OIH
Oil collapsing... Will algos get their $5.21 barrel?Oil collapsing... Will algos get their $5.21 barrel?
Algo Target Reached $12.91. 9-Year Old Algo Target is at $5.21!Algos targeting $5.21 in oil prices (OANDA CFD here). First green algo target reached at $12.91. Bullish if the pitchfork median lines remain untouched!
Buying long Cabot Oil & GasI've been watching this natural gas producer as it's one of the most productive gas producers with one of the best balance sheets out there in a highly beaten up industry. Their valuation is great despite some challenges in the natural gas industry, and they saw a huge selloff after worsened guidance recently. I'm now buying on this weakness.
Here is why:
Daily Demark 13 exhaustion was just triggered. These have a wonderful history of timing reversals.
Oversold on RSI all time spans
Oversold on bollinger band moves
Just hit the very long term lower trendline that has existed since before the GFC. It promptly touched and reversed, showing that the market recognizes this as resistance. At the bare minimum, we're likely to see a reversal within the next few weeks, possibly after retesting the trend or consolidating around it.
Combine that with very low valuations, an a product (natural gas) that isn't quite as economically cyclical heading into a potentially recessionary environment, and I really like the outlook here.
THE WEEK AHEAD: ORCL, GDXJ, TBT, TLT, SMH, OIHEARNINGS
ORCL (50/29) releases earnings on Wednesday after market close, so look to put on a play in the waning hours of Wednesday's New York session.
Pictured here is a non-standard short strangle, with the short call side doubled up in order to compensate for greater than one dollar wide strikes: 1.30 credit, break evens at 48.70/58.15, and delta/theta of -5.52/58.15.
As of Friday close, the June 21st to July 19th monthly volatility contraction is from 46.6% to 29.3% or about 29.7%.
Look to manage intratrade by rolling the untested side toward current price on approaching worthless with a 50% max take profit target.
Generally, I don't play stuff this small that doesn't have dollar wides, since rolling intratrade can be a headache, as can rolling out, since there is limited strike availability. It's really another aspect of liquidity, which is not only about the width of markets intraexpiry, but also about the availability of expiries out in time, as well as strikes.
BROAD MARKET
EEM (27/20)
QQQ (23/20); NDX (24/20)
IWM (23/19); RUT (25/19)
SPY (21/15); SPX (19/15)
EFA (16/13)
With 33 days to go in the July cycle and 61 to go for August, we're kind of in the "in between" for the 45 days 'til expiry sweet spot, so I would wait until August comes closer into view for either broad market or sector if you want to keep things in that 45 days 'til expiry wheelhouse.
SECTOR EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS
Top 5 By Rank: GDXJ (62/31), TBT (52/24), TLT (51/12), SMH (50/31), OIH (49/40).
SINGLE NAME WITH EARNINGS IN THE REAR VIEW
A lot of earnings start kicking off in the July cycle, so would wait to play these as earnings announcement volatility contraction plays instead of wading in here and getting caught in a volatility expansion.
ME PERSONALLY
To keep things simple, mundane, and boring throughout the summer months, I'm looking to just to play broad market for the next couple of cycles -- SPY/SPX, QQQ/NDX, and IWM/RUT. (See, e.g., RUT Sept Iron Condor below).
THE WEEK AHEAD: COST EARNINGS; EEM, OIH, XOP, TSLAEARNINGS
COST (46/25) announces earnings on Thursday after market close, so look to put on a play in the waning hours of the regular New York session.
Pictured here is an iron condor in the July (53 days) expiry with the short options at their respective 20 delta strikes. Preliminarily, it's paying 1.55 at the mid price, a smidge shy of one-third the width of the wings, with break evens wide of the expected move at 228.45/266.55 and delta/theta metrics of -1.41/1.93, and a buying power effect of 3.45.
For those who don't like waiting as long for their candy, the June monthly (28 days) iron condor with the shorties set up nearest the 20 delta -- the 230/235/260/265 is paying spot on one-third the width of 1.68 with break evens at 233.32/261.68, delta/theta metrics of -1.65/3.80, and a buying power effect of 3.32.
