Closed DIA Vertical Call Spread

I spent the first 45 minutes of today watching DIA and trying to figure out what my best exit price would be on my vertical call spread that didn’t go according to my plan.  Finally, after raising my limit order twice, my third order for a debit of $0.80 hit.  While DIA was trading at $83.27 I bought to close six DIA May 82 calls (DAVED) for $1.30 each and paid $794.49 after commissions for the both legs of the vertical spread and at the same time the other leg of my order hit and I sold to close six DIA May 83 calls (DAVEE) for $0.50 each and received $295.49 after commissions only for each contract.  Those orders combined gave me a net debit of $499.00.  When I opened the DIA vertical call spread a few weeks ago I took in $268.98.  That makes my total loss $230.02 for the series.

I considered rolling my May 82 calls to June and leaving them naked for a few days to see if this retreat in the markets extends itself, but decided the risk wasn’t worth it and didn’t want to bother with another vertical call spread while I’m off on my understanding of how DIA continues to climb.  I figured if I waited until the end of the day and DIA was still above $83.00 I would have to pay $1.00 to close the spread, so by closing it earlier I saved $0.20 x 600, or $120.  That means that if I didn’t close my position at the low of the day I would still have made the right trade if DIA stays above $82.80.

Of course I think DIA’s retreat will continue into next week, but I ran out of time with options.  I have a lot expiring worthless today and will try to get another post up later this afternoon or this weekend to summarize it all.