Author: Bryan Halliday

A few changes to the portfolio as shown below. All of the following April monthly expiration trades should finish OTM and expire this weekend. DELL – short puts should expire for a full profit of the credit received TSSI – short puts should expire for a full profit of the credit received PYPL – covered calls should expire for a full profit of the credit received BIIB – All puts are set to finish OTM and expire for a loss of the debit paid With the current covered calls expiring worthless this weekend. We got a head start on selling new covered calls on PYPL today as follows: Sell to open: PYPL June 18th (monthly) 55.00 strike calls Credit: 2.00 We took profits on our LLY call butterfly today. Sell to close: LLY July 17th (monthly) 950.00 strike call (ratio of 1) Buy to close: LLY July 17th (monthly) 1000.00 strike call (ratio of 2) Sell to close: LLY July 17th (monthly) 1050.00 strike call (ratio of 1) Credit: 5.50 Result is a profit of +1.00 or +$100.00 per spread traded. Finally, we bought a 1×2 put spread in TSSI as follows. Buy to open: TSSI June 18th (monthly) 12.50 strike put (ratio of 1) Sell to open: TSSI June 18th (monthly) 10.00 strike put (ratio of 2) Credit: 0.04 If the stock finishes above 12.50/share we roughly breakeven (0.04 credit) If the stock finishes below 12.50 we make money (max gain 2.50) If the stock falls below 10.00 per share, we end up buying 100 shares of stock but at a cost basis of 7.46 per share

We have arrived at April monthly options expiration this week. While we had hoped to exit our BIIB put butterfly, the market bounce has caused that stock to stay more stagnant and hurt that possibility. Here is an update of our April positions: DELL – short puts should expire for a full profit of the credit received TSSI – short puts should expire for a full profit of the credit received PYPL – covered calls should expire for a full profit of the credit received BIIB – need a sharp decline to get value out of the trade We took profits on our ARES call butterfly today. The trade has gone straight up since entering and worked really well overall. Sell to close: ARES July 17th (monthly) 110.00 strike call (ratio of 1) Buy to close: ARES July 17th (monthly) 130.00 strike call (ratio of 2) Sell to close: ARES July 17th (monthly) 150.00 strike call (ratio of 1) Credit: 5.50 Result is a profit of +2.50 or +$250.00 per spread traded. Entered into a new downside trade in Gold ETF (GLD) as follows: Buy to open: GLD Aug 21st (monthly) 420.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Sell to open: GLD Aug 21st (monthly) 390.00 strike put (ratio of 2) Buy to open: GLD Aug 21st (monthly) 360.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Debit: 3.80 Max risk = 3.80 or $380.00 per spread Max reward = 26.20 or $2,620.00 per spread

We made a few changes to the portfolio.

We bought back our short puts in PYPL to lock in profits. With ongoing uncertainty around overall market volatility, we felt it was prudent to reduce exposure at this time.
Buy to close: PYPL April 17th (monthly) 42.50 strike puts
Debit: 0.11
These were sold for 1.16 each, the profit overall is +$210.00 (2 contracts)

We have a pending exit order in place for our BIIB put butterfly, set as a good-til-canceled (GTC) order. If the stock begins to gap sharply lower at any point, we’ll want to actively adjust the order price to maximize our potential return. Be sure to monitor this position closely in the pre-market. For the current target to be achieved, we need BIIB to trade down into the high $160s per share.
Sell to close: BIIB April 17th (monthly) 170.00 strike put (ratio of 1)
Buy to close: BIIB April 17th (monthly) 150.00 strike put (ratio of 2)
Sell to close: BIIB April 17th (monthly) 130.00 strike put (ratio of 1)
Credit: 2.85
GTC – Good Til Canceled Order (however, this price will need to be adjusted if the stock is ever gapping sharply lower next week so check it pre-market)

We’ve initiated a low-risk call butterfly in Ares Management (ARES), a major player in the private credit space. While there are mixed opinions about the risks in this sector, firms like ARES benefit from fee-based revenue tied to assets under management, creating a more stable and recurring income stream despite market fluctuations. We also favor ARES’s relative strength compared to peers like OWL, where underlying stress appears higher. This trade is a tactical play on a potential bounce, using a defined-risk butterfly structure. If the stock moves higher and volatility expands, we’ll look to take profits accordingly.

