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.