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MSFT Chart

StockMSFT
Trade Date17th November
Expiry27th November
ViewNeutral
StrategyIron Condor
Margin$250
Profit$39 +18.86%
ObectiveInside $205 and $225

BAC Chart

StockBAC
Trade Date17th November
Expiry4th December
ViewBullish
StrategyShort Put Spread
Margin$79
Profit$18 +23%
ObjectiveAbove $26.50

CAT Chart

StockCAT
Trade Date23rd November
Expiry4th December
ViewBullish
StrategyShort Put Spread
Margin$201
Profit$47 +24%
ObjectiveAbove $170

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My Current Open Positions

Market Close April 28

SymbolStrategyDirectionP&L
BIDUIron CondorNon Directional115
SNAPIron CondorNon Directional38.4
SLVIron ButterflyNon Directional45.6
QQQIron CondorNon Directional27.9
XDouble CalendarNon Directional-0.9
MARAIron CondorNon Directional99.5
PINSIron CondorNon Directional70.1
AMDIron CondorNon Directional-10.3
Grand Total385.3

April 28th, 2021

I've changed my approach slightly the last two months as I try and make back some losses. I've decided to be more conservative and stick mainly to non-directional trades with low deltas, wide strikes and longer expirations.

I'll still do some earnings plays, but not as many and I'll be more selective about them.

I'm also not going for the put spread rolls, straddle rolls and naked puts as I got burned easily on those.

I've been happy with the progress so far with the change. I made +7.62% during March and +1.32% so far in April, which means I am 0.77% away from where I started the year.

I've struggled to get filled on a lot of my orders though, but I suppose that is the consequence of playing it safe; less liquidity with those opportunities.

Feb 22nd

The Feb 19 expiry closed out on Friday. I was looking good to finish it positive $300 but FSLY tanked.

I had a note to get out of it prior to their earnings release Thursday but changed my mind on the day. I was up $10 and held on to realize a $276 loss.

I closed out a few others early (TWTR, DIS, DIA, UBER, TSM, MRK and PYPL) as they hit the short strike with anger. Good that I did that too...apart from DIS they all would have reached their max loss. I held onto ADBE as it was only grinding away towards the short side..and it came back, so all good there.

Building a few more positions and will take a few more directional bets this week with vertical spreads.

February 5th

I left CSCO to run out on expiry as the day before it just crossed the short strike. Unfortunately, it continued and I realised the max loss on the trade. The other positions for that expiration, however, all closed out at a profit; EWZ, KO, MU, NIO, PFE and QQQ.

I also closed early my PYPL and UBER trades, which I'm happy about. Very small losses there, which is good as there was still two weeks to go and they are both looking at continuing to breakout.

My other positions for the 19th expiration are looking positive so far. I still have some way to go to claw back January's losses. But there's still a few weeks left to build on the portfolio.

February 1st

Despite CAT generating better than expected Q4 results, the stock still dropped and I let that expire at its' max loss. Same with FCX.

It was a disappointing January, especially with those two losses to close it out.

But things are looking good with the start of Feb. Almost all positions showing unrealized gains although the instra day swings have been strong; between $200 and $600 each close of day.

I heard the Reddit Army have been getting on board Silver. The ETF opened strong with a lot of volatility so I sold a condor around that for the 19th Feb expiration.

Also got in on a TSM condor but regretted it straight away. Sold approximately 30 delta short strikes for $49 credit. Not a very good price compared to the delta levels but it looked good on the chart and I was eager to get it done prior to the close. If it shows a good short term gain I'll close it out.

January 29

Put on some more high vol condors on what I see as being directionless stocks. I had a $600 P&L swing since opening them from Wednesday to today given the sell off and recovery. Happy with the positions so far though.

Rolled down and out X put spread for breakeven. Happy with that adjustment as I'm still bullish at this level. Closed out BAC for full profit. GM also looking at collecting full premium too. I will look at more small naked shorts for next week.

CAT release earnings before open, which is my biggest unrealised loss so far. It's trading just below the long strike now so need it to pop a few more points to be in the clear before close tomorrow.

FCX is done and will likely expire a full loss. I should have kept a closer eye on this one during the holiday period and adjusted as it touched the short strike.

Most of the other positions are in early stages and building towards Feb 19th expiration.

January 21

2021 off to a shaky start. A very small gain on closed trades and currently running a small $36 loss on open positions. My initial margin used for the above 14 positions is only $2,600 so I really need to either take on more underlyings or increase trade size.

Most of the loss on open positions is INTC's Iron Condor. After the announcement regarding the CEO stepping down, the stock popped and is now trading outside the call spread leg of the trade. I could have exited for only double the premium as my loss but I decided to wing it and see how the stock performs after their earnings are released in a few days, taking the chance that it drops back below the short call strike.

The other open losses aren't a concern right now. CAT is still trading above the short strike level, however, has dropped a bit since establishing the trade. This is a fade on a bullish play so I'm expecting the stock to keep above the short put strike.

