Closing (IRA): ARKG July 16th 61.21 Short Put... for a .23/contract credit.
Comments: Put on when the expiry-specific implied was at 56% (See Post Below), it's crushed in here to 38.8%, so I got movement away from the short put strike + volatility crush. No sense in hanging out another 36 days for the remainder of the extrinsic. In for 1.74; out for .23; 1.51 ($151) profit/contract.
Shortput
Closing (IRA): IWM June 30th 200 Short Put... for a .31 debit.
Comments: Collected a total of 3.79, (See Post Below). 3.79 - .31 = 3.48 ($348) profit. Closed today rather than rolling, since IWM implied has come in quite a bit; it's currently 22.4% and at the very bottom of its 52-week range. I also still have contracts in the July 2nd weekly, the July 16th monthly, and the July 23rd weekly, so not adding more in July won't kill me.
Closing (IRA): MJ July 18th 18 Short Put... for .14/per contract.
Comments: In for .48 (See Post Below), out for .14. .34 ($34)/contract profit with 39 days to go. No sense in hanging out another 39 days for the remaining .14. Implied is still pretty decent here with 30-day at 44.8%, so may re-up in a bit when an August monthly becomes available, assuming the volatility is still there.
Rolling (IRA): SPY December 17th 240 to 297 Short Put... for a 1.75 credit.
Comments: In this particular case, I don't want to extend duration (since it's already ridiculously long-dated as it is), so am just rolling up intraexpiry for a credit at around 50% max. Total credits collected of 3.33 (See Post Below) + 1.75 = 5.08 versus a short put value of 3.03 here, so I've realized a gain of 2.05 ($205) so far.
Rolling (IRA): SPY August 20th 345 to September 17th 358... short put for a 1.94 credit.
Comments: At 50% max, rolling month to month to the strike paying at least 1% of the strike in credit (i.e., the 358 is paying 3.60, which is just a smidge over 1%). Total credits collected of 7.07 (See Post Below) plus 1.94 = 9.01 versus a current short put value of 3.60 = a realized gain of 5.41 ($541) so far.
Rolling (IRA): SPY July 16th 385 Short Put to August 20th 381... for a 2.01 credit.
Comments: With the July 16th 385 approaching 50% max, rolling month to month to the strike that pays at least 1% of the strike in credit. Total credits collected of 14.12 (See Post Below) plus 2.01 = 16.13 versus a value for the August 381 short put of 3.78 or so (i.e., a realized gain of 16.13 - 3.78 or 12.35 ($1235).
Rolling (IRA): QQQ June 30th 288 to July 23rd 305 Short Put... for a 2.22 credit.
Comments: Total credits collected of 3.10 (See Post Below) + 2.22 = 5.32 versus a short put value of 2.32 = a realized gain of 3.00 so far. Previously, I rolled down and out as a "window dressing" roll, but like the idea of being in all three majors (SPY, IWM, and QQQ) to take advantage of some rotational stuff going on, so decided to stay in the play and roll out. Naturally, rolling on a red day or a series of red days would have been more ideal ... .
Rolling (IRA): IWM June 25th 202.5 Short Put to July 23rd 205... for a 1.69 credit.
Comments: Was hoping for a red day here after yesterday's price action, but can't have everything. In any event: with only .58 or so left in the 202.5, rolling out to the July 23rd 16 delta strike at the 205 for a 1.69 credit in lieu of adding units. Total credits collected of 4.12 (See Post Below) + 1.69 or 5.81 versus the 205's current value of around 2.30, so I've realized a gain of 3.50 or so far.
The Week Ahead: ARKK, ARKG, GDXJ, MJ, XBI, XLE, X, CLF, SAVE, FHere's where the premium was at as of Friday's close:
Broad Market Exchange-Traded Funds With 30-Day Implied >20%:
IWM (1/23)
Comments: I have quite a bit of IWM on here, but my order of preference is broad market, then sector, then single name, so am comfortable with adding if we get both weakness and a pop in volatility. IWM/RUT has been fairly rangebound, so it's worthwhile to pop open a chart and see where the bottom of the range is and where any puts you sell are relative to the range between 210 and 235.
