Revised post for September 6 strategies. Options. VIX consideration

The stock market has been very stable over the past few months. The VIX (volatility index) is at a low right now. Today it was down 11% after the jobs number was in line creating a higher probability that interest rates will stay the same for a bit longer, possibly putting a hold on Fed rate hikes.

We are in uncharted waters so it is hard to predict what will happen next. There is no history to peg this situation on but my educated opinion is we will see some major volatility in the near future. September and October are historically some of the most volatile months for stocks. And this volatility could be to the downside. I hope your financial advisor has warned of you of this situation….

If you have been selling credit spreads in options you might want to consider adjusting your strategy. With lower option prices it might be time to start buying calls and puts (spreads, calendars, leaps, straddles, even straight up.) And if you do sell options make sure it’s a directional strategy and make sure you set a stop loss!. Iron Condors have been very successful over the past two months but I don’t have as much confidence in them at this point. That is all. Go Twins!

Strategy change starting September 6, 2016 - VIX situation

The stock market has been very stable over the past few months.  The VIX (volatility index) is at a low right now.  Today it was down 11% after the jobs number was in line creating a higher probability that interest rates will stay the same for a bit longer, possibly putting a hold on Fed rate hikes. 

We are in uncharted waters so it is hard to predict what will happen next.  There is no history to peg this situation on but my educated opinion is we will see some major volatility in the near future.  September and October are historically some of the most volatile months for stocks.   And this volatility could be to the downside.  I hope your financial advisor has warned of you of this situation…. 

If you have been selling credit spreads in options you might want to start adjusting your strategy.  With lower option prices it might be time to start buying calls and puts (spreads, calendars, leaps, straddles, even straight up.  That is all.  

My options account October 3, 2014

I haven't been here much lately and I apologize!  I'm still trading options on a daily basis and I am doing better than ever.  I sure want to help all of my fans but since I don't have any fans it's hard to do write ups.  So let's get some referrals!  I will post all my trades for free.  Ok let me show you one simple trade that takes almost zero risk and will bank you an 88% return annually.

The Stock: PCLN
The strategy: 14 day put credit spreads
The gain: 2.3% per 14 day period

PCLN is currently trading at 1141.  This stock has only gone down by 100 points (max) five times over the past three years.  It is institutionally owned by 98%.  This company always beats earnings estimates.  They are growing a very good rate.   The overall market is a bit shaky right now but I'm still going to play the upside here. 

sell the 1040 put
buy the 1025 put
credit: $35 per contract
10 contracts
commission: $15
Profit: $335
collateral required: 14,665
profit % 2.29%

Exit strategy:

PCLN hits 1060 we exit and reposition for 3% gain.

This strategy could be used for a year as long as the market is right.  Don't do this during earnings and make sure you take your emotions out of it.  You want me to trade for you then let's talk.  I have the perfect platform and negotiated an amazing commission rate.  Plus I watch my portfolio every minute of every day and am well aware of all the market and stock news.  My goal is no less than 100% gains per year and those gains are 95% probable.  I love options.  Jonny

My options account December 20, 2013

I'm back people.  I've still been trading options but took a little break from my blog.  I just finished a very good week making over 30%.  My largest position was an IRON condor in PCLN.  Priceline had a very neutral week and my condor killed it this week.  I lost on three of my positions in AAPL, AMZN and GOOG but still made over 30%.  That is a crazy.  But I have a new two year goal.  My goal is to turn the $16,000 I currently have in the account into $1,000,000 by the end of 2015.  This may seem completely unrealistic but I'm telling you it is completely realistic.  All I need to do is make about 4% per week.  This seems like a lofty goal but getting 4% per week is almost too easy.  I've had a hard time only getting small returns per week but that is where I have lost.  Its when I start trying to get the huge gains like 25-35% per week.  When I got greedy I got burned.  Now I'm going to stick with a plan and as long as I hit it each week for the next two years I'll be a millionaire.  This goal is more about the challenge than anything.  Its about proving the critics wrong.  Showing that the impossible can be possible.  I'm currently working on devising my plan and will fully disclose my trades right here.  This information will be extremely valuable so follow me to get all my updates.  Each week will be different.  A carefully devised plan will be used and as long as I am not completely wrong about the direction of my underlying stocks or the overall market then I will bank my full profits each week.  Nothing can stop me right now!   I'm coming.

