# Portfolio Tracking



## GOB

I've decided to track my main non-registered portfolio here as a source of information for options trading and dividend growth investing. Unlike my last one, this is serious money and I will *not* be happy to lose it all! That being said, the risk profile is still very aggressive due to my age and current investing philosophy. 

I have several goals for this portfolio that I'm aiming to achieve in different ways:

*1. Growth via capital gains*
Obviously, anybody who knows me here knows that I believe is AAPL is still severely undervalued despite being at all-time highs. I have a large core position of AAPL that I believe will provide growth for many years. In addition, I have stocks such as GILD and several oil companies that I believe have potential for serious growth down the road. 

*2. Regular booked profits*
While the amount will fluctuate significantly, I am always looking to book profits via options. My options strategies including selling naked puts, selling covered calls, and buying bullish call and put spreads. I did very well last year using these strategies, and expect to continue.

*3. Dividend growth investing*
I have been making significant effort into building a portfolio for dividend growth. The plan is to see a steady increase in dividends each quarter compared to a year ago. So far so good, as seen in the attachment. The ultimate goal is to be financially independent and be able to live off the dividend income stream that my portfolio generates. A long way to go!

*4. Diversification*
My portfolio is still significantly overweight AAPL, and is even more so in my RRSP and TFSA. I do want to diversify but I'm not interested in selling a single share at current prices. I will achieve diversification buy maintaining my AAPL position (not adding to it) and acquiring strong stocks with any options or dividend income I manage to create. I have been doing this over the last year and will continue to do so. My primary target will be dividend growth stocks, but if there are other growth stocks at attractive valuations I won't hesitate to consider those as well. 

Attached are my 2014 and 2015 capital gains, my dividend tracking and my existing stock and options portfolios. I don't expect to replicate these gains going forward as I have closed a lot of cheap AAPL spreads that I bought near the lows 2 years ago. Don't have many left, so gains will be tougher going forward. The portfolio is currently worth $278,400 CAD. The weak CAD has helped me as most of this portfolio is USD. 

Not shown in the attachment are two other trades I have right now:

1. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 127 PUT (+$920)
2. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 124 PUT (+$280)

I'm not currently planning to add any more funds to this portfolio, but I reserve the right to change my mind. 

Comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome.


----------



## jerryhung

Impressive, thanks for sharing

50K "calculated bet" on AAPL certainly worked out great
Removing AAPL from the portfolio/history may show a complete different picture

I can only say, I missed out AAPL, when everyone else seems to be using iPhone and buying AAPL stock, ha ha


----------



## GOB

Definitely. Remove AAPL and I'm down overall. Also over 80% of my booked profits were on various AAPL options. I know this won't last forever, which is why I'm making the move to set myself up for a lower-risk passive dividend income stream in the future.


----------



## GoLong

You're still holding LRE despite complete cut of div.?


----------



## GOB

In hindsight, LRE was a gamble that didn't work out rather than a solid investment decision. There are a few others in there too. I've actually sold off 50% of my stake in the $2 range, decided to just hang onto the rest on the chance that it pops back up if/when oil recovers. Come December, I might look into selling to offset capital gains, but it'll depend on the situation at the time. 

Going forward, I'm looking to focus on larger, more stable companies. I'll probably avoid oil altogether as I'm invested enough as it is, but if I do get into oil it'll be with a larger name (e.g. SU). Looking to beef up my exposure to banks, insurance, and preferred shares. Hoping for a selloff after the earnings come out.


----------



## GoLong

GOB said:


> In hindsight, LRE was a gamble that didn't work out rather than a solid investment decision. There are a few others in there too. I've actually sold off 50% of my stake in the $2 range, decided to just hang onto the rest on the chance that it pops back up if/when oil recovers. Come December, I might look into selling to offset capital gains, but it'll depend on the situation at the time.
> 
> Going forward, I'm looking to focus on larger, more stable companies. I'll probably avoid oil altogether as I'm invested enough as it is, but if I do get into oil it'll be with a larger name (e.g. SU). Looking to beef up my exposure to banks, insurance, and preferred shares. Hoping for a selloff after the earnings come out.


Agreed. I myself had some LRE too, sold out of it though. It was a solid play when oil was $100+ as they were capable of paying off debts and expanding their asset base but with these lower prices and poor hedging (imo) they are in a poor position and will most likely have to sell off assets. 

The two other juniors in my port. with higher leverage are TBE (see you own them as well) and SGY. Hopefully it works out for us aha

I'm in same boat with you regarding financials. I think in the upcoming months they'll continue to fall due to poor earnings.


----------



## GOB

Wow, to be honest AAPL is going up faster than I'd like it to. I'm having to chase it up with the options, which increases risk a bit. 

