ETFs

I bought June call options on ETFs DWJ, EEM, EFA, EPI, EWW, and IYR yesterday.

My other June calls are for AAPL, FUL, KOG, and URI.

I plan to let them rebound a bit then either sell them or sell calls against them (for a bull call spread).

Rough Week

The Fed's meeting minutes took the wind out of my REIT and real estate stocks. Let's hope they rebound and get traction next week.

Wednesday's China news didn't help CAT so I had to give back the put premiums and then some on my $85/87.50 bull put spread, netting -41.3% on risked money. That basically negates 2 to 3 good trades. That's the problem with credit spreads - your losses are typically a multiple of your modest gains. I expected the stock to move up and the probability was 60% or better for a winning three day trade, but it didn't pan out.

I covered the AAPL short calls that went ITM, so now I'm back to my June calls.

Seeing Red

That's an ugly wachlist, unless you like red.

My 2 and 4% trailing stops on HCN kicked in selling both halves, +3.1%.

My 6% "just in case something bad happens" trailing stop on SNTS triggered after a nice run up before drifting back for a 2 cent loss for the day. I closed on the high side, +20.9%.

I added some more SMS shares. Too bad I moved my limit order up - I should have left it right where it was for a nice buy near the bottom.

Yestday I sold a put spread for CAT, and bought call options on SSNC.

+GNRC, -EXM

I sold half of my EXM shares, +33.8%.

I bought call options on GNRC.

The called DVA and HMA shares were sold, Friday's post has been updated. I missed a chance to cover the AAPL $435 calls the first thing this morning.

May 13 Expiry

Well that was a nice finish.

Bull put (credit) spreads for EWW and TBT expired worthless, netting +16.3% each.

I locked in a tiny profit on VRTU when it was behaving badly, then as it improved the bid-ask spread was so large and illiquid that I couldn't roll up the short call for a profit. It was a $17.50/$22.50 bull call spread with VRTU closing today at $26.02. Net +0.6%. Pffft.

HMA and DVA dropped below their short calls over the last two days. HMA netted +46.3%. DVA netted +60.2% return on risked funds.

The last of the KOG May $10 lottery tickets expired worthless. -100% on that small (and cheap) lot. I have Jun $5s and half as many $7 call options that are doing well with KOG's recent run (up 4.6% today). The losses on the $7s have pared considerably and been nicely offset by the gains on the $5s.

The short calls for the URI diagonal spread expired just OTM.

I rolled the AAPL short calls from $45 down to $35 and out to next Friday. That may be a bit snug (to say the least) so hopefully APPL will drop at some point and I'll can close them out for a profit.

Yesterday I bought back into MPW (shares and call options) and bought calls for FUL. I bought AI shares today.

I panicked Wednesday morning when ARR was selling off (again) and bought ITM put options to cover my shares. Of course ARR reversed to the upside almost immediately. I closed out the puts today, -16.9%. Sigh ...

EXM had a good day yesterday, and didn't give back too much today.

HEP-less

HEP couldn't move up even on a day like today, so I sold Friday's calls while there was a hint of time value, -56.7%.

I bought BA call options again yesterday.

I've got bull call spreads for DVA, HMA, and VRTU, and diagonal spreads for AAPL and URI with short calls expiring on Friday as well. All looking good.

MPW Gone

I sold the MPW calls from two accounts, +66.4% and +54.6%.

Less MPW

I sold all of my shares of MPW from three accounts near the open netting +6.4% for the largest position and +2.3% for the smallest. Not too bad for less than a month I guess. I still have call options for MPW.

What's Not To Like

I think I like this market.

With BA going ex-dividend tomorrow, I decided to sell the calls, +62.3%. I sold my May FUL calls as well, +23.5%.

I sold a short butterfly for DVA which reported this evening. I bought shares and calls in XXIA. I bought shares of AMLP and penny stock (lottery ticket) EXM. I've been rolling the short calls of my calendar spreads up.

This morning I traded too early. In almost every case I could have sold for more and bought for less later in the day. Fortunately the frustration is usually short lived.

SNTS and ROSE had a very good day.

+HCN & VRTU

I started a stock position in HCN and added more shares to my VRTU position.

CRTX took the profit and then some. Sitting tight.

One Ugly Day

That was rough. Except for REGN and PRAA my watchlists are mostly red.

I didn't expect everything to go south so fast. I covered my short AAPL calls thinking AAPL would continue moving up. It held up well by comparison, but still cost me money.

I sold May bull put (credit) spreads for EWW and TBT at the open. Oops.

