I closed out the put spread I sold on $TSLA (Tesla) today. I had sold a put spread yesterday with a Friday expiration, which is a bullish bet, and the stock jumped from $276 to $283 and it looked like it might pull back. I had a pretty risky position if it turned against me in such a short time frame, so I closed it out for a debit of $1.1, making close to a $200 profit overnight.
I'm pretty happy with it, I would prefer to let a winner ride, but seems like the right move to take it off.
I also closed out a put spread from a week ago that I hadn't posted, so I won't bring that up. I prefer to only report on trades that I have been upfront with, not claiming a winner just after the fact.
How Option Spreads Work
For those that don't do a lot of trading in options, or spreads, just a comment on what I am doing. If I sell a put spread, that is actually a bullish bet. I am selling a higher strike put for more money, and buying a lower price put for less. It creates a net credit, and if the stock price stays above the higher strike, I keep the entire credit.
If I sell a call spread, it works that opposite and is a bearish bet. See below for a real life example.
Selling a Call Spread on $NUGT
Today I sold a call spread in $NUGT, the Direxion 3 times leveraged Gold Miners ETF.
Sell $13 March 17 strike for $1.16
Bought $17 March 17 strike for $0.35
If $NUGT ends up below $13, I keep the 81 cents. These are regular options, so everything is times 100, then times of the number of options. Usually I don't say how many that is, but today it was 5, so I have chance to earn $408, while risking more. The risk is mitigated by the fact that the stock price was $12 when I put this on. Unfortunately, it went up during the day and closed at $12.46. Not a good entry.
Because $NUGT is a 3x ETF, I have the chance to see some decay from rebalancing. Maybe not too much in just a month.
Enjoy your trading.
No comments:
Post a Comment