Opening: BITO June 17th 11/18 Short Put Vertical... for a .48/contract credit.
Comments: High IV with 30-day at 71%.
Unfortunately, I don't get any relief on margin for this particularly underlying, so am buying a cheap long put to bring in buying power effect from 17.46 for the naked 18 to 6.54 for the spread. Paying .07 for the long to bring buying power effect in by >60%.
ROC 7.3% at max as a function of buying power effect; 3.7% at 50% max.
Premiumselling
Opening: SMH June 17th 198/270 Short Strangle... for a 5.55 credit.
Comments: High IVR/high IV (80/46). Selling the 15 delta strikes on both sides. 5.55 credit on buying power effect of 23.58; 23.5% ROC as a function of buying power effect at max; 11.8% ROC at 50% max. As usual, will look to take profit at 50% max and/or manage sides on approaching worthless/side test.
Opening: XRT June 17th 59/82 Short Strangle... for a 2.00 credit.
Comments: High IVR/IV at 91/52. Selling the 16 delta strikes on both sides. Will look to take profit at 50% max; manage sides on approaching worthless/side test. 2.00 credit on buying power effect of 7.10; 28.2% ROC as a function of buying power effect; 14.1% at 50% max.
Rolling (IRA): QQQ May 13th 325 Short Put to June 24th 321... for a 3.85 credit.
Comments: Total credits collected of 3.28 (See Post Below) plus the 3.85 here for a total of 7.13. Wasn't able to both improve the strike a ton here and receive a credit >1% of the strike price, but you do what you can do.
Opening: /ES June 3rd 2900 Short Put... for a 3.40 credit.
Comments: Back onto the roller coaster in the June 3rd expiry (29 days until expiry), selling the strike that is around 70% of where /ES is currently trading. The delta down here is so low that it doesn't make much sense to target a particular strike based on delta (e.g., the .01 delta strike).
As noted previously, this routes for 3.40, but max is only half of that or 1.70 ($170).
Opening: /ES June 3rd 2650 Short Put... for a 3.10 credit.
Comments: Running another of these. As pointed out previously, the options table shows this as worth 3.10, but your max is only half that or 1.55 ($155) on BPE of 19.88. 7.8% ROC at max; 3.9% at 50% max. A basic bet that we don't see 2650 in 35 days.
Opened (IRA): QQQ June 17th 265 Short Put... for a 3.00 credit.
Comments: Filled toward the close, targeting the <16 delta strike in the expiry nearest 45 days until expiry paying at least 1% of the strike price in credit in the broad market exchange-traded fund with the highest 30-day IV.
Some of the rungs of this "ladder" are currently in the money, so can contemplate taking on shares/selling call against or rolling them out in time, but we'll deal with each rung in turn as we get to them.