As of Friday close, the May 31st (4 days) to June volatility contraction is from 34.7% to 24.7% or about 28.8%.
Look to manage intratrade by rolling the untested side toward current price on approaching worthless with a 50% max take profit target.
BROAD MARKET
Majors are at the lower end of their 52-week ranges with background implied in QQQ and IWM in the low 20's; SPY and EFA, in the teens:
EEM (32/21)
QQQ (27/21)
IWM (28/20)
SPY (27/16)
EFA (23/16)
The EEM July 19th 36/40/40/44 iron fly is paying 25% of the width of the longs (8-wide) at 2.05 and break evens right at the expected move of 37.95/42.05, delta/theta metrics of -9.01/1.09, with a buying power effect of 1.95. Look to take profit at 25% max, as you would with a short straddle. Generally, these can't be effectively managed intratrade to delta balance without adding setup, so any trade management has to occur toward the back end of the cycle (i.e., taking untested off at approaching worthless, rolling out tested, selling untested side against in new cycle, assuming that the roll out of the tested and the sell against can be done for a net credit).
QQQ is paying slightly more than one-third the width of the wings for the short option strikes nearest the 20's -- the 163/166/188/191: 1.16 credit, break evens at 164.84/189.16, delta/theta metrics of -3.55/1.55, and a buying power effect of 1.84. Manage intratrade by rolling in untested on approaching worthless toward current price; 50% max take profit.
A similarly delta'd IWM setup is paying 1.06: the July 19th 137/141/159/162, with break evens of 139.94/160.06, delta/theta metrics of -1.82/1.34, and a buying power effect of 1.94. 50% max take profit. Manage intratrade by rolling in untested on approaching worthless toward current price; 50% max take profit.
SECTOR EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS
Top 5 By Rank: GDXJ (45/28); ASHR (42/28); OIH (40/37); XLB (41/31); EEM (32/21).
The only short straddle paying in excess of 10% of the value of the stock is OIH with the July 19th 14 short straddle paying 1.51 versus 13.81 spot. The at-the-money short straddle in the closely correlated XOP (30/34), the July 19th 27, is also paying > 10%: 2.82 versus 27.12 spot. Manage intratrade by rolling in untested side on approaching worthless to cut net delta in half without inverting to a width greater than credits received; 25% max take profit.
SINGLE NAME WITH EARNINGS IN THE REAR VIEW
TSLA (62/83). The July cycle iron condor set up nearest the 20's -- the 150/155/235/240 is paying 1.78 at the mid, -31/1.65 delta/theta. Markets are wide, so look to do some price discovery if you want to get in on a play. Manage intratrade by rolling in untested on approaching worthless toward current price; 50% max take profit.
THE WEEK AHEAD: M EARNINGS; OIH, XOP, ASHR, FXI, IBB PREMIUMI'm personally not doing a ton here with May opex a mere week away and June at 40 days until expiry, which is a smidge short of that 45 day wheel house I like to use for putting on plays. However, there is "stuff" to do if you're so inclined ... .
M (71/54) announces earnings on Wednesday before market open, so you'll want to shoot for a fill on whatever you do on Tuesday before market close. Pictured here is a fairly Plain Jane June 21st 20/25 directionally neutral short strangle paying 1.08 at the mid price with break evens of 18.92/26.08 and delta/theta metrics of -2.51/2.84. With May opex options having an implied of 88.9% versus June's 49.6%, we're looking at a fairly big volatility crush post-earnings ... .
Macy's has been hammered (it's within 5% of its 52-week low of 22.11), so I could also see the attractiveness of just going purely directional here. The June 21st 22 short put is paying 1.34 with a cost basis of 20.66 in shares if assigned (an 8% discount over current price). It pays an annualized dividend of 1.51 -- a 6.65% yield -- with the last quarterly divvy of .37 being distributed on 4/1 with a record date of 3/15 (i.e., you want to get into shares before 6/15 or so if you want to grab the next dividend).