I bought shares of MPW and O.

Manic

On Monday HMA spiked up on the open. Fortunately I just happened to have a sell-to-open limit order for May $11 calls queued up. That gives me a cheap May $9/$11bull call spread.

Yesterday ESRX spiked up on earnings. I had an order in to sell my $5 spread early for $4.90. I meant to nudge up the price since it was way ITM but it sold right away, +31.1%.

I sold my May DCIX calls, +58.5%. I sold what value was left in my OTM May CRZO calls (a.k.a. lottery ticket), -70%.

I sold what were OTM calls for AAPL (Friday) and URI (May) to create calendar spreads. Those short calls are both ITM money now so I may have to roll them up.

I covered the short call of my May HEP spread and I'm hoping for a little rebound before I sell the long call.

Messy Oil

The puts for the GLD credit spread expired worthless, +25.2%.

I'm still struggling with some of my earlier, more expensive oil positions. My CVI shares were stopped out, -7.4%, and some of my nearly worthless $10 May KOG calls sold, -80.6%.

I bought shares in ROSE.

Except for the oil stocks and options, everything else is looking pretty good, particularly BA, DCIX, AAPL, and MPW.

Trigger Happy

AAPL opened up and looked like it was moving up, so I covered tomorrow's $405 short calls while I could still show a profit on them. They were ITM and I had decided to keep my long June calls anyway. Then AAPL started moving lower of course. Frustrating. +19.9%.

The DVA shares hit the 4% trailing stop, +2.6%. They report Monday.

I bought more NNN shares and some more June KOG calls. There's been some significant buying of KOG pre-market lately. I think someone has decided to take a position.

Pick Carefully

Wow, You either did well or poorly today with strong moves in both directions. CRZO was up 5.2% along with CVI, OAS and KOG. AAPL recovered for a small loss by the end of the day.

AWAY disappointed yesterday evening so I bought the short calls back this morning, +200% on the repurchase cost.

I sold ESRX calls for a bull call spread conversion.

I bought FLT shares.

Selling the Rally

I sold the KOG puts that held my shares delta-neutral until KOG could find a bottom (hopefully), +29.4%. Fingers crossed that KOG moves up from here.

I sold in-the-money calls against my May calls for HEP and VRTU. I sold OTM calls against my July AWAY calls. I bought June BA calls.

It looks like the APPL earnings report disappointed some - the stock is again below $400 after hours (for what that's worth) after closing at $406.13 (above my $405 short call for Friday). That's fine by me as I'd just as soon keep selling the weeklies.

New Day, New Stocks

I was a little disappointed with my sale of the OAS shares and especially the buy-to-cover of the CRZO shares. They both moved against me at the open, then reversed somewhat.

I bought SNTS shares, and calls for FUL.

I sold this Friday's $405 AAPL calls against my June $330s. I'm hoping the $405s expire OTM, but if not, that will be okay too.

I thought my KOG puts were going to sell today but didn't. I was ready to take that profit and wait for the stock to rebound.

April 2013 Expiry

Yesterday I bought shares in O and both shares and calls (different accounts) for AWAY and VRTU.

The OTM April URI calls I sold against my June $40s expired out of the money, reducing the cost for the latter by 10%.

The April $35 OAS calls I mean to sell but instead bought because of haste and stupidity expired worthless, -100%. That should have been 100% gain. Grrr.

Friday I sold 1/3 of the OAS shares delivered from the April $30s leaving me to cover the remainder. OAS recovered some Friday. Closed Monday, -70.3%.

My CRZO butterfly expired leaving me some shares to buy-to-cover. Closed Monday, +77.8%.

AAPL ARR REGN

REGN hit the 6% TSL trigger so it's gone, +9.4%. They report next Monday.

I bought more ARR shares.

I expected more of a sell-off when AAPL pierced $400, but it seems to find some support so I bought some deep ITM June calls.

Tomorrow my CRZO butterfly expires, probably in the green. My accidentally purchased (rather than sold) $35 OAS calls will likely expire worthless, and the $30's have lost 2/3s of their value. The short leg of the URI calendar spread should expire worthless, then I can sell some OTM May calls against my June calls.

SLRC ESRX GLD

SLRC was (finally) stopped out yesterday, -9.3% plus dividends. Better late than never I guess.

I added more ESRX calls and sold a bull put spread on GLD for next Friday.

More Sells

AI was stopped out on Monday, -0.1% not including dividends.

PRAA was close to its stops Tuesday morning but the market was set to rebound so I kept the TSL orders in place. PRAA gapped down at the open and sold, +0.8% and +12.3%.