Oh, I wanted to share this site with you are all.  Click Here! to get this valualble information free.

Jonny

My options account September 30, 2013

I'm back and making trades again.  My account balance currently sits at $14,918.  I'm already up about $300 on the day.  I'm not going to list all the specifics of my trades but I will make suggestions and will advise what I'm doing in general for each stock.  Today marks a very critical day in American history.  Investors have panicked and the stock market decreased last week and is down today.  We are on the verge of a government shutdown if an agreement can not be made by midnight tonight.  I don't have all the details but my feeling is people are overreacting to this news.  If an agreement is not come to, which is the expectation, I don't think the market crashes.  It may head lower initially but I envision a rebound the same day or later in the week.  This is a great situation for my trades as I am selling put credit spreads again.  I'm focusing on stocks that are very strong (AAPL, TSLA, GOOG, PCLN, NFLX, AMZN, MA, BIDU and HLF).  The increased volatility in the market has pushed premiums of these options up and I'm trying to limit my risk by selling put credit spreads well out of the money.  These are all weekly options expiring at the end of the week.  As the stocks move higher I'll start selling the call credit spreads as I also don't think the market increases substantially.  There's always a risk of the market moving largely one way or the other but I'll bank on the expectation that it won't. 

Some of the trades I have done so far:

AAPL $478.90 465/460 put credit spread
GOOG $879 855/850 put credit spread
HLF $70 67/65 put credit spread
MA $676 655/650 put credit spread
NFLX $309.50 295/290 put credit spread
PCLN $1010 980/975 put credit spread
TSLA $194 180/175 put credit spread

I entered all of these earlier today and my account is now up just over $300 on the day.  Tomorrow will be key in my account's success this week.

Jonny

I'm back, My options account September 25, 2013

After a long vacation I am back and will be posting my trades.  Currently I have a few small trades on:

AAPL $482.25 475/470 Put Credit Spread ($82 credit); 485/490 Call Credit Spread ($85 credit).  Apple had gone up a lot early in the week so I am happy to see the stock move lower today.  I looking pretty good consider what I know.  Amazon has annouced a Kindle product that will compete with Apple's ipads which sent the stock lower.  I don't think the stock will rebound much the rest of the week and I really think Apple will stay between my 475 and 485 strikes.  Two days to go.

HLF $70.78 10 69/68 put credit spreads ($33 credit); 10 72/73 call credit spreads ($20 credit).  HLF was hanging around 68/69 earlier this week but today the stock rose $2 so I'm looking really good right now.  However, if the stock continues its uptrend I could be in trouble.  There are so many short shares sold right now that large increases can always happen.  I'll take the risk as I think we see the stock level out for the rest of the week.

Starting next week I'll have a lot more trades.

Jonny

My options account August 28, 2013

Today went up and down.  Many of my stocks performed well like AAPL, GOOG, AMZN, MA, and TSLA but HLF, NFLX and PCLN did not perform as I was hoping.  Thursday will be very important and I'm looking for another flat to up day.  I need HLF to start moving higher! 

Jonny

My options account August 27, 2013

Today was not a good day for my account.  The overall market was down a lot and many of my stocks were also down a considerable amount.  Around mid day I was thinking about what to do.  I could either hold my positions and see what happens or I could buy back the positions that had creeped into the money.  I decided to buy back those positions and re-position to a safer price.  I had to enact this action in AAPL, GOOG, and PCLN.  I also re-positioned my call credit spreads on AMZN, TSLA, NFLX, MA and part of HLF.  I'm expecting a flat to down market through the rest of the week.  We may get a rebound at some point (either tomorrow or Thursday) so my current strategies are set up to take advantage of this.  I lost $997 today so I wiped out all my gains from last week today.  I still have a decent chance of making a profit this week but its really going to depend on what happens tomorrow and Thursday.

