The Options Thread

Covering: EWY June 16th 58/63 short put vert for a .05 db (near worthless). This is part of an iron fly, the call side of which is looking fairly hopeless running into expiry ... . It's a 63/68, and current price is at 68.48.

Opening: FXE July 21st 108/111 long call vertical for a 1.36 db. Probably too little, too late to delta hedge my June 16th short call verts, but this will mitigate loss in the event that the response to the June rate hike (which I'm assuming is "on") results in Euro strength (i.e., dovish remarks about pace of hikes post-June).

Rolling: SPY July 7th 237.5 short put to July 14th 237.5 short put for a .28 credit. Part of a diagonal, the back month of which is in August. It had lost a significant amount of its value; rolling on a "down" day (if this is what passes for a down day).

Covering: SPY June 30th 232/235/248/250 iron condor for a .32 db (nearly 50% max). Basically, just winding down June core SPY, taking off some risk, and freeing up buying power.

Opening: VIX July 19th 10/12.5/12.5/15 iron fly for a 1.60 credit; max loss/BPE .90; BE's at 10.90/14.10. The /VX July contract is currently trading around 12.75, so this is a bet that VIX will settle between current price and that VIX future price sometime between here and expiry, although anything between the break evens (10.90/14.10) will do.

Covering: P July 21st 6/9/9/12 iron fly for a 1.71 db (scratch). Wasn't aware that they were in merger/acquisition talks when I put it on; those can end badly if you're in a nondirectional trade and price spikes up to the buy out price ... .

The Week Ahead: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/QQ...Q-AND-XOP-XLE/ Basically, QQQ and petro action ... .

Without a ton of stuff to do that meets my picky standards for premium selling, layering on some more July VIX fly with a 9/12.5/12.5/16, which I got filled for a 1.82 credit; buying power effect: 1.68; break evens at 10.70/14.30-ish. Will look to manage at 25% max.

Im in the USA and was looking into binary options. I ran into someone who said if one directly funds an account, there have been issues with withdrawing funds, so funds should be deposited through a clerk. What in the world does this mean. So wiring money to a clerk, who then makes a deposit into my account, if i wanted that? Can someone tell me why this is?

Welcome to the "scummy" world of binary options.
Nadex or NONE. I'd chose NONE.
This thread is vanilla options.

https://www.tradingview.com/chart/XL...-OIH-XLE-COST/

NADEX is the only US-based binary options broker that is regulated. Funding an account with them should not involve "a clerk" or other shenanigans ... . That being said, I'm not a fan ... .

Late Post: TLT Aug 18th 125/Oct 20th 121 net credit put diagonal: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/TL...-PUT-DIAGONAL/

With implied volatility so low, now's the time to be putting these on if there ever was one.

Must ... get ... theta ... on. Lol.

Opening: QQQ Aug 18th 132/135/145/147 iron condor for a .99 credit. Max Profit: $99/contract; Max Loss/Buying Power Effect: $201/contract; BE's: 134/146; Theta: .98; Delta: .59. Will look to manage at 50% max.

Covering: VIX July 19th 9/12.5/12.5/16 for a 1.70 db (10% max).

Opening: VIX Aug 9/12.5/12.5/16 for 1.93 cr. Max Profit: $193/contract; Max Loss/Buying Power Effect: $157/contract; BE's at 10.6/14.4. Shooting for 10% max. You can shoot for 25%, but that generally means waiting until the last moment for all the extrinsic value to drain out of the setup. I'd prefer to "money, take, run" and redeploy.

Covering: VIX July 21st 10/12.5/12.5/15 iron fly for a 1.45 db (10% max; $15 net profit -- kind of a "meh", taking profit at 10%) ... .

The week ahead: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/QC...LK-QQQ-SETUPS/

Where am I? Lol. Just getting back up to speed after the long Fourth weekend, the holiday-shortened trading week ... .

Covering: VIX Aug 18th 12.5/12.5/16 for a 1.75 db here (.20 profit). This was part of an iron fly, the 9 long put of which is no bid. Unless someone wants to take it off my hands for a mere .05, will just it expire worthless. The flies aren't worth it at 10% max unless you can get 2.00 at the door on setup; even then ... . If you look for 25% max on those, you're waiting literally to the last moment, which I don't like from a quick take profit/redeploy perspective ... . I prefer the old <90 DTE, >16 short call strike credit spreads if anything in VIX, but the first /VX future priced at >16 is wayyy out in Jan ... .

Rolling: QQQ Aug 18th 145/147 to Aug 18h 142/144 for a .34 cr (delta balancing an iron condor).

Opening: QQQ Aug 25th 131/134/143/145 iron condor for a 1.11 credit. Among the four "majors" (SPY, DIA, IWM, QQQ), this has got the highest IV.

Rolling: SPY Aug 4th 239 short put to Aug 18th 238 short put for a .46 credit. Part of a put diagonal, this essentially rolls the short put to the long's expiry, resulting in a 235/238 short put vert with a scratch point of .54/contract in the Aug 18th expiry. It would have been more productive if I hadn't paid so much for the setup (I think it was a 1.07 db to put on, which basically means I paid too much for the long ... . This is why I favor net credit diagonals.)

Yellen just sucked all the volatility out of the room (as if there was "a lot" there before). Only two non-earnings underlyings with greater than 50 implied volatility rank over the previous 52 weeks -- COST and OIH ... .

VIX finished the day at 10.30. Premium selling has basically blown chunks since the election and appears to be on track to continue blowing chunks ... .

Nice thread, subscribed, Im starting Options, is a good read.

Thanks.

The Week Ahead: https://www.tradingview.com/chart/NF...MSFT-EARNINGS/

NFLX, IBM look to be the most productive with both undefined and defined risk setups with >70% probability of profit ... .

Opening: SPY Sept 1st 238/241/249/251 iron condor for a .95 credit. 2.05 max loss/buying power effect. Will look to manage at fiddy percent. I really want to put a 45-day'er on in QQQ, IWM, but the liquidity in the weeklies wasn't great ... .

Rolling: QQQ Aug 18th 132/135 short put vert to the Aug 18th 136/139 for a .26 credit. Rolling up to the 30 delta with 30 DTE on test of iron condor call side.