Global Options Trades

[sideways-sid]

Bought puts to open short positions on Nikkei225, and DAX30. (T2W site was down yesterday morning).

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 21 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 11,100
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 263.0

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 21 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 10,400
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 47.2

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 21 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 07 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 20,750
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 520.2

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 21 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 07 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 19,500
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 110.1

 

[sideways-sid]

Bought puts to open short positions on S&P500.

Security / Ticker: SPX
Open Trade Date: 22 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 2,650
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 63.5

Security / Ticker: SPX
Open Trade Date: 22 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 2,540
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 21.8

 

[sideways-sid]

Took advantage of relatively low volatility to buy straddles.

Security / Ticker: FTSE
Open Trade Date: 28 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 6,750
Direction: Straddle (Call side)
Opening Price: 140.4

Security / Ticker: FTSE
Open Trade Date: 28 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 6,750
Direction: Straddle (Put side)
Opening Price: 144.3


Security / Ticker: SPX
Open Trade Date: 31 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 2,710
Direction: Straddle (Call side)
Opening Price: 49.2

Security / Ticker: SPX
Open Trade Date: 31 January 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 2,710
Direction: Straddle (Put side)
Opening Price: 56.2

 

[sideways-sid]

Closed AtM AUD Puts at a loss and will await a better entry price. OotM Puts are trading at pennies so little point in closing the position.

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 16 January 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 08 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 0.715
Direction: Pu
tOpening Price: 0.0092
Close Trade Date: 31 January 2019
Closing Price: 0.0029
Roundtrip P&L: -68.7%

Rolling monthly P&L (for a contract size of 1 lot in each security) with no compounding is USD1965.

 

[sideways-sid]

Closed Oil Puts to await a better entry price.

Security / Ticker: CL
Open Trade Date: 15 January 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 50.50
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 2.79
Close Trade Date: 01 February 2019
Closing Price: 0.74
Roundtrip P&L: -73.2%

Rolling monthly P&L (for a contract size of 1 lot in each security) with no compounding is USD729.

 

[sideways-sid]

Opened Puts. Oil reversed since Friday whilst AUD replaced trade closed on Thursday.

Security / Ticker: CL
Open Trade Date: 04 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 54.50
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 2.04

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 04 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 08 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 0.72
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 0.0064

 

[jfw215]

Sid,

Thank you for sharing your trading. Can you share a bit more about how you approaching options trading? Perhaps marking up a chart would be helpful.

Best,

J

 

[sideways-sid]

Thanks for posting.

To expand my initial post a bit, trades are opened for one of two reasons - driven by change in direction or expected increase in Volatility.

Directional
A combination of indicators on daily charts (Bollinger Bands, Stochastic oscillator, Moving Averages etc) give me confidence that price direction is changing. I buy AtM options and OotM options for the next month. For OotM, I use historic average movement between peak and trough as the opening price. Most of these expire worthless, but in unusually large price movements, these cheap OotM options provide massive gains. Check oil and SPX trades closed in December for examples.

Volatility
When IV is lower than average and begins to increase, I buy AtM straddles for the next month. It is normal during the life of those options that there will be a price reveral. Closing at that point (with high IV), often produces sufficient profit on one side of the trade to make a profit overall. Sometimes both sides close at a profit. You can see references to these trades earlier in the journal, but the FTSE call closed and shown below is illustrative.

I also sell 6-9month slightly OotM options at reversal points for credit premium so usually end up with a spread. I tend not to include these trades here as those timeframes don't work so well for a forum.

There are six securities for some diversification. Hope this helps.

 

[sideways-sid]

Closed call side of FTSE straddle at a profit.

Security / Ticker: FTSE
Open Trade Date: 28 January 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 6,750
Direction: Straddle
Opening Price: 140.4
Close Trade Date: 07 February 2019
Closing Price: 361.5
Roundtrip P&L: 157.6%

NB Closing price for this trade exceeded the Opening Price for the straddle, so the remaining 6750 Put is effectively free.

Rolling monthly P&L (for a contract size of 1 lot in each security) with no compounding is USD2007.

 

[sideways-sid]

Opened short position on FTSE by Buying Puts.