Jonny

My options account August 26, 2013

I had a great week last week with a $1,046 gain for a 38% return.  Today I put on my weekly option positions.  The market was up for most of the day but took a dive in the afternoon after John Kerry opened his mouth.  Here are a list of my positions:

AAPL $502.97 495/490 put credit spread; 505/500 put credit spread; 2 520/525 call credit spreads - Apple was up about $10 earlier in the day but came down in the afternoon. 

GOOG $866.39 860/855 put credit spread; 890/895 call credit spread

HLF $64.98 6 62.50/60 put credit spreads; 2 65/64 put credit spreads; 7 67.5/70 call credit spread.  HLF is again my largest position.  The stock hasn't moved much but the premiums are large enough to make good money.

NFLX $282.50 2 270/265 put credit spreads; 2 300/305 call credit spreads.  Netflix was up a lot earlier but came down like every other stock.  I'm looking good on these positions.

PCLN $949.54 935/930 put credit spread; 945/940 put credit spread; 2 970/975 call credit spread

AMZN $286.21 280/275 put credit spread; 295/300 call credit spread

MA $615.18 610/605 put credit spread; 635/640 call credit spread

TSLA $166 160/155 put credit spread; 185/190 call credit spread

Well there you have it.  The big days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays and it will be a good indicator of what I can expect.

Jonny

My options account August 23, 2013

Today went as expected and my account was up over $1,000 this week.  That is over a 35% gain!  I hope to keep the wins coming next week.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 22, 2013

Today was an interesting day.  The Nasdaq halted for 3 hours.  I'm not really sure what happened there.  The overall market was up and my account was pretty steady and finished up $87.  That's a three day winning streak.

HLF was down again by 0.26 to 63.49.  My positions were up $114 on the day and my 62.5/61 put credits are looking good.  I would love it if the stock can break this streak of starting up and finishing down.  I have 2 65/64 put credit spreads and one 62.5/64 call debit spreads so I really hope the stock can move above 64 tomorrow. 

Apple was up .64 for a $52.50 gain.  The stock is at 503 and I need it to stay between 495 and 510.

Google was up 4.38 to 873.71 so I am looking great on my 860-890 position.  Options were up $62.50 today.

MA was down 2.05 to 617.26 and I'm looking good on my 610/605 put credit spread going into tomorrow.  I was up $40 in my options today.

PCLN was up 11.54 to 951.74 and I need the stock to stay between 935 and 955 tomorrow.  I lost $58 on my options today.

TSLA was up 9.14 to 157 so looks like I'll take a full loss on my 148/150 call spreads.  I guess I'm glad I took such a big risk on this stock because if I would have put on a call spread at a higher strike I most likely would have lost more.  Its a small position so I'm okay with it.

I also have a very small position in SPY.  The option value is currently at 166.10 and I need it to stay between 164.50 and 166.

Expiration Friday is tomorrow and I'm looking forward to completing this successful week.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 21

Today I saw a lot of volatility in my underlying stocks and the overall market in general.  Stocks were down, then they came back up and then they went back down again.  My account was up $259 today.  All of my strategies are looking good so far this week.  I did make some additional trades and re-positioned a few positions. 

My largest position is in HLF.  Herbalife was up early after an upgrade but lost all those gains and finished down .97 after Bill Ackman made a statement.  The stock is currently at 63.75.  Yesterday I sold 10 contracts of the 67.5/69 call spread for .19 so today's action sort of wiped out the premium on that position and my 62.5/61 put credit spreads are still looking good.  My options in HLF were up $67.50 today. 