Sector Exchange-Traded Funds With 30-Day Implied > 35%:
ARKK (31/45)
ARKG (18/41)
GDXJ (0/40)
MJ (7/40)
XBI (12/38)
XLE (2/36)
Comments: I've got ARKK, ARKG, and MJ July monthlies on, so I may look to add some GDXJ, even though its implied volatility is literally at the bottom of the 52-week range (which is still afflicted by the 2020 pandemic range, so implied volatility rank/percentile aren't all that helpful here), and it isn't exactly weak relative to where it's been. MJ and XBI are currently the most weak out of the group, so I'm personally leaning toward putting on some more XBI, having taken have a June trade last week.
Single Name With 30-Day >50% That Do Not Have Earnings Before Contract Expiry:
X (Steel) (9/74)
CLF (Basic Materials) (18/73)
SAVE (Airlines) (2/55)
F (Autos) (19/55)
OXY (Oil and Gas) (8/53)
SABR (Airlines; Technology) (25/51)
MRO (Oil and Gas) (0/50)
Comments: Given the slim pickings in the broad market and exchange-traded funds space, I've made a list of options highly liquid single name to potentially play while I wait for broad market or sector volatility to return. This list isn't exhaustive, and I've culled out a ton of meme names that have juicy implied volatility but are more likely to become a headache because they're (ironically) too volatile or they're in a space where they're more likely to blow up in my face (e.g., biopharma research and development, crypto).
Pictured here is an X July 16th 22 Short Put (20 delta), paying .74/contract as of Friday close, 3.48% ROC at max/27.6% annualized. As you can see, that play is somewhat close to price action of late, so I'd only put that play on if you're comfortable with potentially taking assignment at 22 and then wheeling it from there. Alternatively, opt for a setup that is consistent with any directional assumption you have as to where U.S. Steel goes from here and that takes advantage of the high implied here.
Closing (IRA): XBI June 18th 115 Short Put... for a .37/contract debit.
Comments: In for 1.50/contract (See Post Below), out for .37/contract here; 1.13 ($113) profit per contract with 21 days to go. It's still somewhat weak here, but implied volatility has crushed into sub-35, which is kind of my exchange-traded fund implied volatility cut-off.
Rolling (IRA): SPY July 16th 367 to August 20th 378... for a 2.56 credit.
Comments: With the July 16th 367 at greater than 50% max, rolling it to the next monthly strike paying at least 1% of the strike price in credit. So far, I've collected 8.75 + 2.56 in credits or 11.31 ($1131) of which 7.39 ($739) is realized gain. It would be better to roll this on a red day or when implied volatility is better, but the goal here is to stay mechanical, rather than trying to collect "ideal" premium each and every roll.
Rolling (IRA): QQQ June 25th 300 Short Put to July 2nd 294... for a .04 credit.
Comments: Here, a take profit/window dressing roll. Put on for 3.01 (See Post Below), it's at greater than 50% max here. I want to take profit, but reduce risk by rolling the strike a little bit further away from current price, as well as milk the remaining premium out of the play without extending duration a ton. With the July 2nd 294 worth only 1.42 here, I've realized a gain of 3.01 - 1.42 or 1.59 ($159).
Opening (IRA): MJ July 16th 18 Short Put... for a .48/contract credit.
Comments: 30-day at 40.2%. 2.74% ROC at max as a function of notional risk, no doubt due in part that I had to go in a little bit more aggressive than usual due to the lack of delta granularity from strike to strike. It was either this strike (24 delta) or the 17 (14 delta).
Rolling (IRA): IWM June 11th 207.5 Short Put to July 16th 199... for a 1.16 credit.