Closed:

1. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 127 PUT (+$920) closed for -$360: Net profit +$560
2. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 124 PUT (+$280) closed for -$100: Net profit +$180

Opened:

3. -7 AAPL 27FEB15 136 CALL (+$49)
4. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 128 PUT (+$540)
5. -10 AAPL 06MAR15 127 PUT (+$830)


----------



## GOB

Closed:

4. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 128 PUT (+540) closed for -$370: Net profit +$170
5. -10 AAPL 06MAR15 127 PUT (+$830) closed for -$580: Net profit +$250
6. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 129 PUT (+$540) closed for ($-450): Net profit +$90

Opened:

6. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 129 PUT (+$540)
7. -1 AAPL 06MAR15 129 PUT (+105)
8. -10 AAPL 06MAR15 129 PUT (+$990)
9. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 130 PUT (+$670)
10. -1 CWB.TO 20MAR15 29 CALL (+$50)

Busy day...this action is crazy.


----------



## BoringInvestor

GOB - looking through your attachments, is your portfolio value $186,000 when $1 USD = $1 CAD, but $278,000 when factoring in the exchange rate?


----------



## GOB

No - $186,000 is my stock portfolio (although I haven't applied the exchange rate for my USD positions). I have options and cash that bring it up to the total value.


----------



## GOB

Nice to see the stock taking a breather here. Hoping we get close to $130 this week, would be ideal for me. No trades yet today.


----------



## GOB

Closed:

9. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 130 PUT (+$670) Closed for -$300: Net profit +$370

Opened:

11. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 132 PUT (+$720)


----------



## humble_pie

speaking of options GOB, i'm wondering if i might tweak your thread for a sec.

the challenge: to find an option combo that will deliver - guaranteed - a US dollar return greater than the pitiful .25% that one can scrounge from USD HISA deposits or USD MMF.

there are quite a few threads on here where folks are asking Where can i find safe USD income/return for US cash? some folks are even saying Convert to CAD because at least there's some interest payable in canadian HISA accounts. However i'm writing about the folks who want to keep cash strictly in USD.

me i've looked at what were basically collar strategies in GOOG but could only arrive at something like .33% not including commissions, which made the effort useless.

might there be some options combo in AAPL? a stock that pays dividends might be a better candidate. Any strategy that comes with a monopoly card that says Go Back to Home & Collect 1% would be satisfactory, imho.


----------



## GOB

I'm not sure, and the word "safe" obviously comes with a large grain of salt when talking options. Let's say you use 2:1 leverage for selling an AAPL put which will run you about $65,000USD of capital. To get your 1% annually you'll need about $12.50 a week. You could sell a 06MAR15 $123 put for $14 net of commissions. Is that safe? No, but it does prove $10 (7.5%) of downside risk in just over a week. That's not good enough for me for a mere 1% - I prefer bumping up the risk and drastically bumping up the reward. 

Let's try a bullish put spread with $50,000 of capital. If you target $500 profit a year you only need about $10 profit a week. Your $50,000 would buy 500 contracts of $1 spreads, so you'd only need to make $0.02 per contract net of commissions. But commissions will cost you a dollar per side so you need a $0.03 credit per spread. You're looking at about the same $123 level. Not worth the risk and the weekly trading frequency (and paying thousands of dollars in commissions). 

Let's look at just entering one single trade - a 15Jan16 $50/60 bull put spread. Current spread is between $6-19, so let's say $12. Your $50,000 can buy 50 contracts for a gain of $600 in under a year. This beats the 1% target and provides downside protection of 55% over the next 11 months. Probably the best option out of the ones I have discussed. I would say it's extremely unlikely that there will be a 55% drop in under a year but of course it is still not as safe as a bond or interest. 

Just rambling here, hope you can make some sense out of it.


----------



## GOB

Closed:

11. -10 AAPL 27FEB15 132 PUT (+$720) closed for $-4890: Net profit -$4170

Opened: 

12. -10 AAPL 06MAR15 132 PUT (+$5390)
13. 20 06MAR16 118/119 BPS (+$120)

AAPL dropping more than I would have liked. Time to implement the rolling strategy. Added a bull put spread at a level I think is unlikely to hit next week.


----------



## humble_pie

re: any guaranteed risk-free returns in US option strategies?