Buy to open: ARES July 17th (monthly) 110.00 strike call (ratio of 1)
Sell to open: ARES July 17th (monthly) 130.00 strike call (ratio of 2)
Buy to open: ARES July 17th (monthly) 150.00 strike call (ratio of 1)
Debit: 3.00 – Please note that bid/ask spreads are wide, but an execution around the 3.00 price is both available and ideal.
Max risk = 3.00 or $300.00 per spread
Max reward = 17.00 or $1,700.00 per spread

Today we have added a short put in Nike (NKE) on the gap down in the stock. We already have 1 contract that we sold previously on the back of Tim Cook’s insider buying. We are surprised by the move lower as the earnings “miss” wasn’t really a miss with Nike beating EPS by 24% and slightly beat revenue expectations. Right now they are in inventory cleanup mode but that is a setup for better margins in the future. And we are investing based on the future outlook. With this put sale, we may end up owning 200 shares of stock at June expiration. Sell to open: NKE June 18th (monthly) 47.50 strike put Credit: 4.10 Max risk = owning 100 shares at 47.50/share at June expiration (that is a $4,750 potential investment) Max reward = 4.10 or $410.00 but we are going to take that money and buy shares with it. We used the $410 and bought 9 shares of NKE stock at 45.72/share.

Today we have added a 1×2 put spread in CEG. We had a simple short put through last month’s cycle. This position has the potential to end up owning 100 shares of stock.

Buy to open: CEG May 15th (monthly) 260.00 strike put (ratio of 1)
Sell to open: CEG May 15th (monthly) 230.00 strike put (ratio of 2)
Debit: 2.45
Probable risk = 2.45 or $245.00 per spread
Max risk = owning 100 shares at 202.45/share at May expiration (that is a $20,245 potential investment)
Max reward = 27.55 or $2,755.00 per spread

Today we have added a  couple of 1×2 put spreads in CCJ & UBER. We had one of these positions in these stocks through last month’s cycle. This position has the potential to end up owning 100 shares of stock. Buy to open: UBER May 15th (monthly) 70.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Sell to open: UBER May 15th (monthly) 62.50 strike put (ratio of 2) Debit: 0.66 Probable risk = 0.66 or $66.00 per spread Max risk = owning 100 shares at 55.66/share at May expiration Max reward = 6.84 or $684.00 per spread Buy to open: CCJ May 15th (monthly) 100.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Sell to open: CCJ May 15th (monthly) 90.00 strike put (ratio of 2) Debit: 0.05 Probable risk = 0.05 or $5.00 per spread Max risk = owning 100 shares at 80.05/share at May expiration Max reward = 9.05 or $905.00 per spread

Hello Investors,
Today we have a new trade idea in Eli Lilly (LLY). The stock is at the bollinger band criteria on the weekly chart. We are trading an upside butterfly as follows:

Buy to open: LLY July 17th (monthly) 950.00 strike call (ratio of 1)
Sell to open: LLY July 17th (monthly) 1000.00 strike call (ratio of 2)
Buy to open: LLY July 17th (monthly) 1050.00 strike call (ratio of 1)
Debit: 4.50
Max risk = 4.50 or $450.00 per spread
Max reward = 45.50 or $4,550 per spread

A few updates and changes as we have arrived at March monthly options expiration today. Our short puts in UBER are set to expire worthless for a max gain of credit received. Our short puts in CEG are set to expire worthless for a max gain of credit received. We closed out our GLD bear call spread and hedge this morning as follows: Buy to close: GLD March 20th (monthly) 430.00 strike call Sell to close: GLD March 20th (monthly) 435.00 strike call Debit: 0.08 Entered at 1.05 credit and exit at 0.08 debit. The result is a profit of +97.00 per spread traded. Unfortunately our hedge traded sharply against us. Bought 35 shares of GLD at 429.59 and exited at 421.03 that is a loss of -$299.60 The overall result is a loss of -$202.60 (better than the max loss we were looking at taking for most of the trade)

We added a GLD hedge this morning. It has fallen from that entry price. However, that means that our bear call spread is in much better shape (and making money). We are going to stick with the GLD shares potentially into expiration this weekend as we aren’t at a max profit yet in that spread. We may swap out the GLD shares for GDX shares on Friday. We have taken profits on our CCJ 1×2 put spread. This trade has worked out really well. Sell to close: CCJ March 20th (monthly) 110.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Buy to close: CCJ March 20th (monthly) 100.00 strike put (ratio of 2) Credit: 4.75 Entered at 0.52 debit and exit at 4.75 credit. The result is a profit of +423.00 per spread traded.