Comments: With the June 11th 207.5 at >50% max, rolling it out to the July monthly 16 delta strike for a 1.16 credit. Total credits collected of 2.43 (See Post Below) + 1.16 = 3.59 versus a current value of 2.23, so I've realized a gain of 1.36 ($136) on this so far. I would've rolled out to the July 9th weekly, but one isn't available yet.
Rolling (IRA): SPY June 18th 389 Short Put to July 385 Short Put... for a 1.88 credit.
Comments: With the June 389 at 50% max on this up move, rolling out to the July 16 delta strike, locking in the realized gain. Total credits collected of 14.12 (See Post Below) versus a current short put value in the July 385 of 3.46, so I've realized gains of 14.12 - 3.46 or 10.66 ($1066) so far.
Rolling (IRA): IWM June 4th 205 Short Put to July 2nd 200... for a 1.42 credit.
Comments: With only 14 days to go and at >50% max, rolling this down and out to the 16 delta strike nearest 45 days until expiry. Total credits collected of 6.55 (See Post Below) + 1.42 = 7.97 relative to the July 2nd 200 current price of 2.04, so I've realized a gain of 5.93 so far.
Rolling (IRA): QQQ June 18th 297 Short Put to June 30th 288... for an .11 credit.
Comments: Here, doing a little "window dressing" rolling ... . With the 297 at greater than 50% max (See Post Below), rolling it down and out in duration a little bit for a realized gain and a small credit. Here, I just want to take profit up to this point and reduce risk (since the 288 is farther away from current price than the 297, but also milk the remaining risk premium out of the play. Total credits collected of 2.99 + .11 = 3.10 versus the June 30th 288 current short put value of 1.46, so I've realized a profit of 3.10 - 1.46 or 1.64 ($164) so far.
Opening (IRA): IWM July 2nd 197.5 Short Put... for a 2.38 credit.
Comments: Weakened quite a bit into the close, so phone-app'd my weekly, 16 delta short put in the broad market exchange-traded fund with the highest 30-day in the contract nearest 45 days until expiry. Will look to take profit via roll or close on approaching worthless or, alternatively, take assignment of shares and sell call against if it comes to that.
Trade Idea: RIOT June 18th 17 or August 20th 15 Short PutRIOT announces earnings on Monday, so I'm not keen on stepping in front of what is likely to be a moving bus. However, I may consider something post-earnings and wanted to price things out here ahead of time to give me some idea as to where I might want to set up up my tent and what that might be paying. Unfortunately, the weeklies aren't that great for liquidity, and there's no July monthly at the moment, so would either have to trade June (33 days) or August (96 days). So, like, which one?
June implied is at a whopping 185.3% (no doubt due to earnings); August at 120.7%.
The June 18th 14 delta 17 strike is paying 1.23 at the mid, 7.8% ROC at max, 86.3% annualized; the August 20th 13 delta 15, 1.88, 14.3% at max, 54.4% annualized. I'm using the same approximate delta for both expiries to kind of compare "apples to apples."
Naturally, there are trade-off's. The shorter duration, similarly delta'd June 17 pays more on an annualized basis, but it's closer to at the money. Conversely, the August 20th 15 pays less on an annualized basis, but is farther away from current price, so gives you more room to be wrong, as well as more premium to potentially take off at 50% max -- 50% max of 1.23 is .61; 50% max of 1.88 is .94.
Additionally, the August setup has a smaller buying power effect versus the June: 13.12 versus June's 15.77 (cash secured). On margin, the difference will be smaller with a buying power effect for the 17 being around 3.40; the 15, 3.00 even.
For me, it boils down to answering the question: "Am I comfortable with acquiring it at 17 or more comfortable at acquiring it at 15?" To me, the answer is "lower," and so am mostly likely to go with the August setup. Naturally, this will all be moot if it takes off like a rocket post-earnings, in which case I won't put on a trade.