spurge0n

Even though I made money on this trade, I was wrong when I wrote "I don't think AMZN will see 302.50 again for a while." It's there today. So I have some food for thought here, too.

So, in retrospect, I did everything I could possibly do wrong with this trade: 1. I got in when the stock was near its low for the day. 2. I got spooked when the position moved against me unexpectedly. 3. I closed the short call when the stock was near its high for the day, maximizing my loss. 4. I didn't even give the position a day's worth of theta gains. 5. I held the long call hoping that the run-up would continue - it didn't. 6. I didn't believe in my initial assessment.

Nope. I think there's some institutional buying going on here. I closed out the short call for a loss of $40/contract. However, I am keeping the long call open for a while.

I'm not. So I have no reason to imagine it. But to entertain the proposition, it's still well below $320. Now the TWTR trade, that one could hurt if it goes against me.

I might be a little early to the party here, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. TWTR shares are tanking after earnings. So I'm opening a vertical bear call spread. Sold the $45 call and bought the 47.50 call as a hedge for this Friday's expiration. Total credit of .17. Also, the market has been on an almost unstoppable run-up for quite some time. I think it has to take a breather eventually. Finally, the Fed's meeting minutes might spook investors into selling, especially if there's language indicating that interest rates might go up soon. I can see that happening with the price of oil collapsing. Lots of "ifs", but that's why it's called risk.

Mission accomplished. Closed out the short call at .49 for a gain of $99/contract. I'll leave the long call open in the unlikely event that AMZN skyrockets in the next few days.

Thanks. I'll take a look at those strategies for something like this.

Just for kicks, I have a bid in at .54 to close this out for a .94 gain. Let's see what happens.

Oh it's an emotional as well as a financial investment...

Time for some payback on the double calendar loss. This morning I shorted next week's AMZN 302.50 call for 1.64. I hedged by purchasing the 320 call for .16. I don't think AMZN will see 302.50 again for a while. Personally, I don't think that stock has anything going for it.

This call was assigned for a 3% gain. I could have made as much as 9% if I just bought the stock. As of Friday's close, I think the gain was 6%. However, I'll take what I can get in this bloodthirsty stock market.

Correct. In retrospect, this strategy would probably have been better for MU. Of course, I didn't expect the price to shoot up like it did. So I'm losing opportunity, but that's far better than losing money.

Thanks. I think it's a great company. Whether or not the market will recognize that in the next couple of days is another matter. It was up yesterday when the market was down, so it has good relative strength.

Not me. I don't have time to babysit it. My philosophy is to put it on autopilot with some downside protection and let it convert this weekend. I could have added a married put for some additional downside protection, but I didn't see the need here. I've done that in the past here. Also, the potential still exists for me to make a return better than 3%. If it's at 26.90 on Friday, then I can just hold it on Monday for that eventual 10% gain. Plus, I keep the money I made from selling the call. Or, I could write the November monthly and generate some decent income. Lots of possibilities here. But you're right that one bad trade can wipe away a lot of gains. That's why I typically use married puts with this strategy.

That's not a bad strategy, either. I'll consider that in the future.