell their shares if the buyer of the call exercises their right to buy.  However, there are actions the seller of the call can take so they won't have to sell their shares if they don't want to.

With our example, we are going to look at the call options expiring either on June 21 or July 19.  Looking at the June 21 expiration date, my grandparents could sell the $115 calls for $.23 per share so if they sell 6 contracts (600 shares) they will collect premium of $138.  The July 19 $115 calls are .71 per share so they would collect premium of $432.  They would make more money on the July calls but there would be more time before the calls will expire increasing their risk of the stock going over $115.

Let's say they decide to give this a try on the June 21 expiration.  As long as they stock doesn't go over $115 per share over the next 19 days they will keep the premium and their 600 shares of stock.  If the stock goes up to $115 or more my grandparents would have the obligation to sell their shares at $115.  They still get to keep the $138 premium but they will have to sell their shares which is not what they wanted.  At least they just made an extra $5 on the stock ($3,000) in 19 days so they aren't too disappointed.  The risk they take is if 3M goes up a lot more than $115 my grandparents would have to sell their shares at $115 and wouldn't take advantage of they additional increase in price.

If 3M goes up to $115 or more and my grandparents don't want to sell their shares they would just have to buy back the calls they sold before expiration.  They may lose money on the calls but the stock increase would more than make up for that loss so its really a win win situation.

Not all stocks are a good fit for selling covered calls so one would need to analyze if using covered calls is a good strategy.  I would highly recommend selling covered calls in most situations but you have to be willing to sell your shares at a specific price.  If you own 100 shares or more of a stock check out the call options above the current strike price to see if it is worth your while to make some extra income each month. 

Anyone looking for some ways to get started collecting option premium please Click Here! or to find undervalued options Click Here!

Jonny