MPWow!

MPW gapped down big again this morning, I'm so glad the other positions were closed early. I'm not sweating the small positions so I bought some May and July calls. Not that I'm expecting it to go back where it was anytime soon, but any rebound will be profitable. BofA downgraded MPW to underperform but the earnings estimates are holding. So am I.

I bought more JAZZ shares - they closed up.

My EXLS shares hit the 3% trailing stop, +14.5%.

I didn't see OIH holding through next week so I sold my $3 spread for $2.93, +12.4%.

I sold 2/3 of my SMS shares, the ones with the highest cost. -4.8%. I'll look for a better entry point down the road.

I sold some CRZO options (butterfly) expecting that it will move one way or the other from here.

Selling and Buying the Same Stock

MPW had an odd day. The dividend posted to my accounts then the stock dropped at the open, tripping my tight 3% trailing stop loss orders, closing out positions at +22% and +14% (not counting dividends). As it turns out, I had staged orders to buy MPW for two other accounts pre-market. So why not buy it on sale? We'll see how things shake out. At least now the big money is off the table ... it was 6x the new stake.

I also bought shares in NNN and calls in HEP based on new stock screens. I was also going to add onto my JAZZ position but got distracted.

Me of Little Faith

I bought CTRX calls and stock today. So far so good.

I sold OTM URI calls against my June calls for a calendar spread.

I tried to catch falling knife HMA using some calls but only slowed it down a little (and got blood all over my portfolio).

I meant to sell April OAS calls (for a spread) but instead bought 'em. Oops.

And overall, what a day. So many things I shouldn't have sold.

Selling, Part 7

The FLT shares hit the stops, +6.1%.

I sold some of my June KOG calls, -46.6%. I still like the prospects but have to wait to see where KOG bottoms before I load up again.

I bought June KOG puts to go delta neutral with my KOG shares for the time being.

Sell Off

The trailing stops kicked in today. PSEC positions closed out at -6.9% and -5.5%, not including dividends. TICC closed at -6.6% (sans dividends), and HMA at +16.8%.

I executed the last of my MPW calls, +46.7%.

I bought calls for ESRX when a low limit order triggered (and still paid too much).

Update

Let's see ... I sold calls for a bull call spread conversion of my OIH calls. That should return 17.6% less commissions.

I exercised and sold half of my MPW calls, +49.6%.

I closed out the SLV calls I rolled from March to this Friday, -76.8%. My bad luck with silver and gold is confirmed once again.

A low limit order triggered and I bought some more SMS shares.

CVI looked like it had bottomed as it launched out first thing this morning. It closed down 5.3%. It had plenty of company though ... my CRZO was down 4.7% along with KOG and OAS, down 1.8% each.

Sell First, Ask Questions Later

About 1/3 of my KOG shares got stopped out, +0.86%.

I sold my April HMA calls, +37.6%.

My buy order for more SMS shares filled.

This market's action is making me nervous so I'll continue to sell to protect profits and raise cash.

If In Doubt, Get Out

I just made that up.

Or I heard or read it somewhere some time between 20 years ago and 10 minutes ago.

Anyway, that sort of describes what I did this morning, selling my April CRZO and FLT calls, +84% and +52% respectively. I didn't want to see my gains evaporate with the window closing on expiration. And, if they go down, I get a better entry point for the next round.

GOOG hit the trailing stop, -1.17%.

I tried to sell my DCIX and buy more SMS, but neither worked out.

More Register Ringing

I sold my GALE shares when it hit my limit order, +3.1%. It will probably push through resistance and move up from here, but I'm tired of the ride.

I took some money off of the table and sold half of my FLT calls, +52%. It's not that I don't think FLT will continue to do well; there was just too much profit at risk and it was my largest option position (and my biggest stock holding for that matter).

I bought JAZZ shares. I hope JAZZ is near a bottom.

OAS had a nice day.

Raising Cash

VRTU spiked down this morning and hit its 6% trailing stop, +7.6%.

I didn't care for the downward revisions of ECL's earnings projections, so I put a 1% trailing stop on it as it was moving higher this morning. It later sold, +1.6%. I don't have the conviction to hold it here, so taking a small profit and raising cash sounds like a good idea when I have so many other positions that are running well.

On Friday I bought the wrong expiration for some EWZ calls. In fact it expired and executed that day after losing some value. Fortunately it was moving up as I was selling off the called shares and I even sold the last portion near the top for a profit. But it wasn't enough, -17.4%. At least it was a very small position (a smaller dollar loss than my gain in ECL). I still want to catch the rebound in this ETF.