Security / Ticker: FTSE
Open Trade Date: 07 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 7,100
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 119.5
Close Trade Date: 15 March 2019

Security / Ticker: FTSE
Open Trade Date: 07 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 6,825
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 26.9
Close Trade Date: 15 March 2019

 

[sideways-sid]

Closed Nikkei225 Puts and DAX30 Puts at a loss.

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 21 January 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 07 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 20,750.000
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 520.2
Close Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Closing Price: 220.5
Roundtrip P&L: -57.6%

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 21 January 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 11,100
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 263.0
Close Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Closing Price: 160.5
Roundtrip P&L: -39.0%

In each case, OotM Puts (N225 19500 and DAX 10400) are trading very cheaply, so with a month to run, there is little point in closing them.

Rolling monthly P&L (for a contract size of 1 lot in each security) with no compounding is USD713.

 

[sideways-sid]

Bought Straddle on DAX as volatility was relatively low.

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 11 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 11,000
Direction: Straddle
Opening Price: 190.5

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 11 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 11,000
Direction: Straddle
Opening Price: 183.8

 

[sideways-sid]

Bought Calls in DAX30 and Nikkei225.

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 11,200
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 164.9

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 11,900
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 12.8

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 11 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 21,125
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 489.6

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 11 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 22,250
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 144.3

 

[sideways-sid]

Closed AUD Mar Puts at a profit.

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 04 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 08 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 0.7200
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 0.0064
Close Trade Date: 15 February 2019
Closing Price: 0.0090
Roundtrip P&L: 39.6%

Nikkei 225 19500 Puts expired worthless last week, and DAX 15 Feb 2019 10500 Puts expired worthless on Friday.

Rolling monthly P&L (for a contract size of 1 lot in each security) with no compounding is USD520

 

[sideways-sid]

Bought AUD April Calls.

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 15 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 05 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 0.7150
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 0.0081

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 15 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 05 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 0.7400
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 0.0012

 

[sideways-sid]

Bought FTSE April Puts.

Security / Ticker: FTSE
Open Trade Date: 19 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 18 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 7,150
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 145.4

Security / Ticker: FTSE
Open Trade Date: 19 February 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 18 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 6,875
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 46.7
Close Trade Date: 18 April 2019

 

[sideways-sid]

Quiet range-bound markets for a couple of weeks on my timeframe, but had a reversal on AUDUSD.

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 15 February 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 05 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 0.7150
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 0.0081
Close Trade Date: 01 March 2019
Closing Price: 0.0045
Roundtrip P&L: -44.9%

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 15 February 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 05 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 0.7400
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 0.0012
Close Trade Date: 01 March 2019
Closing Price: 0.0004
Roundtrip P&L: -71.3%

Rolling monthly P&L (for a contract size of 1 lot in each security) with no compounding is USD1669.

 

[sideways-sid]

And bought Puts to initiate a short position.

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 01 March 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 05 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 0.7050
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 0.0051

Security / Ticker: AUD
Open Trade Date: 01 March 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 05 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 0.6850
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 0.0009

 

[sideways-sid]

Closed long Calls on DAX and Nikkei at a profit.

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 11,200
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 164.9
Close Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Closing Price: 409.1
Roundtrip P&L: 148.1%

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 15 March 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 11,850
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 16.1
Close Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Closing Price: 28.3
Roundtrip P&L: 75.9%

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 11 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 21,125
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 489.6
Close Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Closing Price: 769.3
Roundtrip P&L: 57.1%

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 12 February 2019
Trade: Sell to Close
Expiry Date: 11 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 22,250
Direction: Call
Opening Price: 144.4
Close Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Closing Price: 150.0
Roundtrip P&L: 3.9%

Rolling monthly P&L (for a contract size of 1 lot in each security) with no compounding is USD3066.

 

[sideways-sid]

Initiated short positions in DAX and Nikkei by buying Puts following reversal.

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 18 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 11,550
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 202.2

Security / Ticker: DAX
Open Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 18 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 10,850
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 46.9


Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 11 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: AtM
Exercise Price: 21,625
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 373.2

Security / Ticker: N225
Open Trade Date: 04 March 2019
Trade: Buy to Open
Expiry Date: 11 April 2019
At the Money / Out of the Money: OotM
Exercise Price: 20,500
Direction: Put
Opening Price: 115.0