On the exchange-traded fund front, here are the top five ordered by rank -- ASHR (74/32), GDXJ (51/28), FXI (50/23), IBB (46/26), and EFA (44/14), and the top five ordered by 30-day: OIH (37/34), XOP (29/33), ASHR (74/32), EWZ (25/32), and XBI (39/32). If I was going to be picky here, I'd probably wait for more ideal rank/30-day metrics (>50/>35), but ASHR approaches those metrics, even though it falls short of the 30-day 35% mark by a touch.
Here are some ASHR setups that might be worth looking at:
The June 21st 23/26/28/31 Iron Condor: It's almost so narrow in the body as to approach an iron fly, but it's the only way you'll get one-third the width of the wings out of a defined risk setup without going full-on fly. Paying 1.09 at the mid price (.54 at 50 max), it's got expected move break evens and a delta/theta metric of -3.20/1.27.
The June 21st 27 Short Straddle: Paying 2.20 at the mid price (.55 at 25 max), break evens at 24.80/29.20, delta/theta of -5.22/2.70.
Alternatively, there is the more liquid FXI (50/23). Although you'll have to put up with a lower 30-day, you can be more surgical since market makers have been kind enough to provide half-dollar strikes even in the monthly 40 days out.
The June 21st 37.5/40.5/43.5/46.5 pays 1.01 with break evens wide of the expected move at 39.49/44.51 and delta/theta numbers of -2.69/1.36.
The June 21st even-striked 40/44 short strangle pays 1.02 with more forgiving break evens at 38.98/45.02 and delta/theta figures of 2.06/2.58.
Update USOIL: API inventory BUILD shows signs of a topAPI data released at 4.30pm EST on Tuesday show a "surprise" build, however, with expected weakness in hard data there should be no surprises. EIA data will either confirm or deny API's release.
Update USOIL: Expect a reversal in Crude Oil around this areaCrude has reached and surpassed our expected target of $61.60 for a reversal. Look for weakness into the close of day today.
Update USOIL: Look for a reversal here...We can see slight higher highs from here, however, I expect to see a reversal somewhere between the current price and $61.60
THE WEEK AHEAD: RIG, CRON, IQ, CZR EARNINGS; OIH/XOPEARNINGS:
RIG (30/54) announces on Monday after market close; CRON (18/98), Tuesday before market open; and CZR (45/58) and IQ (22/64) on Thursday after market close.
RIG Setups:
Given its size (8.93/share as of Friday close), only a short straddle makes sense for a nondirectional play. Unfortunately, the March 9 only pays .96, making a 25% max take profit a marginal trade. The April 9 pays more (1.44) with a 25% max of .36, which doesn't exactly rock my socks.
CRON Setups:
Pictured here is a 16 delta short strangle in the April expiry which is preliminarily paying 1.87 at the mid (.93 at 50% max) with a delta of .55 and a theta of 3.68. The March 16 delta at the 17/28 was paying .93 (.46 at 50%) with a delta of .84 and a theta of 4.74.
For those of a defined risk bent, I'd probably go out to April for more room to be wrong: the April 18th 14/17/30/33 brings in 1.10 preliminarily (.55 at 50%), delta 4.26, theta 1.05.
CZR Setups:
Like RIG, CZR is on the small side (9.15 as of Friday close). The March 9 short straddle is paying 1.12; the April, 1.52 (another non-sock rocker).
IQ Setups:
In spite of its sexy background volatility, single strikes aren't available in either the March or April monthlies, making this underlying particularly pesky to work a nondirectional like a short strangle or iron condor with "surgical precision." Consequently, I could see taking a bullish assumption shot either via short put -- the April 20 (30 delta) is paying 1.13 with a downside break even of 18.87 (a 13.4% discount over current price), or the April 25 short straddle that pays 6.38 with a 39 long delta metric and break evens of 18.62/31.38. A May 25 short straddle may be available next week post-February opex, which would present a flatter delta metric for the 25 short strad than the April setup.
EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS
The top five ranked by implied: UNG (51/57), OIH (22/31), XOP (17/30), EWZ (13/30), and USO (15/30). Although ranks are generally at the low end of their 52 week-ranges given the volatility spike we experienced in December, I'll continue to sell nondirectional premium (short straddles, generally) in my petro go-to, XOP, albeit using a smaller numbers of contracts than when background volatility was higher.
THE WEEK AHEAD: IBM, SBUX, USO, OIH, XOP(Pulling hair out). Ugh. A tough market temporarily for premium sellers. With VIX caving in dramatically off of its late December greater-than-35 highs, premium selling is the old gray mare that (temporarily) just ain't what it used to be.
That being said, there are a couple of potential earnings plays to be had next week: IBM (68/31; Tuesday after market close) and SBUX (67/27; Thursday after market close).
As you can see by the background implied volatility metrics, well, they ain't great, with IBM coming in at 31 and SBUX at 27. That being said, the February to March implied volatility contraction in IBM at the moment appears to be potentially from 32.7% to 26.6% (23% or so), and the SBUX from 25.7% to 23.5% (9.4%). From that standpoint, IBM appears to be the better volatility contraction play, since the market's pricing in a bigger contraction in the "Watson AI" company than in the omnipresent coffee purveyor. However, if you're going to play Watson, you're going to have to deal with goofy five-wides in the monthlies which, in itself, makes the play unappealing. Using the weeklies for a more surgical approach gets you fairly wide markets. Again, unappealing. (Scratches IBM off his list).
SBUX suffers from the same problem, but with two-and-a-half wides. I remember playing SBUX before, but don't recall having this two-and-half wide nonsense in the monthlies. (Scratches SBUX off his list, too).
On the exchange-traded fund front, some implied volatility juice appears to be concentrated in the petros -- USO, OIH, and XOP, where it pretty much is to a lesser or greater degree all the time. This is why I pretty much have some kind of trade on and running in XOP almost all the time. (See Post Below for my current XOP trade). This isn't necessarily the greatest place to start a relationship with this underlying (the implied volatility's at the low end of its 52-week range), but it's not paying horribly. Due to its relatively small size (31.60 at Friday close), I like to short straddle it -- the March 15th 32 short straddle is paying 2.92 at the mid with a 25% max take profit .73, which beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
In light of the broad market volatility crush, this is just one of those weeks where I don't anticipate putting much on unless something dramatically changes or I stumble across something directional to play. Until then, I'll just sit on a bunch of dry powder, and it deploy it when the time comes.
THE WEEK AHEAD: DAL, OIH/XOP, XLK, FCXAfter a short break for shortened trading weeks for the Christmas and New Year's holidays (how bout them holiday markets, huh?), I'm back to my regular routine. Here's what's on tap for the coming week ... .
Earnings:
I'm not seeing much on the earnings front for volatility contraction plays or premium plays in high implied volatility around earnings that are giving me that "come hither" look. I did look at DAL (65/40; earnings on Thursday), but it's got goofy two-and-a-halfs on the call side in the Feb expiry where I'd want to set up my tent, which could make call side trade management problematic. The very last type of headache I want to have with a trade is being forced to roll to a goofy strike or do something whacky because of strike unavailability. That being said, the February 15th 45 short put is paying 1.26 (30 delta) with a break even of 43.74 (8.5% discount over current price; divvy yield is 2.80%; 1.40 annualized) should that type of play strike your fancy.
Exchange-Traded Funds Ordered by Implied Volatility Rank:
GDX 73/33
USO 69/53
OIH 64/46
IYR 62/21
GDXJ 59/34
... And Ordered by 30-Day Implied:
UNG 38/54
USO 59/53
OIH 64/46
XOP 53/43
EWZ 27/35
As usual, petro (USO, OIH, XOP) is sticking out for volatility, which is kind of why I like to be in some kind of play with a premium selling component on a virtually constant basis. OIH and XOP continue to dribble along at the low end of their ranges, so my preference would be for bullish assumption setups there with no or limited upside risk (short puts, upward call diagonals, lizards) in the short to medium term. Having gotten out of an XOP upward call diagonal last week, I'll probably re-up with something in the February cycle and will post that trade here separately later in the week.