GOB said:


> Let's look at just entering one single trade - a 15Jan16 $50/60 bull put spread. Current spread is between $6-19, so let's say $12. Your $50,000 can buy 50 contracts for a gain of $600 in under a year. This beats the 1% target and provides downside protection of 55% over the next 11 months. Probably the best option out of the ones I have discussed. I would say it's extremely unlikely that there will be a 55% drop in under a year but of course it is still not as safe as a bond or interest.



the probability here of pocketing profit from the put spread is on the high side but still not guaranteed, as you mention.

collars push option strategies much closer to guaranteed returns, as lephturn used to tell us. In a collar today, we'd own stock with significant secure dividends, we'd sells ATM calls & we would buy puts. This will guarantee the capital & protect the dividend, although it does limit possible gains in the underlying stock.

alas in today's ultra low interest environment the cost of same strike put is greater than the call, so collars have to be lopsided or partial, as were lephturn's collars a couple of years ago.

today interest rates are even lower so collar prices are less inviting than ever before. Nevertheless, if dollars coming in from dividends are greater than dollars going out to maintain the collar, by a percentage that exceeds the return from T-bills, the deal appeals to institutions for their fixed income allocation. It also appeals to a few conservative retail investors.

i thought it could also be useful for many who search for a safe USD interest product that pays more than zip. I was wondering about royal bank. RY'S current dividend yield is just under 4%, plus this stock has the most liquid US options among the canadian banks. What about roybank purchased in USD, putting on a USD 2016 collar, then holding stock in CAD account in order to protect the dividends from broker FX fees?

alas to my horror the return was negative. Only 3 dividends remain for that 2016 option expiration date, so the dividend return was less than the cost of the collar. Even a collar whose put strike would be below the call strike (the amount at risk here is what subtracts from the dividend.)

still, i intend to struggle bravely on, perhaps looking next for AAPL collars.


----------



## GOB

Closed:

3. -7 AAPL 27FEB15 136 CALL (+$49) closed for $0: Net profit +$49

Opened: 

14. -7 AAPL 06MAR15 137 CALL (+$77)

Still hanging on to my puts from last week.


----------



## GOB

Closed: 

8. -10 AAPL 06MAR15 129 PUT (+$880) closed for -$2,170: Net profit -$1,290
12. -10 AAPL 06MAR15 132 PUT (+$5390) closed for -$$4,760: Net profit +$630

Opened:

15. -10 AAPL 13MAR15 127 PUT (+$2,210)
16. -10 AAPL 20MAR15 131 PUT (+$5,090)

AAPL is breaking down here and I'm expecting a volatile week next week. Erring on the side of caution by rolling forward and reducing strike prices while still maintaining a positive credit.


----------



## GOB

Closed:

7. -1 AAPL 06MAR15 129 PUT (+105) Closed for -$175: net profit -$70
14. -7 AAPL 06MAR15 137 CALL (+$77) closed for $0: Net profit +$77

Opened:

17. -1 AAPL 13MAR15 127 PUT (+$204)


----------



## GOB

Closed:

13. 20 06MAR16 118/119 BPS (+$120) Closed for $0: Net profit +$120 (This was from last week but forgot to log it)

Opened:

18. 20 13MAR16 117/118 BPS (+120)


----------



## humble_pie

118/119 put spreads?

lol the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree each:

hanging together in the castle was a lot more fun though


----------



## GOB

Not sure what you mean...did you have the same trade?


----------



## humble_pie

no, not the same trade, although i believe i see how you are interpreting the apple here!

i meant your put strike prices are still fairly close to market price of the underlying ... as of old ... when we were defending the castle ...

my puts in aapl are timid little $80 jobs. Still, i'm content.


----------



## GOB

Well, the stock was in the high $120s when I made the trade, so I allowed for over $10 of downside over two weeks. That's $70 pre-split. I'd say it's a lot more conservative than how I played BPS before. Also at 20 contracts it's a max risk of $2,000 which is a lot less percentage-wise given my portfolio size. Of course, I also have the option of rolling forward barring a catastrophe. 

My latest BPS allows for ~$5 of downside in under 3 trading days. Given the recent selloff I think we may see support at $120, so I expect it to pay off. But I'm ready to roll if need be. Again, risk is much lower.

It's good to be able to make $100 here and $100 there while the stock is going sideways/down.

Not worried at all about the naked puts as I can easily roll out as far as 2017 if it came to that. The fundamentals and buybacks will power the stock higher sooner or later.


----------



## james4beach

I would encourage you to track the big picture, "total return", as an annualized rate of return. Using XIRR or the other time-weighted return methodology.

It's important to keep a long-term pulse on your performance because that tells you whether what you're doing is worthwhile.

You said the account is non-registered. You may want to be mindful of the tracking & paperwork burden of doing lots of trades.

Thanks for sharing your trades


----------



## GOB

james4beach said:


> I would encourage you to track the big picture, "total return", as an annualized rate of return. Using XIRR or the other time-weighted return methodology.
> 
> It's important to keep a long-term pulse on your performance because that tells you whether what you're doing is worthwhile.
> 
> You said the account is non-registered. You may want to be mindful of the tracking & paperwork burden of doing lots of trades.
> 
> Thanks for sharing your trades


Thanks James. I learned my lesson with taxes a few years back - now I routinely update my log every week or two so I'm always up to date. Just a couple of hours to do my taxes now if I have all my slips. 