All my other positions finished the day okay.  Apple was up .93 to 502 and I currently hold the 495/490 put credit and the 520/525 call credit spreads.  Google was up 3.91 to 869.33 which is right in between my sold strikes of 850 put and 890 call.  I was up $89 in AAPL and $25 in GOOG today.

My two fast moving stocks of PCLN and MA also did good today.  PCLN was up 6.83 to 939.60 which is right in between my sold strikes of 920 put and 955 call.  MA was down 3.10 to 619.31.  I'm still looking good as I sold the 610/605 put spread and the 640/645 call spread.  I was up $72 in PCLN and up $15.50 in MA  today.

Telsa (TSLA) was down a lot early and I sold one more of the 148/150 call credit spread when the stock was around 147.  Yesterday I sold two 144/142 put credit spreads so my window is small but profit potential is very large.  The stock is right between my strikes of 144 to 148.  The stock is currently 147.19.

Overall a good day.  I really need a good week.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 19 & 20, 2013

I wasn't able to post yesterday but here is a summary of my positions for this week:

AAPL $501.16 495/490 put credit spread; 530/535 call credit spread
GOOG $868.60 850/845 put credit spread; 890/895 call credit spread
HLF $63.76 8 62.50/61 put credit spreads; 1 65/64 put credit spread; 2 62.50/64 call debit spreads
MA $620 610/605 put credit spread; 640/645 call credit spread
PCLN $934 920/915 put credit spread; 970/975 call credit spread
TSLA $147.32 138/135 put credit spread; 148/150 call credit spread

Overall I am bullish this week after the down week last week.  HLF was down a lot yesterday but recovered some and I feel I got a gift on my 62.50/61 put credit spreads.  My average price on the spread is .39.  If the stock stays above 62.50 this week I will bank a 32% gain.  So far I feel good about my positions and hope we have a nice calm and up week. 

If all goes well I will make a 35% gain this week.  So far today my account is up $324. 

Jonny

My Options Account on August 16, 2013

Today went very well.  Most of my options were up and was able to get out of my PCLN at a loss at less than total.  AAPL, PCLN and HLF were my big winners.  I added in a condor in PCLN which worked out nicely for a 25% gain.  I loaded up on the 66.5/68 HLF call credit spreads so even though the stock was down I made $301 on my options.  Overall it was a rough week for me but at least I added $604 back today.

I may post a few of my trade suggestions this weekend.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 15, 2013, Part 1

The market is down big today and I see a lot of opportunities to sell some put spreads right now.  Here's a few of my trades I'm making mid day (all expiring tomorrow):

PCLN $937 Sell 930/925 put spread for 1.00
AAPL $501 Sell 495/490 put spread for .85
MA $621 Sell 615/610 put spread for .55
HLF $65.25 Sell 65/63 put spread for .35

I get the feeling that the market is oversold in the short term and we will see a slight rebound to the upside later today or tomorrow.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 14, 2013

Today was a rough day again.  I made a lot of HLF ($444) as the stock was up 1.50 to $66.12.  That was the only good news for my account today.  AAPL was up about $8 today so that was pretty good and I sold my 505/510 call spread for 1.10.  However, my 495/500 call credit spread is now it danger of losing this week.  My large position is on PCLN and I have patiently waiting for the stock to go up.  It just doesn't want to go up and was down again today by 13.61 to 940.  I need the stock to go over 960 which is still possible with this stock.  Priceline is known to make big moves so I'm still holding but I'm getting a little worried about my position and may exit if things keep getting worse.  TSLA was down 6.43 to 139.  I need the stock to get above 144.  I still have two days!  That's all I have going for me. 