I didn't buy my JAZZ yet.

Prospects

JAZZ seems to have some nice growth ahead of it. The current P/E is currently 13.4 falling to 8 using EPS estimates for next year which have been revised upward three times in the last 90 days. The last four quarters sport triple-digit YoY quarterly sales growth, though that will decelerate in part due to a strong second quarter last year.

JAZZ came up during Cramer's Lightening Round so Cramer will probably follow up on it this week. Given that the stock price has pulled back 6%, I plan to move back into it early in hopes Cramer finds something he likes.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (JAZZ)

EPS Growth Prev Yr Past Yr Growth P/E 0.54 0.51 -5.6% - 0.81 1.12 38.3% - 0.77 0.58 -24.7% - 0.88 2.79 217.0% 13.4 Next Two Quarters (est) 0.51 1.33 161.6% 10.19 1.12 1.44 28.6% 9.51

Sales Growth Prev Yr Last Yr Growth 50.9 108.4 113.0% 64.6 226.8 251.1% 73.3 175.5 139.4% 83.5 183.7 120.0%

OAS is also showing strong growth with a P/E falling from 35 to 11.3 and strong double-digit sales growth projected for several quarters. KOG is in a similar position; P/E falling from 18 to 9.4. EPS estimates are holding better than OAS, but it's off its highs and not trending well. I already own these.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (OAS)

EPS Growth Prev Yr Past Yr Growth P/E 0.02 -0.15 -850.0% - -0.07 0.18 357.1% - 0.36 0.82 127.8% - 0.72 0.20 -72.2% 35.3 Next Two Quarters (est) -0.15 0.49 426.7% 22.12 0.18 0.54 198.9% 18.25	Sales Growth Prev Yr Last Yr Growth 49.1 116.9 138.1% 58.7 138.6 136.1% 67.2 149.1 121.9% 87.6 184.7 110.8%

Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (KOG)

EPS Growth Prev Yr Past Yr Growth P/E -0.04 0.01 125.0% - 0.04 0.35 775.0% - 0.15 0.01 -93.3% - -0.15 0.13 186.7% 18.4 Next Two Quarters (est) 0.01 0.15 1360.0% 14.44 0.35 0.16 -54.0% 20.69

Sales Growth Prev Yr Last Yr Growth 13.3 79.9 500.8% 35.4 85.8 142.4% 29.5 112.1 280.0% 55.0 130.8 137.8%

Bulls Got Loose

FLT had a nice day, up 4.75%. It's rebounded from Monday's low of $67.33 to close today at $75.82. AAPL has even gained 20 points over the last 2-1/2 weeks.

I bought calls in ETFs EWZ and OIH.

The Pause That Refreshes?

Today my GTLS shares got stopped out, +12.7%.

Today I bought calls for HMA and OAS. Yesterday I bought calls for KOG. I think I'm done buying until until this market gets some traction again.

Buying the Dip

I bought June calls for CRZO, DCIX, KOG, and URI. I bought shares of TICC.

Morning Fright

The morning started off with a few trailing stop loss orders firing off: FLT, MPW, and URI. URI was the only full position sold. The FLT sale just downsized my largest holding, and the MPW sale was meant to get me off of margin. -3.9%, +11.5, and +5.3% respectively.

After reviewing all my holdings (and more) this weekend, I found I like the growth potential of KOG the most. Next year's EPS estimates yield a forward P/E of 9.8, with triple digit sales growth for a while to come. Next year's quarterly sales will average 154% above the MRQ's figure. I bought more shares and some June calls.

Mar13 Expiry

Bull credit spreads with the puts expiring out of the money were GOOG, QQQ, and XLB for +12.7%,  +4.1%, and +13.6% respectively.

I had to cover the short leg of the FXI spread when it dropped into the money Friday morning. +0.7% is better than a loss (or a passbook savings account for that matter).

My converted bull call spread on URI closed out for +132%. I'm glad I sold the short call a little deeper in the money, giving up some time premium for safety margin.

I won't be putting money back into ARR for a while and decided to go with a medical REIT or maybe AI. I bought calls for MPW Friday morning.

Otherwise, positions doing very well are CRZO, EXLS, GTLS, HMA, MPW, OAS, PRAA, and VRTU. My GALE and REGN positions could use some help, but there's nothing I'm very worried about here. That said, I do have trailing stops on most of the stock positions.

Don't Cut That Dividend!

ARR dropped 4.4% today which triggered another trailing stop loss sell order for another third of my position. -3.1% (not including dividends).

