*Official* Options trading thread: Why Alpha/Beta when you can Theta?

[usersignup2]

STO
TSLA feb10 197.50cc x5
AMZN feb10 106cc x20

BTC TSLA calls and STO feb17 190cc x5

AMZN expired worthless


net just under 3700 for the week

[usersignup2]

Ok am I missing something here or is this free money?

Look at ZIM option chain for March 17th 2023 expiration.

They have $2.50 CSP with bid of 0.00 and ask of 0.95 which means I can sell to open @ 0.47.

Theoretically I could do CSPs at $2.50 strike and that's pretty much guaranteed to never go ITM.

Currently ZIM is trading at $21 and it's all time low was $17 or something.

Right?

Last price on 7.50 puts is $0.05 so no, you won't get filled at $2.50. Not to mention 0 volume.

Use optionistics.com for better stats

[usersignup2]

BTC TSLA calls and STO feb17 190cc x5

AMZN expired worthless


net just under 3700 for the week

TSLA feb 190cc will let get called away

also STO AMZN feb17 106cc x 20, expired worthless

net 3600 for the week

[usersignup2]

STO
AMZN feb24 99cc x20
SQQQ feb24 41.50cc x10

TSLA scalp this afternoon for 2k

[Bingo559]

you sold covered calls on amazon with 1 day expiration?

[usersignup2]

you sold covered calls on amazon with 1 day expiration?

I sold those yesterday when it popped. Most of my covered calls are weekly expiration to maximize yield.

[usersignup2]

STO
AMZN feb24 99cc x20
SQQQ feb24 41.50cc x10

TSLA scalp this afternoon for 2k

Contracts expired worthless for 2k net.
Tsla calp this morning for another 600.

Total for week 4600 net.

[usersignup2]

No. Everything I know has been through hands on experience and gleaning off various sites.

[usersignup2]

1500 scalp on tsla this morning. Took a swing position into close.

STO
AMZN Mar03 95cc x20

[usersignup2]

Have a couple questions..

1) Let's say you have 200 shares of a stock and you're long, cost basis @ $75.

You sell two covered calls at $40 cost basis (current stock is at $32).

If the underlying is approaching strike price near expiry and you want to hold onto your $75 cost basis shares, you can just buy 200 shares of the underlying at $39 for example and get rid of any risk of losing money on the trade if the covered calls end up ITM, right? Since your $39 shares would get called away?

Assuming your tax lot methodology is LIFO.

2) When selling CCs, since the cost basis of your underlying doesn't get reduce for tax purposes, do you technically take a loss if you eventually sell the underlying?

For example you purchase some shares @ $14. You do a couple months of CCs that bring your theoretical cost basis down to $10. Then you finally do a CC where your shares get called away at $12. This would be a loss of $2 on shares, but a net gain of $2 in profit.

not a tax expert but AFAIK
1) yes.
2) yes. Loss on shares, cap gains from premium.

[usersignup2]

swing position on TSLA is deep red.

exited my SQQQ for net 13K+

previous two weeks of covered calls net green. GOOG got called away at 94, AAPL called away at 146. Assigned TSLA @175.

STO
AMZN Jun16 100cc x20
TSLA Jun16 180cc x5
TSLA Jun16 205cc x10

hoping to net roughly 43k in premium

still holding TSLQ as hedge

[usersignup2]

Posted on Discord
usersignup — 03/10/2023 2:38 PM
Imo this type of news will fuel retail, wsb and redditors to pile in on puts, drive down market and then cpi numbers come in...boom instant market rebound to today's close. Whales win again.

usersignup — Today at 10:58 AM
today is a good example of what I've said in the past. There is no such thing as a catalyst (generally speaking). The move is gonna happen no matter what. The 'catalyst' is just the timing of WHEN it's going to happen. TBH I had no real inkling of what was happening with SVB except just bad **** going on. I also had no idea there was some bailout planned. I was expecting CPI numbers to be in line with Fed action and that would be the 'catalyst'. But here we are and the market reaction is right with what I posted on Friday. Flash crash, instant rebound. **** is gonna happen no matter what the news is. I was waiting for this. Sold out of my SQQQ position for 13K+ net. More bad stuff is coming IMO so I will buy back in when I see an opening.
And to temper all this, I'm trying to salvage my TSLA swing by selling far out CC atm which I'm deep red, so obviously I'm not trying to say I get it right all the time.

Plan your trade and trade your plan. Being reactionary to the markets whim is only going to lead to poor decision making. If you have and idea where/how the market will move then you can create a plan if it happens. The idea that market moves because of a headline is the biggest lie. Hedge funds make as much as they do because they build positions well in advance of events. When the event happens - regardless of how big or small - they make their move and capitalize. Be on the right side of the move by studying charts, not bull**** news articles designed to suck you in. Rant over, stay safe and trade wisely and good luck.

[Bingo559]

So are you 80% TA / 20% FA?

[usersignup2]

So are you 80% TA / 20% FA?

I'd say 100% TA.

I don't worry about macro. Just read the charts. I'll watch out for earnings and some events to plan support and resistance and watch option volumes to plan ahead. I almost never concen myself with financials because imo you never know how the market will read them.

I'm primarily concerned with a few factors and I focus on fine tuning my strategies.