Broad Market:
QQQ: 59/30
IWM: 52/26
XLK: 48/30
SPY: 25/24
I've thrown XLK (technology) in here because of its close correlation with SPY (3-month of .86). In comparison, it's got slightly better volatility metrics, but is also one-fourth the price, so you can potentially proxy a broad market play without hanging as much buying power out there as you would with one of the majors.
Trade of the Week:
Pictured here is an FCX (62/57) upward call diagonal (bullish assumption) setup (with an overlay of copper futures). Although it's got earnings in 18, I'm just looking to get in on weakness and in a fairly high volatility environment. Moreover, I can get in fairly cheaply with a greater than 180 day back month, which will give me plenty of time to reduce cost basis in the diagonal. I went with the March 12 short call strike for the front month because the Feb 11 was "too close," and the Feb 12 was "too far away" (not enough collected for the short call). Metrics: Max Loss on Setup: $278; Max Profit on Setup: $122; Break Even: 10.78 versus 10.82 spot; Debit Paid to Spread Width Ratio: 69.5%.
THE WEEK AHEAD: TAX LOSS TIME; OIH/XOP/XLE, XRT, JNKWith but a few trading days left in 2018, it's time to consider taking tax losses in non-tax deferred accounts
Personally, I flattened out of virtually everything on Friday, taking my lumps here particularly in my SPY, QQQ static, defined risk core positions in this fairly atypical year-end sell-off so that I can start off 2019 fairly clean, with smaller 2018 capital gains being the small consolation prize. Nevertheless, I still have a few crap piles left that I'll continue reducing cost basis on because I don't need the losses here and/or want to hold on to them for potential use next year, as well as a couple things that have "magically" worked out in the short- to medium term that I don't want to take gains on.
Along with this broad market sell-off, however, comes potential opportunities, and I've been pouring over sector exchange-traded fund charts to see where the comparatively huge weaknesses lie for potential bullish assumption plays to start off the new year. Here are a couple of preliminary ideas, the brass tacks of which I'll get into after we ring in the new year.
OIH/XOP/XLE
Pick your poison. With oil crashing from a high of nearly $77/barrel at the beginning of October to finish Friday at $45.42, OIH, XOP, and XLE have followed suit, with OIH hitting lows not seen since the turn of the century; XOP and XLE aren't far behind.
The play: I generally favor upward call diagonals, since you can fiddle with front to back month duration, and therefore maximum per trade exposure as compared to WOF*-fing or SPACK**-ing which subjects you to full notional risk, meaning that you'll have to mentally aside the buying power for those in order to take on a full one lot of shares (13.65 for OIH, 25.35 for XOP, and 56.11 for XLE) if you're going the WOF/SPACK route. Going longer dated with the back month requires a wider diagonal spread for an ideal setup (break even at or below market price of underlying; debit paid <75% of the spread width), so you can tailor the setup to your account size and/or risk appetite for the play; personally, I don't like to go with anything shorter than split month, since I like to have plenty of opportunity to reduce cost basis, and a one-month doesn't give you that, in my opinion.
You'll naturally want to compare and contrast whether going call diagonal versus naked short put gives you buying power relief on margin, particularly for something like OIH, which was trading at 13.65 as of Friday close. The buying power effect of a 13 short put, for example, should be about 20% of notional, or 2.60. In a cash secured environment, you'll generally always get relief, since the short put would invoke 13.65 in notional/buying power, and a 90/30 upward call diagonal regardless of which expiry you use for the back month is unlikely to involve something greater than a 13-wide.***
XRT
Fourth quarter earnings are generally the best quarter for retail, given the amount of cash people lay out for the holiday season. XRT is at long-term range lows, so I like a bullish assumption play to take advantage of this seasonality, with the front month in fourth quarter earnings season (Jan or Feb) and the back month in the next (March or April), since earnings are likely to contract off of their holiday peaks.