I closed out my March DBA call, -14.6%.

DVA looked like it bottomed so I picked up some shares of that.

Tomorrow will be interesting with four credit spreads and a bull call spread expiring. I hope FXI can behave - everything else is in pretty good shape.

Scrub

I threw in the towel on Friday's URI calls, -45.5% and -46.8%. URI wasn't showing strength and was down again so I opted not to pay to roll it forward. It went up a buck after I hit the confirm order button of course.

SLRC goes ex-div next week and I didn't want to take a $0.60 hit on a $2 option, so those calls were sold, +33.2%. I bought stock shares in another account.

ARR went ex-div and announced a dividend cut. A trailing stop sold 1/3 of my position, -0.8%. It held up better than I expected. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

FXI has been selling off so now the short leg of my bull put spread is ITM. It's never easy.

I bought ECL shares on Monday.

Plink!

Friday's QQQ puts expired worthless, so that credit spread netted +7.5%. Another one expires this coming Friday, along with FXI, GOOG, URI, and XLB. I also have expiring calls for URI and DBA.

I rolled Friday's SLV calls to 5 April.

Buy and Hold, For 2 Days

FLT announced a secondary offering and dropped 2% off the bat so I bought more shares and April call options. I should probably calculate the dilution to see if it was oversold, and hence a better deal. Otherwise it wasn't - it just felt like a sale. But I've been buying on the way up anyway, so no biggie.

I bought more KOG shares early on, so that turned out well since it closed up 4% for the day.

There was no value in spreading my March KOG calls so I figured I'd sell 'em if I could turn 15% ... I'd be happy with that. Turns out I was wrong. I netted +17% (in two days) and I'm still not happy 'cause I could have made more. There's no pleasing me.

Dodging the Rally

I covered my way-OTM GLD and GDX bull credit spreads ... just before they reversed and rallied of course. GDX had its best day in weeks. I netted -68% and -95% respectively. It sure would have been nice to recover some of that.

I covered my XLI spread for only $0.03. The problem was, I didn't get much when I sold it, and oX's commissions took a big chunk. I think I'll let the puts expire OTM next time - I didn't even need the buying power that quickly. +1%. At this rate, I'll make up those gold losses in no time ... not.

My well-ITM FLT spread sold for a nickel under max value, +60%.

I sold March bull credit spreads in QQQ and GOOG, bought April calls for OAS, and bought SMS stock.

Monday I sold the April TAL calls before the stock went ex-dividend, +8%.

Singin' the Precious Metals Blues

I closed out my expiring SLV calls today, -28.5%. I have more SLV calls for next week, and then GLD and GDX expiring on the 15th. I can't wait to be done with these. I got way too aggressive with calls and bull put spreads on the precious metals and have been paying the price.

As for the stock holdings, GTLS had another good day as did EXLS after reporting. Those two positions along with PRAA are up over 10%.

Feb 13 Review

Last month I got stopped out of 15 positions, and re-bought 4 of them.

Stocks where I saved myself 5% or more were GEOS, and HAIN. Those that cost me 5% or more in gains were ICLR (+13.8%!), FLT, JAZZ, and ECL. Assuming equal position sizes, the summed gain from not selling would have been 24.7% not counting the repurchased URI.

I paid an additional 9% to re-buy FLT (the position is currently down 0.9%), two were about even, and I re-bought URI 8.8% lower (now up 8.3%).

As for options, I made some money with AAPL and NSM, and ETFs MSCI (Taiwan), TBT (short bonds), UNG (nat. gas). I lost money on a speculative shorts on GME and XRT (S&P Retail), and credit spreads on ETFs SPY (short) and GLD (long). The losses exceeded my gains by a meaningful (and somewhat painful) amount.


Lessons learned?

I meant to relax my stops, especially with ECL and JAZZ reporting, but lost focus until too late. FLT had performed so well it deserved a little more wiggle room. I honestly don't see how I could have predicted ICLR's rebound.

I should have monitored the news on GLD. I would have become aware of the rotation out of gold. I ignored the trend in favor in favor of the RSI indicators, as I did with SPY. Also noted: a low delta on the short options doesn't mean squat when you're spitting into the wind. The bear call spread on XRT looked solid at the time - I'll chalk that one up to bad timing.

EOFeb Update

Yesterday I bought more shares of MPW and PRAA, and converted some of my URI calls to well-in-the-money call spreads. CRZO did well and URI is still running well.

GTLS was up 10.8% for the day.

I have some SLV calls that expire tomorrow that need a little help.

