Update 5/28/10

XEC

The XEC position became profitable this week and I made a few adjustments. On Wednesday I sold a 70/75 call vertical for 1.76dr and ended up buying the same spread back for 1.48dr later in the day. On Thursday I sold a 70/75/80 ladder (-1 70/+1 75/+1 80) for 1.60cr. The ladder could have been scalped on a move down, while the upside was still bolstered by the extra 80 calls. Then today when XEC moved up towards 75, I sold off one of the 80 calls for 0.90. So the current position is +1 65/-3 70/+2 75/+2 80 calls for 0.87 net credit. The position shows a current profit of 18%.

NTAP PCCRC

I was surprised to find a PCCRC candidate on my screener yesterday, NTAP, which rose over 18% after earnings. I was a little late to the game, but I opened a PCCRC in NTAP yesterday at the 38 strike using Sep/Jun options for 10.75dr. NTAP was down with the market today and the position lost 3%.

TPX PCCRC

I decided to close the TPX PCCRC today as it neared the 30% profit mark on fears of an IV drop. The long IVs were in the 50s so I caved in a few cents to close the position. Final profit was 28%.

BIDU

The BIDU position was adjusted on Wednesday with a 40 cent scalp of the 60 put, buying on the gap up in the morning and selling the put later in the day. On Thursday I bought a 70/75 put vertical for 2.60dr. So the current position is +1 65c/-1 70c/-2 70p/+2 75p for 8.05 net debit. Currently profit stands flat at 0%.

CTXS PCCRC

The CTXS PCCRC lost half of its profit on Thursday when the market moved up and IV fell. Some of that was gained back today and the current overall profit is 8%.

Update 5/25/10

XEC

I sold the 55/60 put vertical today for 1.25cr bringing the cost of the position down another 19 cents. The current position is a 65/70/75 call butterfly with 2 extra 80 calls for 1.91dr. After XEC rose to 66 the position closed with an overall loss of 17%.

TPX PCCRC

There have been no adjustments this week to the TPX position and there is nothing showing up on my PCCRC screens with IV so high. The current p/l is 27%.

BIDU

I have made a few trades around the core BIDU butterfly starting Monday by selling the 75/80 call vertical for 1.60cr. Later in the day I was able to buy the same vertical back for 1.40dr, reducing the debit on the fly to 1.05. Today I bought a 70/75 call vertical when BIDU gapped lower. Then when the market recovered late in the day, I had the opportunity to pick up another 20 cent scalp, but rather than make another day-trade by selling the same call vertical, I instead bought the equivalent 70/75 put vertical for 3.10. This gave me an iron butterfly for 5.85dr which is equivalent to the original call fly I had for 0.85. With these trades this position turned profitable today and is up 11% overall.

CTXS PCCRC

There also have been no adjustments to the CTXS PCCRC and currently the position shows a 15% profit.

Update 5/21/10

WHR PCCRC

I closed the WHR position Thursday afternoon after the profit level hit 30%. I looked at rolling on the put side to lock in delta profit but the risk graph of the roll would have been worse than the existing graph in most places. I decided to take the Vega profits with the spike in VIX and long IV approaching 50%. Right now it looks like a smart move as the position would have lost about 5% on Friday. Final p/l was +32%.

XEC

I have tried some adjustments to the XEC position starting on Wednesday when I bought another Jun 80 call for 0.45 giving me +65C/-2 70C/+75C +2 80C. XEC continued lower Wednesday and Thursday and I bought a Jun 55 Put Thurs for 1.20. A few hours later I sold that put for a 0.20 scalp and when XEC rose some at the end of the day Thurs I bought the same Jun 55 Put for 1.20. XEC gapped down Friday enabling me to sell the put for 1.70, putting me back into the position above. I decided to get closer to delta neutral for the weekend and bought a  Jun 55/60 Put spread for 1.06 debit Friday afternoon giving me a position of +65C/-2 70C/+75C +60P/-55P for 3.16 debit. Current profit stands at -36%. The plan is to scalp the 80 calls on a rise in XEC and sell the put spread on a gap down.

BIDU

I also made some trades on BIDU buying a 65/70/80 broken wing butterfly for 0.35 cr on Wednesday as BIDU continued to fall away from my vertical. This gave me a 65/70/75 butterfly as a result. Then when BIDU went down further I bought an 85 call on Thursday for 0.70 and sold it near the close on Friday for 0.85. I could have gotten more for the scalp had I sold it earlier on Friday. So the net results is a 65/70/75 fly for 1.25 dr. Current profit is -23%.

TPX PCCRC

I tried to close the TPX PCCRC for a 30% gain this week but did not get filled. IV of the longs now sits at 54-55%, so I will continue to try to close this one next week if possible. Current P/L is 26%.

CTXS PCCRC

No adjustments were made to CTXS as the long IV is not as high as the other PCCRCs at 41%. Current P/L is 21%.

PCCRCs rolled to June

XEC Bullish Fly

I have not made any adjustments to the XEC position this week, although I have come close a couple of times. It is losing money, but it is a low risk position. Current P/l is -34%.

TPX PCCRC

I rolled the short May straddle to June today for a 2.28 credit. The position was up today and current p/l is 21%.

WHR PCCRC

I rolled the short WHR straddle yesterday for a 4.70 credit. The position is currently up 24% despite WHR having fallen 10 points from when the position opened.

BIDU Fly

I still am holding the vertical in the BIDU fly, and looking for a good adjustment point. Current profit is -17%.

CTXS PCCRC

I adjusted the CTXS PCCRC yesterday rolling the May straddle to June for a 1.33 credit. Currently p/l is at 13%.