As with the OIH/XOP/XLE bullish assumption play, you'll want to compare and contrast a short put over the relief you'd get over doing a 90/30 diagonal, and evaluate whether the possibility of taking on full notional risk is something you want to do given your risk appetite and/or account size.
* -- "WOF" -- "Wheel of Fortune" put sold at the nearest the money strike. Run to expiration, you keep the premium if it expires worthless. If assigned, you proceed to sell calls against.
** -- "SPACK" -- "Short Put/Acquire/Cover" put sold generally at the 20-30 delta. Run to expiration, you keep the preem on worthless expiry. As with the WOF trade, you proceed to sell calls against, at or above your cost basis.
*** -- The OIH April 18th 30 delta short call strike is at the 16, so a 13-wide would be a back month at a 3 strike. The lowest strike available in any expiry is a 10.
JNK
Yes, junk. With a 5.88% yield as of Friday close (1.98/share annually; $198/one lot versus TLT's 2.85%), junk is attractive from a yield perspective and could be a decent place to park cash here while the equities markets gyrate themselves out. Nevertheless, well, it's "junk," and really the only way I want to be in it is if I can fully hedge it while sucking in the divvies.
This is how the setup would work. First, price out the next monthly at-the-money/out-of-the money short call vertical. For example, the March 34/36 short call vertical is paying .33 at the mid with a delta metric of -27.16; sell it. Because it's -27 delta, you'll want to buy 27 shares of JNK, resulting in a delta neutral, fully hedged position. Naturally, you'll have to manage it as you would any other position, rolling the short call vertical down or out in time to keep the full setup (stock + short call vert) in delta balance, with the downside being that if price moves up into your short call vertical, you'll have to in all likelihood widen it out to receive a credit for it on roll. Of course, 27 shares of JNK is probably not going to rock your world with divvies, but you can scale up over time or at the gate.
ESV on the 13 TD Countdown Exhaustion SignalESV extending its decline beyond the Brent move, opening a divergence. Gap should fill.
It's also close to previous major bottoms.
Sentiment on extreme low.
Demark indicators pointing for reversal.
Target 6.12
Stop 4
THE WEEK AHEAD: ADBE, COST EARNINGS; OIH, XOP, UNG DIRECTIONALSPersonally, I'm not doing a ton here beyond looking at cleaning up remaining December cycle setups and evaluating whether there are poo piles that should be looked at for the taking of tax loss in the margin account before year's end. Nevertheless, here's an outline of what's potentially playable in the coming week ... .
ADBE (81/49) announces earnings on Thursday the 13th after market close. The 20-delta, January 18th 210/270 short strangle is paying a whopping 8.05/contract at the mid price, with the 25-delta January 18th 215/220/265/270 paying greater than one-third the width of the wings at a mid price of 2.13. Markets are showing quite wide at the moment, particularly in the defined risk setup, however, so it may prove unattractive at New York open from a liquidity standpoint.
COST (76/31) also announces on Thursday after market close, but the background implied isn't generally what I'm looking for in an earnings-related volatility contraction play (generally, >50% is where I draw my "picky line").
On the exchange-traded fund front, petro leads the pack, with OIH rank/implied metrics coming in at 95/47, XOP at 79/44, and UNG at 72/86. With OPEC reaching an agreement late last week as to production cuts, I lean toward bullish assumption setups with time to work out/reduce cost basis, since it will take awhile for any cuts to appear in the pipeline. For example: an XOP June/Feb 25/34 upward call diagonal,* 6.55 debit/contract, break even at 31.55 versus 31.54 spot, max profit on setup of 2.45, 72.8% debit paid/spread width ratio. I'm already in a similar OIH bullish assumption setup, which is proving to be a "pulled the trigger" too soon type of thing. The back month in the OIH setup is in April, so I've still got time to reduce cost basis and for the trade to work out in some fashion, even though it's a bit of a rough sled here.
With UNG in particular, I continue to look at a bearish assumption seasonality play, but markets on any given setup have been ugly wide, no matter what type of setup I seem to look at, and lack of liquidity is not your friend when doing an options setup.
