Author: Bryan Halliday

We own a 1×2 put spread in JPM. We are going to hedge it a little bit into tomorrow’s monthly options expiration. We are starting with 25 shares short. While this hedge would work against us on a stock rally. It would help us on a stock decline. We feel that there is a bigger risk to too much downside into tomorrow. Sold short: JPM 25 shares at 145.78 Buy to cover stop-loss above at 148.66 gtc (good til canceled)

We own a 1×2 call spread in Newmont (NEM). We exited the lower 40 strike call and will leave the 45 calls to expire this weekend. The result is a small profit overall. Sold to close: NEM Oct 20th (monthly) 40.00 strike call Credit: 0.98 This locks-in a small profit of +0.35 or +$35.00

We have rolled-up our covered call in OXY. This will give us more room and we will still make some profit overall assuming it expires worthless. Buy to close: OXY Oct 20th (monthly) 65.00 strike call Sell to open:  OXY Oct 20th (monthly) 67.00 strike call Debit: 0.42 We collected +0.84 originally, so this leaves us with +0.42 max profit total on the covered call.

We own 100 shares of WBA and have a 1×2 call spread against them. Today we are adding a 1×2 put spread. This will both serve to “protect” our shares if/when the stock goes lower. And it could end up in our acquiring 100 more shares of the stock but at lower prices. The details as follows: Buy to open:  WBA Nov 17th (monthly) 22.50 strike put (ratio of 1) Sell to open:  WBA Nov 17th (monthly) 20.00 strike put (ratio of 2) Debit:  0.35 – this order has filled Likely risk = 0.35 or $35.00 per spread Max reward = 2.15 or $215.00 per spread Max risk = owning 100 more shares at a 17.85/share cost

We are going to receive 100 shares of Target (TGT) stock this weekend from a short put. We have sold a covered call today against those shares as follows: Sell to open: TGT Oct 20th (monthly) 115.00 strike call Credit: 0.28 – this order has filled We have added a 1×2 put spread in JPMorgan Chase (JPM). This is aggressive because the company will report earnings before expiration hits. This would require us to buy 100 share of stock in 2-weeks if the stock moves sharply lower. We like the risk/reward/probability mix. The details as follows: Buy to open: JPM Oct 20th (monthly) 150.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Sell to open: JPM Oct 20th (monthly) 145.00 strike put (ratio of 2) Credit:  0.20 – this order has filled Max reward = 5.20 or $520.00 per spread Max risk = owning 100 shares at 139.80 cost basis We are looking to roll up our Disney (DIS) covered call as follows: Buy to close: DIS Oct 20th (monthly) 85.00 strike call Sell to open: DIS Oct 13th (weekly) 87.00 strike call Debit: 0.53 – this is a pending order We only own 20 shares of DKS. We are trying to add a 1×2 call spread today which is 80% “naked”. If the stock were to move sharply higher, we would need to buy 80 more shares to fully cover the trade. The details as follows: Buy to open: DKS Oct 20th (monthly) 105.00 strike call (ratio of 1) Sell to open: DKS Oct 20th (monthly) 110.00 strike call (ratio of 2) Debit: 0.80 – this is a pending order Max reward = 4.20 or $420.00 per spread Max risk = Unlimited on the upside because we are 80% “naked” 1 of the short calls

We entered into a small short stock position in QQQ as follows: Sold short: QQQ 15 shares at 368.76 Buy to cover stop-loss above at 372.58 gtc (good til canceled) order We also entered into a put butterfly spread in AAPL as follows: Buy to open: AAPL Dec 15th (monthly) 175.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Sell to open: AAPL Dec 15th (monthly) 165.00 strike put (ratio of 2) Buy to open: AAPL Dec 15th (monthly) 155.00 strike put (ratio of 1) Debit: 1.32 Max risk = 1.32 or $132.00 per spread Max reward = 8.68 or $868.00 per spread

We own a 1×2 call spread against 100 of our SNOW shares. We will take profits on part of it and leave one of the short calls as a “covered call” through next weeks expiration.
Sell to close:  SNOW Oct 20th (monthly) 165.00 strike call (ratio of 1)
Buy to close: SNOW Oct 20th (monthly) 180.00 strike call (ratio of 1)
Credit:  3.45 – this order has been filled
This locks-in a profit of +$130.00 overall in the spread. The 180 covered call will need to be monitored to ensure it expires OTM next week.

We have a pending order to enter into a new short-term bearish trade in Cisco (CSCO) as follows:
Buy to open: CSCO Nov 17th (monthly) 55.00 strike put
Debit: 2.05 – order still pending
Max risk = 2.05 or $205.00 per contract
Max reward = unlimited on a move lower

We sold a put on OXY as follows: Sold to open:  OXY Oct 20th (monthly) 64 strike put Credit:  1.50