Weekly Update 5/14/10

Most of this week was quiet trade-wise, although I did add a couple of new positions Thursday and Friday.

XEC Fly

I had looked at XEC as a PCCRC candidate, but like most stocks right now IV is too high for a PCCRC. I decided instead to do a bullish butterfly trade. The first leg I opened was a 75/80 call vertical for $1.50 on Thursday. The initial plan was to sell the other vertical if XEC climbed higher to get into the butterfly at a lower cost. Thursday XEC did not bounce up so I ended the day with just the long call vertical.

Friday XEC dropped further with the market and I decided I needed to make an adjustment when XEC broke below 70. I looked at several adjustments, but with the drop in price the 85/85 vertical was out of the question. I decided the best adjustment would be to add a 65/70/80 BWB, giving me a fly at the money.

I had the core position and then decided to add an OTM long call to give me a bullish bias again and to see if I could scalp it Monday and lower the cost of the position. I put in a limit order to buy the 80 call for 0.90 and it eventually filled giving me a 65/70/75 fly with an extra 80 call.

By the end of the day Friday XEC had bounced a little giving me some profit on the long 80 call. Monday I will look for an opportunity to sell the call for 0.30 or so profit. Overall the position shows a loss of 14%.

TPX PCCRC

No adjustments were made to the TPX position this week, and like all the PCCRCs it showed a profit on the week. Normally I would have rolled the short options on Friday, but with the inflated IV I decided to take the weekend theta and roll early next week. Currently the p/l stands at 21%.

WHR PCCRC

The WHR PCCRC has done well this week also but is off from earlier profit totals and currently is up 17%. I will adjust this one as well early next week.

BIDU Fly

BIDU was another PCCRC candidate that was too expensive after earnings and now has too high an IV for a PCCRC, so I looked at opening a bullish butterfly on Friday after BIDU dropped in the morning. I started with a 75/80 call vertical which was filled at 1.75 dr. BIDU did go a little higher later in the day giving me some profit, but I have not added the other half of the fly at this point. Monday I will likely do that to get to a more neutral position. Current profit stands at 7%.

CTXS PCCRC

The CTXS position is doing well and will be rolled to JUN early next week. Current profit is 14%.

Weekly Update 5/8/10

RUT IC

Friday I gave the market a little time to settle out but after the initial drop, recovery, and second drop below the short put strike I decided to adjust the position. I could have increased the risk and stayed in the trade but with the current market conditions I was not comfortable with a short put at 620, even with 14 days to expiration. So I closed the entire position and took the loss.

OEX IC

Similar story on the OEX, I waited while OEX rose to 515, but when it went back below the short put strike at 510, I closed the position for a loss.

WHR PCCRC

The PCCRCs did well again Friday, with the WHR position gaining 1% and is up 16% overall.

TPX PCCRC

The TPX PCCRC was flat Friday and is up 9% overall.

CTXS PCCRC

The CTXS position was up 6% Friday and is up 14% overall.

Today's Profit: $10 Million

That is intraday profit, as when the quotes went crazy at 2:40 my RUT IC position was showing a daily p/l of -$10,000,000. So when it was fixed my account went up by $10M. Crazy day.

RUT IC

I made an adjustment to the RUT IC today before the market completely tanked. The short puts were rolled to 660 and the short calls to 750 and now I have 3 contracts on each side. This one is scary with the market action and bid/ask spread, if I can get a decent price I may try to get out if I can tomorrow. Position was down 11% today and 16% overall.

OEX IC

I looked at closing this one when OEX hit 510, but the spread widened and I ended up deciding to wait. Who knows what will happen tomorrow but it will close one way or another. It will see some serious theta decay tomorrow. Current p/l is at -43%.

WHR PCCRC

Too bad I wasn't all in PCCRCs today as they did great with the IV jump. WHR gained 4% and is up 15% overall. I may try to lock in some put games tomorrow.

TPX PCCRC

The TPX PCCRC was up 3% today and is up 9% overall.

CTXS PCCRC

The CTXS PCCRC was down 1% today but is up 8% overall and the risk graph is now entirely above 0.

New 2.5 Day OEX Iron Condor

OEX IC

I opened a new OEX IC today with OEX near 532. The short strikes are at 550 and 510. Although the P/L is currently negative, the condor is fairly centered with 2 days to expiration and a 89% chance of expiring in the profit zone.

RUT IC

The RUT IC is inching towards profitability and at the current price of 698.58, would reach it next Monday. It would get there sooner if IV drops back down. The position lost 0.5% today and is down 4% overall.

WHR PCCRC

The PCCRCs have done well this week with the rise in volatility. WHR leads the three and is now up 12% overall in 10 days. The entire risk graph is now above the zero line despite WHR dropping 10 points since the position was opened.

TPX PCCRC

The TPX PCCRC is doing fairly well, despite the fact IV was really too high and IV skew was around 4% when I opened it. Today it was up 3%, and overall it is up 6%.

CTXS PCCRC

The CTXS PCCRC was up 3% today and has gained 8% overall. Again these are VEGA gains as the underlying has dropped to 46 since I opened the position near 50.

Update 4/30/10

OEX 3.5 Day IC

The OEX IC got a little close yesterday when OEX hit 550, but it backed off today giving the full 6% profit. 

WHR PCCRC

The WHR position did well this week despite WHR closing down at 108.87. This one is up 6%  this week.

TPX PCCRC

TPX was also down with the rest of the market and the position is flat on the week.

CTXS PCCRC

CTXS was down to 47.03 but the position was up 2.5% on the week.