Also, AMZN and GOOG were down today and getting very close to my put strike. Thursday will be a very telling day.  I would still recommend selling put spreads out of the money in AAPL, PCLN, MA, AMZN, GOOG, HLF and TSLA.  The market is due for a correction to the upside later this week.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 13, 2013

Today wasn't a very good day in my account.  The overall market was up but PCLN and HLF were down.  AAPL was up big so I had to exit and re-position my options.  For tomorrow I will be looking to add some put credit spreads in AAPL, PCLN and MA.  I think PCLN has made a temporary bottom and AAPL is going to continue the uptrend.  Stay out of the money on these to give some cushion.  Here are the plays I will be looking at:

AAPL $489.57 Sell 475 put, buy 470 put for a net credit of .40 (.37 after commissions).  This would be a 8% gain if the stock stays above 475 on Friday.

PCLN $953.61 Sell 935 put, buy 930 put for a net credit of .44 (.41 after commissions).  This would be a 9% gain if the stock stays above 935 on Friday.

My account lost $868 today so I need PCLN and HLF to head higher sooner rather than later.  I'm looking good on my other strategies.  I repositioned AAPL to 480/475 put credit spread and 495/500 call credit spread.  I also bought a 505/510 call debit spread for a small price in case the stock takes off more.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 12, 2013

Today was an interesting day.  I was assigned on 200 shares of PCLN from my 970 puts that I failed to exit on Friday and the stock was down all day.  I sold the shares right after open but took a $1,300 loss on those shares.  Not a good way to start my week.  I put on my positions and ended the day up $229 on my options but overall I lost $1,082 on the day.  Here are my current positions:

AAPL $468.07 2 455/450 put credit spreads; 2 475/480 call credit spreads
AMZN $269.69 1 290/285 put credit spread; 1 305/310 call credit spread
GOOG 885.50 1 865/860 put credit spread; 1 900/905 call credit spread
HLF $66.20 6 64/62 put credit spreads; 4 66/64.5 put credit spreads; 6 70/72.5 call credit spreads
PCLN $958.02 5 960/955 put credit spreads; 3 980/985 call credit spreads; 2 990/995 call credit spreads
TSLA $147.95 2 144/142 put credit spreads; 1 144/143 put credit spread; 1 155/160 call credit spreads

So this week I put a good majority of my funds into HLF and PCLN.  If Priceline can stay between 960 and 980 I will make a very large return.  I sold the 960/955 put spread for an average price of 2.00 so this would be a 66% profit if the stock can close above 960 on Friday.  They had a very good earnings report but the stock has run up really fast.  I am nervous about this strategy but the stock has been so strong I would expect a positive week from here.

HLF has been stuck around the $66 price so I sold some calls well out of the money so I can take advantage of this tight range.  I'm really hoping for a positive day in the market on Tuesday to get my account up a lot.  If all goes well this week I'll turn the $4,000 I started the day with into $6,800.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 9, 2013, Part 2

Well, today didn't finish exactly how I envisioned it but it could have been a lot worse.  My PCLN strategy worked out well as I finished up $732 on my options.  I was also up on NFLX and GOOG.  That's the good news.  The bad news is on AAPL, HLF and MA.  I was disappointed that Apple and Mastercard were down so much today.  I had expected those stocks to stay the same or move higher today but it didn't work out that way.  HLF was equally as disappointing as the stock was even or up most of the day but started going down towards the end of the day and finished down .74.  I had to buy back my 11 66 put options for .65.  I still made plenty of money on HLF this week but today I lost $133.  I was down $783 on AAPL and down $587 on MA.  My account lost $580 today and I finished just over $200 on the week.  Not bad but I need a few consistent 10% plus weeks to get me back on track.

Jonny

My Options Account on August 9, 2013, Part 1

Today is going okay so far.  I was very worried about my PCLN options and early this morning the stock was up over $990.  It has come down to $976 and I re-positioned my put spreads and sold four of the 970/965 for a short term gain if the stock can stay above 970.  I will be looking for PCLN to stay between 970 and 980 today for a very large gain.

The other two stocks I'll be looking at are MA and AAPL.  Both stocks are down today and I really need them to start heading higher soon or I'll have to buy back my put spreads.  I want to avoid large losses today. 

HLF is sitting right at 66 so as long as it stays here or goes up I'll be looking really good.

Jonny