Opening: QQQ August 19th 250/331 Short Strangle... for a 5.05 credit.
Comments: 5.05 ($505) credit on buying power of 29.26 ($2926); 17.3% ROC as a function of buying power effect; 8.6% at 50% max. Currently the highest IVR/IV broad market ETF on the board at 71/35. Went a little wider here than usual (13 delta both sides) to accommodate more whip. Delta/theta .45/14.52.
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Closed: /ES July 15th 2960 Short Put... for a 1.50 debit.
Comments: Filled for a 3.00 credit (See Post Below). Out on Friday at 50% max. (3.00 - 1.50)/2 = .75 ($75) profit. Although still quite far out of the money, this was the highest rung of my /ES short put ladder, so wanted to dry the powder out for a potential dip going forward. Still have rungs on in the July 29th expiry (2850, 2700, 2500), as well in the August monthly (2100), so I was okay with taking off a little bit of risk here.
Closed (IRA): SPY July 29th 330 Short Put... for a 1.12 debit.
Comments: On occasion, Fridays can be a mad scramble. Yesterday was one of those, so I didn't get an opportunity to post all of in profit long delta trades I took off to dry out powder for "the next one." Opened for 4.00 even (See Post Below); out on Friday's bull fest for 1.12 -- 2.88 ($288) profit.
Rolling (IRA): QQQ July 1st 301 to August 19th 292... for a 2.93 credit.
Comments: Rolling down and out to the August monthly, as the August 5th contract didn't seem all that liquid. Total credits collected of 6.50 (See Post Below) plus the 2.93 here for a total of 9.43.
I'll generally keep on doing this (down and out) with any of my monied rungs until I can't get decent (a relative term) strike improvement, along with a decent credit, at which point I'll just take assignment and proceed to sell call against. (See, e.g., my QQQ June 24th 321 short put, which I couldn't strike improve to my satisfaction without going out hugely long-dated).
Rolling: XBI July 15th 65C/75P to August 70/86... for a 9.88 debit.
Comments: As with my IWM trade, paying a debit to uninvert this setup, free up buying power, and turn it into a higher POP (Probability of Profit) setup. I had collected a total of 11.65 in credits up to this point, so I'm still net credit by 1.77 after doing this, but with a smaller buying power footprint and with "delta/theta happy" metrics at -2.66/8.70. Like the IWM trade, however, it's under water: it's currently marking at 5.42. I had a brief opportunity to take it off for a .70 loss, but it decided to move too much ... .
Rolling: IWM July 22nd 167.5/172 to August 5th 158/187.5... for a 6.04 debit.
Comments: Rolling out and paying a debit here that is smaller than total credits collected to reduce buying power effect. Up to this point, I'd collected a total of 8.39 in credits, so I'm still net credit on the setup by 2.35, but it's currently marking at 4.57 or so, so I'm down 2.22 on the position at this point. The setup, however, is now "delta/theta happy" at -4.03/12.39 and isn't being such a buying power pig.
Rolled (IRA): SPY June 30th 383 to September 16th 365... for a 3.66 credit.
Comments: (Late Post). With only .36 worth of extrinsic left in the June 30th 383 (and a scant 9 days to go), rolling it down and out here to the strike that's paying me about 1% of the strike price to roll. Total credits collected of 8.51 (See Post Below) plus the 3.66 here, for a total of 12.17.
This is longer-dated than most like to go, but I'm generally fine with that in the retirement account, particularly since the roll reduces buying power effect, risk of assignment, delta, and cost basis. I still may naturally have to take assignment of shares, but it will be at 365 (minus credits received) instead of at 383 (minus credits received).
Opening: /ES August 19th 2100 Short Put... for a 3.50 credit.
Comments: A small, low risk engagement trade while I wait on trades ... . Targeting the strike that is at least 25% below where /ES is currently trading and that routes for around 3.00. 1.75 max* on buying power of around 20.58, 8.58% ROC at max.
* -- It's only 1.75 max because /ES -- unlike SPY -- has a 50x multiplier (instead of a 100x multiplier) so if your options table, for example, says that the trade is going to route for a 10.00 credit, it actually only ends up routing for half of that or 5.00.
Opening (IRA): QQQ July 29th 230 Short Put... for a 2.54 credit.
Comments: Targeting the <16 delta strike in the expiry nearest 45 days paying around 1% of the strike price in credit to emulate dollar cost averaging into the broad market.
Will pause a bit here with additive long delta trades to focus on the housekeeping of shorter duration rungs. I will want to see what I want to (or have to) take assignment of shares on, since this will affect net portfolio delta and inform how much short delta I need to have on to remain "delta comfortable." Covered calls, after all, are more long delta heavy than far out-of-the-money short puts.