The Week Ahead: ARKG, ARKK, MJ, ARKQ, GDXJ, IWM/RUT PremiumHere's what's paying for premium sellers as of Friday's close ... .
For those of you not familiar with my general process, my general order of preference is to trade (a) broad market; (b) sector exchange-traded funds; and (c) single name, in that order. If broad market isn't paying, I look at exchange-traded funds, and -- if those aren't paying -- I look at single name. This week, I think that there are opportunities to sell premium in at least sector exchange-traded funds, so I don't feel the need to delve into what single name is paying and haven't bothered to screen single name here.
In any event, I first screen out exchange-traded funds* that do not have a 30-day implied volatility of at least 35%.
Then, I price out what the 45 day at-the-money short straddle is paying as a function of strike price with the notion being that if the short straddle is paying, then most other premium selling setups I undertake will also be paying, whether it be short puts, short strangles, iron condors/flies, or short verticals/credit spreads. Here, my cut-off is generally a risk premium (credit received)/short straddle ratio of greater than 10%.
In light of this, I probably wouldn't bother playing FXI here, even though it has a 30-day implied of 36% and one that is relatively high in the range (at the 63rd percentile) because it just isn't paying enough -- 6.18% as a function of strike price. In comparison, it looks like "The Ark Complex" is paying, even though some expiry availability/liquidity makes the exchange-traded funds in this grouping less than ideal to trade.
Exchange-Traded Funds Screened for Options Liquidity and 30-Day Implied >35%:
ARKG (Genomics) (60 rank/61 30-Day): June 18th (33 Days)** 77 short straddle, 9.20 at the mid price, 11.95% as a function of strike price, 132.2% annualized.
ARKK (Innovation) (52/54): July 2nd (47 Days) 104.5 short straddle, 14.45 at the mid, 13.83% as a function of strike price, 107.4% annualized.
MJ (Cannabis) (<1/42): July 2nd (47 Days) 19.5 short straddle, 2.60 at the mid, 13.33% as a function of strike price, 103.5% annualized.
ARKQ (Robotics) (51/39): June 18th (33 Days)*** 79.34 short straddle, 6.75 at the mid, 8.51% as a function of strike price, 94.1% annualized.
GDXJ (Junior Gold Miners) (7/37): July 2nd (47 Days) 51 short straddle, 5.58 at the mid, 10.94% as a function of strike price, 85.0% annualized.
XME (Metals and Mining) (34/37): July 2nd (47 Days) 45 short straddle, 5.95 at the mid, 13.22% as a function of strike price, 102.7% annualized.
EWZ (Brazil) (14/37): July 2nd (47 Days) 37 short straddle, 3.50 at the mid, 9.56% as a function of strike price, 74.2% annualized.
FXI (China) (63/36): July 2nd (47 Days) 44 short straddle, 2.72 at the mid, 6.18% as a function of strike price, 48.0% annualized.
GDX (Gold Miners) (30/35): July 2nd (47 Days) 38 short straddle, 3.53 at the mid, 9.29% as a function of strike price, 72.1% annualized.
Broad Market Exchange-Traded Funds with 30-Day >20%:
IWM (Russell 2000) (16/27): July 2nd (47 Days) 221 short straddle, 15.68 at the mid, 7.10% as a function of strike price, 55.1% annualized.
QQQ (Nasdaq) (14/24): July 2nd (47 Days) 326 short straddle, 21.18 at the mid, 6.50% as a function of strike price, 50.5% annualized.
* -- For single name, the cut-off is 50% implied or greater; for broad market, 20% or greater. Broad market just tends to be less volatile than sector, which -- in turn -- tends to be less volatile than single name.
** -- There is currently no weekly contract near 45 days' duration, so using the monthly here.
*** -- As with ARKG, there is currently no weekly contract near 45 days, so using the June monthly here.