For broad market premium sellers: SPY (47/30), IWM (78/25), QQQ (69/27).
* -- Buy the June 25, sell the February 34.
THE WEEK AHEAD: XOP, OIH, USO, XLE, UNG, EEMEarnings With >70 Rank/>50 Implied:
No underlyings with highly liquid options with earnings announcements in the next week. With single names with earnings announcements in the rear view mirror, we're looking at earnings starting up again in the January cycle; I'd rather just play those closer to the announcement, rather than get caught up in a volatility expansion (e.g., CAT (84/40) with earnings in 53 vs. January opex 47 days until expiration).
Exchange-Traded Funds With >50 Rank/>35 Implied
XOP (81/44)
OIH (81/43)
USO (81/57)
XLE (75/27)
UNG (75/88)
Notes: As you can see by the pictured setup, XOP is at the bottom of its 52-week range. With OPEC talks right around the corner (and likely jawboning to ensue), I'm slightly enamored with a bullish assumption setup here as compared to a nondirectional premium selling play, even though there's premium to be had (the Jan 18th 29/37 short strangle's paying 1.09 with a 70% probability of profit). Last week, I entered into a similar setup in OIH, (See Post Below), since it's gotten the sledge hammer to a greater degree than the rest of the petro-sensitive exchange traded funds.
In any event, here are the metrics for the pictured play: Max Loss on Setup/Buying Power Effect: 4.02 debit/contract; Max Profit on Setup: 1.98/contract; Break Even on Setup: 33.02 vs. for a 6-wide, BE at 33.02 vs. 32.81 spot; Debit Paid/Spread Width Ratio: 67%. Look to roll the short call aspect out on significant loss of value (usually 50% max) and to take profit at 50% max (.99/$99 per contract).
UNG has been pesky. I've looked at getting into a bearish assumption, seasonality-related short setup, but every time I look, the markets are stupid-wide, making it unattractive from an entry/exit perspective. Given its high rank/implied, however, it might be amenable to a bearishly skewed oppositional setup if you're willing to do a bit of price discovery and not settle for sub-mid price nonsense: the Jan 18th 27/46 short strangle is paying 2.92 at the mid with a net delta metric of =25.44 and break evens at 24.08 and 48.92, which covers a fairly huge swath of the 52-week range. If you're willing to spend a little more time in the trade, the April 18th 26/46 pays 4.91 at the mid, is =29.44 delta, and has break evens of 21.09 and 50.91, although I could see the reluctance to hang yourself out there undefined given the movement it's experienced over the last several weeks.
Broad Market Exchange-Traded Funds Ranked By 30-Day Implied
EEM 26
QQQ 24
IWM 20
SPY 18
EFA 18
Notes: The EEM Jan 18th 41 short straddle is paying 2.69; the ~30 delta, 39/43 short strangle pays 1.15. I've been working it via double diagonal with a short straddle body, just so I don't have to leg into and out of the long strangle aspect and to budget buying power devoted to the trade. (See Post Below).
OPENING: OIH JAN/APRIL 16/20 UPWARD CALL DIAGONAL... for a 2.62/contract credit.
Metrics:
Max Profit on Setup: $138/contract
Max Loss on Setup: $262/contract
Debit Paid to Spread Width Ratio: 65.5%
Break Even: 18.62 vs. 18.60 spot
Notes: Taking a bullish assumption directional shot in OIH with plenty of time to work out/reduce cost basis ... . Will look at taking profit at 50% max.
HAL: Interesting long entry...I think $HAL is poised to rise up to 50% from here, it tested a monthly support and held up, and is now shooting up with oil coming out of a correction. I'm entering positions at market open, and looking to add over time as the trend develops, if it does bottom here as I see it now.
Best of luck,
Ivan Labrie.
OIH/WTI Spread Should Close - Long OIH / Short CL (USOIL)OIH/WTI Spread Should Close - Long OIH / Short CL (USOIL).
Red Circles Spread.
