I just ran a check to see how many trades I’ve made recently and saw I’ve only made one, the credit put spread that I should’ve done a debit put spread instead. I have until March on it, so it could work out. I’m actually tempted to sell the long put already. That’s it for all of February, one two legged trade.
Here’s a list of the options I have set to expire tomorrow. I’m not planning to roll any of the calls. With my concerns about the market I’d rather have more cash free. Once I decide we might be in store for a rally, I’ll be back in with some bullish trades.
- -2 AAPL Feb 85 Call – Should close in the money and bring back $17,000 in cash to my account
- -2 CELG Feb 50 Call – Should close in the money and bring back $10,000 in cash to my account
- -2 FCX Feb 25 Call – Should close in the money and bring back $5,000 in cash to my account
- -3 JOYG Feb 25 Call – Should close out of the money so I can re-write covered calls
- -1 MON Feb 70 Put – Should close out of the money, I might re-write at a lower strike
- -1 MON Feb 80 Call – Could close out of the money so I can re-write covered calls. It’s bouncing around so much that nothing is guaranteed. I might end up bringing back $8,000 in cash to my account.
- -2 TDW Feb 35 Put – Should close out of the money, I might re-write
- -2 TDW Feb 40 Call – Could close out of the money, I might re-write. It’s also bouncing around a lot, so I could end up with another $8,000 in cash from selling these shares.
- -2 TDW Feb 45 Call – Should close out of the money, I’ll probably not sell another naked call
- -3 USO Feb 31 Put – Should close in the money and cost me $9,100. I’ll write calls if I don’t end up rolling the puts tomorrow.
- -5 XLB Feb 19 Put – Should close out of the money, I might re-write at a lower strike
I could end up adding almost $39,000 in cash from selling most of my long positions and buying my one short put position this options expiration weekend. Adding that to the near $7,000 I have in cash now will give me a good position to be in if I can pick the right entry point for future trades. I’m not worried about timing it exactly right, but want to be careful about taking another nose dive if I get back in too soon.
I’d be more bullish if I saw more panic in the 300 point down day Tuesday. Instead it just seemed the right thing to do and the sell off seemed orderly. I’d rather have seen a good hard capitulation to mark a bottom. I’d also like to have seen the intraday low tested, not just the closing low for the Dow. I think all the government action could actually work eventually, but not for a few quarters at least. The question remains, when will the market decide it’s time to ante up?