IWM, again, is killing me on the Condors. Pretty sure I'm net loss on all my 2020 IWM Condors too. Typically a favoured stock to sell Condors on but since bottoming out after COVID the mid-caps have been rallying hard. So, I think I will look to move my index Condors over to the SPY instead.

Closed Positions 2021

SymbolStrategyDirectionP&L
TPut SpreadBullish21.73
IWMIron CondorNon Directional-28.82
SPYIron CondorNon Directional-44.47
INTCIron CondorNon Directional-61.82
MUPut SpreadBullish36.73
IWMIron CondorNon Directional-22.53
WMTCall SpreadBullish-42.44
SPYIron CondorNon Directional25.7
SPYAdjustmentNon Directional22.85
BACShort PutBullish31.43
XShort PutBullish-38.72
GMShort PutBullish29.91
CATPut SpreadBullish-180.27
FCXPut SpreadBullish-75.27
EWZIron CondorNon Directional21.7
CSCOIron CondorNon Directional-78.34
NIOIron CondorNon Directional28.46
PFECall Ratio SpreadNon Directional18.19
MUPut SpreadBullish23.73
KOIron CondorNon Directional30.46
XShort PutBullish-59.42
QQQRatio SpreadNon Directional56.32
FSLYIron CondorNon Directional-276.04
NKEIron CondorNon Directional56.66
PYPLIron CondorNon Directional-0.64
DISIron CondorNon Directional-34.62
LUMNCall SpreadBearish55.67
ADBEIron CondorNon Directional155.64
MRKIron CondorNon Directional-41.98
SLVIron CondorNon Directional27.66
TSMIron CondorNon Directional-16.81
UBERIron CondorNon Directional-1.62
DIAIron CondorNon Directional-0.81
XShort PutBullish33.21
VZRatio SpreadBearish-160.11
TWTRIron CondorNon Directional-139.62
LVSIron CondorNon Directional25.39
PFERatio SpreadBullish-71.77
IWMIron CondorNon Directional35.66
MSFTIron CondorNon Directional110.65
AMDIron CondorNon Directional-34.62
JNJIron CondorNon Directional4.37
QCOMCall SpreadBullish-52.18
XNaked PutBullish19.48
BPIron CondorNon Directional-36.6
TIron CondorNon Directional25.7
FCELIron CondorNon Directional-30.81
HDIron CondorNon Directional-146.83
ORCLIron CondorNon Directional-53.61
JDPut SpreadBullish-32.54
PYPLPut SpreadBullish-198.27
QQQIron CondorNon Directional-40.63
MUIron CondorNon Directional65.67
JDPut Spread RollBullish-202.54
HDAdjustmentNon Directional192.72
CATIron CondorNon Directional32.46
EEMIron CondorNon Directional84.42
FCXIron CondorNon Directional78.12
UBERIron CondorNon Directional35.66
WMTIron CondorNon Directional65.66
GLDIron CondorNon Directional-31.2
XLFIron CondorNon Directional40.8
SPYIron CondorNon Directional1.1
SLVIron ButterflyNon Directional-77.78
ORCLAdjustmentNon Directional31.73
ORCLAdjustmentNon Directional52.46
LVSAdjustmentNon Directional47.73
AMDAdjustmentNon Directional82.19
BPAdjustmentNon Directional31.46
GLDAdjustmentNon Directional66.12
JNJAdjustmentNon Directional66.46
IVVIron CondorNon Directional-102.74
SPYAdustmentNon Directional25.58
NVDAIron CondorNon Directional-189.03
TLSAIron CondorNon Directional132.01
MUIron CondorNon Directional48.52
IWMIron CondorNon Directional82.06
Grand Total-445.27

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Recent Trades for 2020

SPY Losing Condor Trade

Rolled a SPY loss, but failed

My short Iron Condor was going against me, so I exited early with a loss and rolled it up and out to the next expiration. The trade was going well until the first drop due to Corona virus fears. All good though as losses were capped so I only lost $100 per contract. Could have been a lot worse if there wasn't any downside protection.

GLD Iron Butterfy Trade

GLD Iron Butterfly

4 legged option strategy similar to the Condor but with the same middle strike price. This was a long trade, so I wanted the market to move in either direction. I liked the setup of this one as the bands were tight; 1% either side of the current price. Cost me a debit of $125 to make max profit $25. It was a win.

MSFT Call Spread Trade

MSFT Call Spread

If you've joined the members area you'll notice this setup from the Option Boost series. It was text book. It was a debit Call Spread, meaning I paid money to put it in. The spread cost me $89 per contract, which is also the most I can lose. The max profit I can make is $161. But check out the price action.




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Iron Condor Option Strategy

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Option Scanner

Go ahead and jump straight to the Option Scanner. This software will show you volume spikes in contracts that often precede large price movements in stock prices. Many refer to these volume buys as being the result of inside information. You be the judge!

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