[Bingo559]

That's a very interesting take. Don't think I've ever met anyone irl or online that was 100% TA.

I kind of thought too at times the story is just made to be a catalyst and that price is gonna go where it goes, but still cant convince myself to be all TA.

I think i'm 60/40 FA/TA. I bought some Japanese candlestick trading course on udemy a long time ago, but the teacher has a horrible italian accent. might need to give it a watch again

[usersignup2]

There is primary benefit of TA, assuming all else equal, i.e. you are successful at it.

You can sleep at night. Unless I'm balls deep in something just before earnings, I never worry about how the news affects the market. Perfect example is this SVB and CS stuff. IDGAF because I have an idea of where things might go. I may not be right, but at least I have a plan.

[Abzu]

TA helps you sleep at night but, macroeconomics, knowing how things can play out over 1, 5 or 10 years will have you sleeping like a baby lol.

If you only do TA, even on long time frames, you can miss the big picture.

Macro is the material, TA is the magnifying glass.

[Abzu]

To expound on my previous post.

You can view the Macro as the big picture.

The borders of the image are drawn by government.

The image is drawn by individuals, pieces of it are magnified by traders using TA but because of this, traders can miss the Big Picture.

Pieces of the image that you are not paying attention to can be changed right under your nose.

This is why macroeconomics are important.

[usersignup2]

From a long term investment pov I would employ different strategies and not TA. I would use it for entry and exit if necessary.

Since this is an option thread I'm dealing with trading and what works for me is TA.

[usersignup2]

Expecting lots if volatility in the days to come. Removing risk where I can.

I see QQQ and SPY pop to swing highs and drop fast. Until that plays out, I'm not expecting to add any contracts.

[poland144]

Here's a quick 0dte trade idea I've been successful with the past few months.

30 min before close, sell the 10 Delta 0dte synthetic strangle on SPX. Exit at touch.

Stats last 90 days of trading: wr 78%, PCR 28%. Average winner $100, average loser $200.

Doing this one with a small portion of the trading account.

[usersignup2]

Here's a quick 0dte trade idea I've been successful with the past few months.

30 min before close, sell the 10 Delta 0dte synthetic strangle on SPX. Exit at touch.

Stats last 90 days of trading: wr 78%, PCR 28%. Average winner $100, average loser $200.

Doing this one with a small portion of the trading account.

GL brah. Personally not for me. Risk of big AH move, though less likely with SPX. But still, could get assigned on AH move.

[usersignup2]

Not a lot of trading lately. Mostly sitting back on my longer dated TSLA and AMZN CC collecting premium.

Buy/write on OXY for 62.50CC. CSP weekly 63csp, rolled to May05 63 for additional net premium. All in all a couple K.

Still holding SQQQ, tried to scalp some to bring cost down. Red on that quite a bit but confident near term QQQ is coming down and this rally will end soon. Hope lol.

[Bingo559]

there was 19,000 $60.00 calls for FRC 4/28. Do they anticipate the stock could 4x next week?

[poland144]

GL brah. Personally not for me. Risk of big AH move, though less likely with SPX. But still, could get assigned on AH move.

You've got this mixed up. AH moves only matter for Friday monthly AM option expiries which settle at the SET price which you can just not trade. Maybe you're thinking of American options like SPY.

I can personally attest it works this way on SPX having traded the strategy one day this week where the spread expired worthless but /es movement immediately after close would have moved it ITM.

[Abzu]

Not a lot of trading lately. Mostly sitting back on my longer dated TSLA and AMZN CC collecting premium.

Buy/write on OXY for 62.50CC. CSP weekly 63csp, rolled to May05 63 for additional net premium. All in all a couple K.

Still holding SQQQ, tried to scalp some to bring cost down. Red on that quite a bit but confident near term QQQ is coming down and this rally will end soon. Hope lol.

It will end soon, stay strong, <3.

[jafomofo]

any tips for screening for options? just getting started on it and trying to build up an SOP for screening through options and also interested in what platforms people use for analyzing this? unusualwhales and optionstrat are what im looking at currently. thanks

[usersignup2]

any tips for screening for options? just getting started on it and trying to build up an SOP for screening through options and also interested in what platforms people use for analyzing this? unusualwhales and optionstrat are what im looking at currently. thanks

sorry cant help. I only sell options on stocks I own - usually they are long term holdings.

you could start with @WallStJesus and @SwatOptions on twitter for insight

[jafomofo]

so im just learning my way through this a bit but so far I bought calls for KMI, Ford, Hanes and Rivian. I assume people get addicted to this like gambling eh?

I have a few hundred shares of citibank i have been considering selling covered calls on, is that mostly what you do?

[usersignup2]

so im just learning my way through this a bit but so far I bought calls for KMI, Ford, Hanes and Rivian. I assume people get addicted to this like gambling eh?

I have a few hundred shares of citibank i have been considering selling covered calls on, is that mostly what you do?

just a word of caution. until you understand option greeks, it's best advised you stay away from buying options. You need to know why an option is priced the way it is and how much the value changes compared to the stock. otherwise you will lose money fast. of course, holding until expiration will lose it even faster.

selling covered calls is almost exclusively how I trade options. again, learn option greeks, otherwise you have a higher likelihood of getting your shares called away