Good Recovery

I got distracted this morning and ECL and JAZZ tripped the trailing stop loss orders after reporting earnings. SLRC followed shortly thereafter. -2.7%, -8.1%, and -2.3% respectively. ECL rebounded nicely with a 4.2% gain.

Low limit orders for ARR and URI filled and both stocks closed higher. I bought calls for CRZO which reported a good quarter and closed up over 6%.

I closed out my TBT credit spread to free up some options money, +12.8%.

Good Start, Bad Finish

I re-bought some AI shares early on, and some SLV calls. Later the rest of the VRTU order finished filling. The trailing stop loss orders are in place (mostly) but I hope they don't fire off just yet.

At least GLD, GDX, and SLV were up.

I'm expecting a choppy ride this week followed by a rally at some point. I'll probably adjust or suspend my TSL orders so I don't get kicked out at the bottom.

Stupid Apple

I covered my AAPL $140/$150 credit spreads before the close since AAPL couldn't stay above $150. At least not until the last 5 minutes of the trading day. How aggravating. Returns were +7.9% and +5.6%, which isn't bad for a week, but there was way too much risk and drama.

My GLD spread will take the max loss, -100%.

I bought back shares of KOG and VRTU. Both closed higher. The calls purchased yesterday for URI and TAL are helping recoup losses.

Round Two

The morning started off with more trailing stop loss orders firing off. GEOS (+3.4%), KOG (-2.9%), and TAL (-0.4%) shares sold.

Both TAL and URI were down quite a bit so I bought call options on them.

The Sell-Off

What a day. It started out okay and I bought shares in JAZZ, FLT, and ARR, calls on URI and FLT, and sold bull put spreads on XLB and XLI. All underwater. What a difference a few hours made today.

I decided to sell 1/3 of my REGN to lighten up that losing position, -15%. Later the stop loss orders started kicking in. URI (+4.5%), AI (+8.5%), and HAIN (-11.4% and -3.6%).

Dead (GLD) Bug

Last Thursday was bad. But on Friday when GLD gapped below my short put strike, then dropped below the long put strike, it was bad for my GLD credit spreads. For lots in two accounts, -92% and -100%. Then there's the spread for this Friday and next month. Oh, and there's GDX for next month too. Fingers crossed.

The UNG credit spread puts expired worthless, +25%.

The new position in NSM just clipped the trailing stop and sold Friday, -0.6%. Today DVA hit the stops, +4.8%.

I bought calls in DBA, hoping for a short term reversal.

I bought shares of GOOG and GTLS.

GALE, GEOS, and AI had a good day.

GLD Spreads

Well the GLD spreads sold after all when it turned tail at 1030 and my limit orders filled. I should have held out for more. That gives me bull put spreads at $157 (Feb 15), $156 (Feb22) and $154 (Mar 15).

It was a good day with PRAA and TAL closing with > 5% gains and NSM, KOG, AI, and MPW chipping in too.

ARR

Bought it! On the dip after ARR announced the secondary. I have another low ball limit order in place too. I missed ARR on the last sell-off after my stop loss orders took me out of it and I underbid the stock on the rebound.

I tried to sell GLD credit spreads but I think they got away from me.

Shaken, Not Stirred

I got shaken out of SLRC and NSM earlier and now I'm back in (shares purchased).

I sold some Feb 22 $450/$440 AAPL bull put (credit) spreads this morning when the share price dropped. That should return 18.3 and 21.8% (two accounts) on risked money (less fees) over the next seven trading days.

GLD Quickie, EWT, ICLR Gone

ICLR tripped the trailing stop near its low today, -5.90%. I was hoping it was about to turn around when I bought it. Guess not.

I sold the other batch of Feb. EWT calls, +1.24%. There was no value in converting to a spread. Too bad the run to $13.65 didn't come a bit sooner ... I could have made a respectable profit rather than just break even (though that's a great outcome sometimes!).

I sold some Feb GLD credit spreads for Friday. So far so good.

EWT and FLT Sold

I'm a bit out of sorts here while I reinstall everything following a computer drive failure. It has been very distracting to say the least.

Some of my Feb. EWT calls sold today as they got back to even, but I think the better play may have been to sell the Feb $13 calls for a $12/$13 bull call (debit) spread. I'll look at doing the spread conversion on the OH account. +2.65%.

The FLT shares sold as it was oscillating at the open and tripped the trailing stop, +17.32%.

FXI

Today I sold March FXI bull put (credit) spreads.

