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BookingAlpha Option Trading Advisory

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 29, 2017)

This week's analysis has been published at LTOptions.com

Download Weekend Portfolio Analysis (2017-04-29).pdf

If the above link doesn't work for you, simply log in to LTOptions.com, navigate to the "Weekly Analysis" tab and download the document from there.

The Weekend Portfolio Analysis will be available on this site next week for historical reference.

All currently open positions can be seen on the Track Record page


Last Weekend Analysis now available: Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 22, 2017) 
Recent Trading Activity

- Closed Call side of May RUT Elephant at a $716 loss on Tuesday. A bit frustrating yes, but the Put side is still in play and now at only 2 deltas and with a credit that is greater than this initial loss from the Call side. So, in the end the position will be a winner overall, just a smaller one than we would have liked.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Weekend Portfolio Anaysis (April 22, 2017)

This week's analysis has been published at LTOptions.com

Download Weekend Portfolio Analysis (2017-04-22).pdf

If the above link doesn't work for you, simply log in to LTOptions.com, navigate to the "Weekly Analysis" tab and download the document from there.

The Weekend Portfolio Analysis will be available on this site next week for historical reference.

All currently open positions can be seen on the Track Record page


Last Weekend Analysis now available: Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 15, 2017) 
Recent Trading Activity

- April SPX Credit Put spread expires for max gain of $960. This was part of an Iron Condor whose Call side had been closed a while ago. The entire history of the Iron Condor position is here.

- April RUT Unbalanced Lazy Elephant expires for max profit of $1,396. We never had any trouble with this position.

- Initiated a June RUT Unbalanced Lazy Elephant. As explained in the previous Weekend Analysis, I would go with Elephant instead of Condor if the indexes were not more than 1% higher than their 50-day average.

Friday, April 21, 2017

June 2017 RUT Unbalanced Elephant

Trade Details:

20 RUT 1220/1230 Credit Put spreads 0.66 Credit ($1320)
8 RUT 1470/1480 Credit Call spreads 0.92 Credit ($736)

plus

2/15 IWM 126/148 Unbalanced Long Strangle (.95 debit for the 126 strike Puts, .24 debit for the 148 strike Calls. Total debit paid: $550 )

Net Credit: $1506
Days to Expiration: 56

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 15, 2017)

This week's analysis has been published at LTOptions.com

Download Weekend Portfolio Analysis (2017-04-15).pdf

If the above link doesn't work for you, simply log in to LTOptions.com, navigate to the "Weekly Analysis" tab and download the document from there.

The Weekend Portfolio Analysis will be available on this site next week for historical reference.

All currently open positions can be seen on the Track Record page


Last Weekend Analysis now available: Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 8, 2017) 
Recent Trading Activity

- No Activity. I tried to close the April RUT Unbalanced Elephant on Wednesday and Thursday but my closing orders never got filled. Knowing the low odds of being filled on the Call side, I decided to just try to close the Credit Put spread on Thursday, with the intent of leaving the Call side untouched as it is not a concern at all. So, I tried the Credit Put spread at 0.10 debit, no luck. Then 0.15 debit, nop. Nothing. I didn't want to sacrifice any more premium than that. I would have probably gotten filled had I tried 0.20 debit, but then I remembered we had a three-day weekend right ahead of us to strengthen the position even more via time decay and I decided to not rush it.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

How has your trading style changed? Is there still potential for a +30% year?

I'm looking at your results in the previous years and am amazed by the impressive results in 2012, especially compared to those in later years. In terms of SP500, 2012 is also a good year, but isn't the best year (2013 has a significantly higher return). I'm curious to know how your strategies have changed from 2012 to today. Is it that you took on more risks in 2012 by committing more percentage of capital and/or staying closer to the money? Or is it just that the market condition was quite special in 2012 compared to other years (for example, no sudden rally or sell-off)? Or maybe something else? Basically, are the results from 2012 possible to replicate? - Jordan


Saturday, April 8, 2017

Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 8, 2017)

This week's analysis has been published at LTOptions.com

Download Weekend Portfolio Analysis (2017-04-08).pdf

If the above link doesn't work for you, simply log in to LTOptions.com, navigate to the "Weekly Analysis" tab and download the document from there.

The Weekend Portfolio Analysis will be available on this site next week for historical reference.

All currently open positions can be seen on the Track Record page


Last Weekend Analysis now available: Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 1, 2017) 
Recent Trading Activity

- Initiated a May RUT Unbalanced Elephant on Monday. Net credit $1,416. All the details here. In the previous weekend analysis, the plan was to use an Unbalanced Iron Condor and yet I ended up playing an Elephant (the second one with May expiration options). I simply fear a rally. Yes, this is "personal bias" influencing my decisions and not being totally mechanical. I get that. But I think it is unavoidable after seeing rallies out of nothing, hurting us for so long. Because RUT is below its 50-day average, it has a lot of room to run. Playing the Elephant provides less credit (Could have obtained $2,200-$2,400 for the Unbalanced Iron Condor), but it is in exchange for upside peace of mind in that, we will have a winning position if the market rallies beyond what anyone expects, while the downside loss is similar to that of the Unbalanced Iron Condor. SPX was above its 50-day. I could have gone with an SPX Unbalanced Iron Condor, to stay loyal to the ideal of "one Unbalanced Iron Condor and one Unbalanced Elephant per month" (Read 2017 Trading Plan here), but the strike prices of choice would have added too much risk concentration in similar spots to those of the existing May SPX Elephant that was initiated almost two weeks ago. So, I definitely wanted to go with RUT.

Friday, April 7, 2017

May 2017 RUT Unbalanced Elephant

Trade Details:

20 RUT 1230/1240 Credit Put spreads 0.62 Credit ($1240)
 8  RUT 1450/1460 Credit Call spreads 0.93 Credit ($744)

plus

2/20 IWM 126/146 Unbalanced Long Strangle (0.74 debit for the 126 strike Puts, 0.21 debit for the 146 strike Calls. Total debit paid: $568 )

Net Credit: $1,416
Days to Expiration: 42

Note: A small account could have created a similar risk profile picture for example by playing a regular Iron Condor 1230/1240/1450/1460. Two contracts per leg, and adding 5 long IWM 146 Calls.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Options Trading Monthly Digest (March 2017)

Time to reflect Options trading results for the month of March. This update includes positions that were closed throughout the month and the Year To Date balances of each Options Trading Strategy.

Hopefully these monthly updates will provide readers with confidence and serve as an authentic guide of what can be achieved with a realistic and sustainable approach to the business of Selling Options.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Weekend Portfolio Analysis (April 1, 2017)

This week's analysis has been published at LTOptions.com

Download Weekend Portfolio Analysis (2017-04-01).pdf

If the above link doesn't work for you, simply log in to LTOptions.com, navigate to the "Weekly Analysis" tab and download the document from there.

The Weekend Portfolio Analysis will be available on this site next week for historical reference.

All currently open positions can be seen on the Track Record page


Last Weekend Analysis now available: Weekend Portfolio Analysis (March 25, 2017) 
Recent Trading Activity

- Initiated a May SPX Unbalanced Elephant on Monday. Net credit $1,529. All the details here.