Closed SSO Put Spread & Other Options Expiration Updates

As of the close of yesterday I thought I had my SSO put spread for a full profit, but that changed quickly this morning.  Instead the S&P fell and I lost.  I watched SSO most of the day, along with my other positions.  With 10 minutes to go in the trading day I closed my short SSO put.  While SSO was trading at 18.72 I bought to close seven SSO March 19 puts for $.25 each and paid $190.24 with commissions.  The bid/ask was .20/.30 and I just aimed for the center and it hit instantly as SSO was dropping, so I did better than I should have done.

I ended up with a profit of $104.26 with the three trades that made up this series.  I sold the March 19 puts for $1,139.75, hedged with March 18 puts for $845.25 and covered my March 19 puts for $190.24.  If I had not changed my SSO position last month I would have lost $432 on the long calls.  Instead I made $190.  I’m pretty happy about that on a position where the underlying stock lost money.  On the other hand, if I would not have hedged, I’d have a lot more money.  In all honesty though, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep very easily when the S&P and therefore SSO tanked earlier before recovering.  Once I find the right entry point I’ll trade this one again.  SSO closed down at $18.62, so although I didn’t get out at the high of the day, I saved money by getting out when I did.

OTHER OPTION EXPIRATIONS

USO ended above my covered call strike of 25, so I shouldn’t have sold there, but will take my exit officially on Monday when my shares are removed from my account.

USO closed above my naked put strike of 25, so I get to keep that full premium.

NDAQ closed in the middle of my March 20.00/22.50 put spread, so I’ll take the option assignment and will buy 500 shares at $22.50 on Monday morning.  I’m debating my next trade on NDAQ.  I think I might sell April 20 covered calls to try to improve my chances of ending this series of trades with a profit.

WORTH MENTIONING

Too bad I didn’t get out of TDW and JOYG yesterday.  They both dropped more than I thought they would today giving me a paper loss for the day on the two long positions of $1,100. 

My trade from this morning on MON was bad and I knew it early and still didn’t correct it.  I basically just took away the benefit of my covered call with only part of a day remaining.  I think I learned from that mistake and won’t repeat it.  I might sell an in the money covered call early Monday.  At the least I’ll sell a slightly out of the money covered call unless something major changes.

I’m leaving early tomorrow morning for a night of drinking and camping at our farm in middle Georgia, so I doubt I’ll get an index chart posted this weekend.  If I don’t get it out on Sunday afternoon, I’ll try to get one posted on Monday.  I’m nervous that this turn south could go deep quickly.  Williams %R is breaking below overbought on both the Dow Jones and the S&P.  Just as the breakout from oversold turned both indices up for the past couple of weeks.