There are no very overbought or oversold alerts on my ETF watchlist. Anything that is close to an alert condition is in an extended trend (usually an up-trend) so I'd be giving them a wide berth anyway.

FLT had a nice day after reporting.

GEOS and More

I closed out the credit spreads for VXX and XRT, -36.4% and -45.2% respectively.

I sold my XRT puts, -51.6%.

I bought shares of GEOS, HMA, and more of PSEC early on. I had to pay up when GEOS gapped up, but it went on to have a great day.

This month is not looking good. Bearish plays on GME and NFLX backfired, bear call spreads on SPY and XRT lost money as did the bull put spreads for VXX. Betting against the market's continued run was a bad bet. The bearish positions were smaller, but they added up. That just leaves the UNG credit spread to close at expiration, and any equity positions that might be stopped out. The equities continue to do well (save REGN), and next month's options are looking good. Fingers crossed!

Less AAPL, More Everything Else

That nice 20 minute rally by AAPL tripped my limit orders and let me close out some dicey positions. The calls that were underwater since the morning after I bought them closed +0.19%. The credit spread only had to hold $440 until Friday, but the way AAPL has been trading that was not a given. Less stress and a quick +14.1% profit.

I went shopping first thing and added URI calls, and shares of AI, ECL, ICLR, MPW, PSEC, TAL, and URI.

Two More Gone

I cut my losses on GME today when I sold my puts, -81.9%. Better late than never I guess.

I sold my NSM calls today, +35.3%.

Nice moves by AAPL and CRZO.

Plan? What Plan?

Okay, so this weekend I'm reviewing my SPY credit spread and despite the fact that it is overdue for a sell-off, the trade is moving toward a loss. So I put in an order to cover, to be reviewed before the open Monday. Did I do that? NO. It closes at the open, just when things were starting to move my way ... and the spread was still in the money. -23.9%. Uggh.

 At least the other credit spreads at risk, VXX and XRT, moved my way. Not counting AAPL of course, which is still seeking a support level.

Update

Yesterday I bought a March  NSM call. Looking good so far.

Today I sold a $440/435 Feb8 AAPL bull put spread and a March $73/75 TBT bear call spread (both credit spreads).

JAZZ was looking toppy so I put a tight stop under recent support and today it sold, +1.97%. Any green is always better than red.

VRTU was one of those basket stocks I bought and put 5% trailing stops under most of them. It spiked up this morning and immediately fell back and triggered the sell order, +25.4%.

Haste Makes Waste

Last Thursday I rolled the dice on NFLX and APPL, going short on NFLX will a bear call spread, and long on AAPL with calls. I should have waited a day.

On Friday NFLX blew through my call strikes putting both well ITM. Yesterday NFLX opened up, and both calls were exercised (the buyer's by choice, mine to cover) on my OH account, -100%. With NFLX up 4% yesterday morning, I covered the other spread on my OX account while there was still some value there, -68%.

The deep ITM AAPL call is still a bit underwater, but perhaps moving in the right direction, and I can still sell calls against it.

The point here is that, had I waited a day, my entry points would have been so much better and I'd probably have three winning trades to show for it.

Otherwise, options for EWT & VXX (long) and SPY & XRT (short) have been moving against me. UNG dropped yesterday but is still well away from the $17-strike call I sold. Those are all February options.

I sold my CRZO calls yesterday after letting too much profit get away, +23.8%. There seems to be too much selling pressure after the downgrades to stay in, so I'll take what profit is left and look to re-enter later - maybe.

I sold a March bull put spread on GDX yesterday.

January Action

Well this month's options are a done deal. My first systematic go at selling credit spreads worked okay. The bull put spreads took off and would have fetched a lot more using bull call spreads. The bear call spread on EEM cut it very close to the short strike prices ($44.78 close vs $45 strike), but everything expired out-of-the-money fortunately.

Bull put spreads: SLV +12.6% and UNG +7.7%. Bear call spreads: EEM +18.3% and EWZ +8.8%. These were held 30 days or less.

Observations? I made some trades where I sold too little premium and got a weak return. I've done better with my Feb spreads. I was a little too quick to sell some bear call spreads for ETFs that were trending up and taking up residence in the RSI Overbought zone. Risk-reward is a delicate balance there.

I do like the fact that I can trade these with great confidence in a flat or declining market where my usual long trades don't perform well. I also think that reviewing the ETF charts gives me a better perspective on the market.

Bull call spreads for JAZZ and KOG closed as well, +65.8% (on the JAZZ long call cost) and +135.9% (on the KOG spread cost).

NSR hit its trailing stop, -0.14%.

