What a great Thanksgiving week. I took a well deserved 9 day holiday. I brought my laptop for trading, camera for memories, and running shoes for ski season. Upon return to Breckenridge, we were greeted with sunshine and cool weather.
Sunday through Tuesday was very nice, yet Wednesday morning 11/28, was even better with an addition 3″ at my home, more on the mountain.
A few trades last week:
HRB- sold 2 units of 17.5p for .42 for a nice double, I then was able to buy it back (and then some) for .30-.33. I am now at 5% allocation in 3 of my 4 accts. The supersweet spot is between 17 and 21.
INTU – Exited 3 units @ .38-.39. The underlying dropped below 28.65, then I began to work out of these. I still have 2 units I am holding. But not much longer if this selling continues.
NAT – I bought 3 units of the dec/jan 35c between .20 and .24. I then sold them for .30- .35. The spread then exploded out to .55. Insane. I wasn’t able to get back in.
ORCL – Bought 2 units of the Dec/Jan 20p around .23. The beta on this stock is very low, and I hope to enjoy the theta decay.
RHT – 2 units of dec/jan 20p for .20. I am not sure about this ITM calendar spread. I am not going to hold on too tight.
AIG – I was once burned by this giant. However, I chose a different tact. 2 units of Feb/Jan 50p for .70. This is an OTM calendar with a breakevens of 44 and 59. The Jan option price was 3.50 and this spread has 53 days to go. There is a fair amount of theta decay is this as well.
I also sold 4 units of the Dec 148/150c SPY to partially hedge the portfolio.
The market is a somewhat twitchy place right now. I am nervous about holding anything. My Theta decay is now 320. And I am sitting 82% in cash. If I can get in and out of things in a day, I tend to do it. However, I am willing to sit on Dec calendar and credit spreads.
I retrospect I should have sold something short this morning. The SPY and the IWM touched their downtrend lines shortly after the open, and then collapsed. SPX off 34, RUT off 20, DOW of 237. Ouch for the market. The bears are licking their chops. Good for them. The Bulls have been too strong for too long. I think we may see another down open tomorrow. I am looking for bulls to throw in the towel tomorrow. Huge sell off, and then and afternoon rally.
Other notes of the recent trip.
We gave about $600 to Disney (DIS) last week, and it was well worth it. The Magic Kingdom was awesome. The rides were fun, lines moderate (15-25 minutes). Parades! Decorated for Christmas. My dad joined us for our day at Disneyland. It made the day even more special.
On Wednesday the family joined my dad for a cruise on his 46′ boat. The day was near perfect. Gentle waves, little wind, and dolphins. The highlight of that day was playing with the dolphins off the bow wake. Tremendous.
Tomorrow I start my teaching season. Breckenridge has it’s two-day Trainer Training. These are always creative, and offer the trainers a great service to get their brains in gear.
Nothing like a little porn to get you in the mood. Ski Porn that is…