Down, then up in a tight range. As we get ready for the weekend, the market is trending up on light volume.
It certainly has me scratching my head. The last time this low volume bull run took place, it kept going. I am negative about -145 Deltas right now, and positive a 1050 Thetas (nice going into a weekend). So I favor a slight down move, but I am good If things sit right here. The negative Deltas are somewhat misleading, because I have 12 positions which are calendars, and I have three which benefit with substantial movement (BUD, SNDK, FITB).
BIDU – I was just flat out wrong here, however I have some interesting action with this options market. I bought a 170p Sept/Aug Calendar for 1.80 when the underlying was $173, and now the underlying is 191.90. I was wrong by alot, however I was able to sell the 170p calendar for $1.75. I had a .05 loss on the trade and was wrong by $19. Very interesting. There were times during this trade that the spread “marked” for .55. I will be looking out for a crazy move to see if type of trade lends itself to some interesting moves. The total loss on this position was about 25%. Well within my tolerance of risk.
SNDK – I have been putting on a few Aug/July Calendars on. They have been just a few “feeler” trades for the 45p Calendar – .28-.35. .25 has not been filled. This is a play on earnings and a enormous Vol Skew. I’m not going to put this on with any size.
I am stalking:
MIR – There are some interesting calendar spreads in the Jan/Dec arena. I haven’t been filled at the mid prices.
CLF is in a W4 buy pattern. My Butterflies are up 45%
BTU is now in a W4 buy. The butterfly is down still, but this is now a free trade. I put on a 45p-40 vertical as a hedge. That hedge paid for this position. Now I am riding Aug butterly.
IWM – is going up. My trade is losing a little money.
IACI – It has shown promise. But it is not going up or down.
RACK – sideways, and doing fine. There is still a 4:1 Reward/Risk left in this trade, and since buying this spread it has increased by 125%.
WWY – sideways and doing fine
And because the market is blurry to me, here is Puddle of Mudd.
7/6 – Friday after a weird week
Down, then up in a tight range. As we get ready for the weekend, the market is marching up.
It certainly has me scratching my head.
Hi Johnathan,
Your posts are very informative & i read them every day – trying to learn something about options.
Can i make a request – once in a while can you give details of what strikes you are buying & selling.
For eg, “RACK – sideways, and doing fine. There is still a 4:1 Reward/Risk left in this trade, and since buying this spread it has increased by 125%” …. I do not fully understand what strikes were bought / sold.
Thx