I bought puts and a bear call (credit) spread for XRT. The spread is on Options House where there commissions are considerably less. But I do like the way optionsXpress presents your spreads.

RM down

RM gapped down below the trailing stop and sold. There was never much to trail since it moved down since I bought it. -10.3%

CRZO had another good day. Everything else, not so much. I'm eagerly awaiting Friday's close given my bull put spreads on SLV and UNG, and bear call spreads on EEM and EWZ. Oh, and the JAZZ and KOG bull call spreads too.

Mid Jan Update

I bought more CRZO calls yesterday, and tried to double down again today but under bid 'em. That would have been a nice rebound to catch. I guess the bad news wasn't so bad after all.

The market's drop at the open got me to put more of my KOG call spread up for sale. I got my price later in the day, +117.2%. That drops me to 1/4 of my accumulated position just in case KOG drops below $9 and my buyer expires worthless.

The credit spreads are looking good and even HAIN had a good day for a change. I'd like to add to my position if it will start behaving.

WGO might be losing traction. LULU rebounded okay. Poor AAPL.

Chirp

I bought calls for CRZO and puts for GME. I sold a bull put (credit) spread on VXX (small position). All for Feb. I'm looking to short WGO when it runs out of steam.

Hands In The Air

Today was a bit of a roller coaster day with KOG. Early on it dropped to $9.05 so I sold half of my position in case it closes below $9 next Friday and the shares get called to me. The cheaper lot was sold (LIFO?), net +101%.

Other than that, the ETF credit spreads are holding up, and the trailing stops are in place for the basket stocks.

I tried to short ATLS the first thing this morning but there was no open interest on puts and Fidelity wouldn't let me short it.

Note To Self

The next time I start to short something in my bullish watch list just because of the chart indicators, DON'T do it!

MPWR looked overbought so I bought put options. When it went underwater, it was still overbought, so I held on. Then it went deeper into the red. It finally dropped for 2-1/2 days so I made my exit the first thing this morning near the day's lows. -40.9% on that lark. Fortunately it was a half-hearted attempt to piss away my money with an undersized position.

I sold some KOG calls for a spread conversion near the high for the day. That should return around 54% if the price holds for a week and a half.

The remainder of the RM limit order filled (stock).

There Goes The Towel

I threw in the towel today on MLNX. I thought it found a bottom finally and put a stop loss order under it thinking that if it keeps selling off at this level then things are worse than I had imagined. Well, MLNX blew through the stop and kept going. -32.9% on the BIG position, -52.4% on a tiny one. That one left a mark.

I had a Jan call for OCN that had been underwater for some time. But OCN has a nice pop now and then, so I held off on closing the position in hopes of such an event. Well today OCN popped, the limit order fired, and I got out with a +6.76% profit.

I bought a basket of stocks from the screen I published yesterday; DVA. EXLS, FLT, NSR, PRAA, RM (partial fill), and VRTU. I'll put in trailing stop loss orders to take out the ones that will be topping out soon and can hopefully loosen up the stops once the runners get some profit under them.

Watchlist Additions

Last month was the wrong month to be out of the market. As I flip through the charts I see I could have bought a broad selection of stocks with any semblance of growth and done quite well after last week's pop.

That said, here's a screen of stocks with 4 quarters of double digit (typ. > 25%) YoY quarterly sales growth, 4 quarters of sequential sales growth, a forward P/E below 20, sequential earnings estimated to increase, and > 5% net margin. In order of lowest forward P/E first: RM, CACC, NOV, PRAA, KOG*, VRTU, NSR, OCN*, MYGN,  IACI, DVA, EXLS, and FLT.

Good Luck!

(*) I have positions in these already.

Busy Day

I started off by rolling half of the 401(k) and 403(b) money back into mutual funds.

I added more HAIN shares and bought some JAZZ shares. I had a tight 3% trailing stop on the SMS shares which sold, +13.9%.

I sold (to open) a Feb SPY bear call credit spread. I sold the Jan XLP calls I bought last Friday, +52.3%.

I converted the Jan $45 JAZZ calls to a bull call spread by selling Jan $49 calls for a profit. So now I've banked a profit and I'm free-rolling on the $4 call spread. That should turn a 67% profit on the original well-ITM call investment which is no longer at risk.

HNY!

How about an overdue update?

Last Monday (Christmas eve.) I sold a Jan bull put credit spread on SLV and bought more KOG calls.

On Friday I bought XLP calls.

Now that an agreement has been reached in Congress, maybe we can move forward. Good Luck!