My XIRR last year for this portfolio was 129%. I will try to provide monthly updates going forward on that - good idea. 

Closed:

15. -10 AAPL 13MAR15 127 PUT (+$2,210) closed for -$2,820: Net profit -$620

Opened: 

19. -10 AAPL 20MAR15 127 PUT (+$3,530)


----------



## GOB

Closed (on Mar 13):

18. 20 AAPL 13MAR15 117/118 BPS (+120) closed for $0: Net profit +$120

Opened:

20. -7 AAPL 20MAR15 132 CALL (+49)


----------



## GOB

Closed:

15. -1 AAPL 20MAR15 127 PUT (+$) closed for $27: Net profit
19. -10 AAPL 20MAR15 127 PUT (+$3,530) closed for -$420: Net profit +$3,110

Opened: 

21. -1 AAPL 20MAR15 129 PUT (+$92)
22. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 128 PUT (+1,670)


----------



## Squash500

Thanks GOB. I just found this thread. Thanks for telling me about it.


----------



## GOB

Closed: 

16. -10 AAPL 20MAR15 131 PUT (+$5,090) closed for -$3,220: Net profit +$1,870
21. -1 AAPL 20MAR15 129 PUT (+$92) closed for -$130: Net profit -$38

Opened:

23. -1 AAPL 27MAR15 129 PUT (+$213)
24. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 131 PUT (+$3,540)
25. -1 ACQ 17APR15 30 PUT (+$65)

Dipping my toe into ACQ again. 10% further downside before I'm in danger of getting assigned, and the premium I get is an annualized 26%. Nice.


----------



## humble_pie

GOB said:


> Opened:
> 
> 25. -1 ACQ 17APR15 30 PUT (+$65)
> 
> Dipping my toe into ACQ again. 10% further downside before I'm in danger of getting assigned, and the premium I get is an annualized 26%. Nice.



one could not be more prudent than 1 contract! looks safe enough.

i always wonder about returns from naked puts though. The cost base is zero? so the *return* can fly as high as thousands of percentages when annualized? that's as far as my peanut brain is able to take it.

seriously the only "cost" one could have is depletion of margin, which in turn becomes a monetary issue only when margin is, in reality, depleted or used. To date, the way i see it, put selling has a cost base of zero when one has sufficient margin, so the potential returns go out to infinity.


----------



## GOB

I consider the cost base to be whatever the purchase price would be, so in the case of my $30 ACQ put it's $3000. It is margin used that cannot be used for something else. In reality, the cost base is lower because of the margin offered, but it's not zero, at least the way I think of it.


----------



## GOB

A stink bid that I put on early on Friday and subsequently forgot about filled right at market close when AAPL was tanking. Fortunately the position was closed out, though technically I should have been assigned the short leg...lesson learned to be more prudent. AAPL closed at $125.90 which means my short $126 put should have been in the money, assigning me 4000 shares:hopelessness:. But on Saturday both legs were closed at $0 - maybe because of the after-hours rise?

Opened:

26. 40 AAPL 20MAR15 125/126 BPS (+$240)

Closed:
26. 40 AAPL 20MAR15 125/126 BPS (+$240) closed for $0: Net profit +$240
10. -1 CWB.TO 20MAR15 29 CALL (+$50) closed for $0: Net profit +$50

I'll look to sell another call on CWB.TO shortly.


----------



## GOB

Opened: 

27. -7 AAPL 27MAR15 132 CALL (+$56)
28. 30 AAPL 27MAR15 123/124 BPS (+$210)
29. 30 AAPL 02APR14 121/122 BPS (+$240)


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> Closed:
> 
> 16. -10 AAPL 20MAR15 131 PUT (+$5,090) closed for -$3,220: Net profit +$1,870
> 21. -1 AAPL 20MAR15 129 PUT (+$92) closed for -$130: Net profit -$38
> 
> Opened:
> 
> 23. -1 AAPL 27MAR15 129 PUT (+$213)
> 24. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 131 PUT (+$3,540)
> 25. -1 ACQ 17APR15 30 PUT (+$65)
> 
> *Dipping my toe into ACQ again. 10% further downside before I'm in danger of getting assigned, and the premium I get is an annualized 26%. Nice*.


Hi GOB. I'm following your ACQ naked put trade. Basically your risking getting $3000 worth of ACQ shares in order to get a $65 premium + commission. I guess you don't mind taking control of 100 shares of ACQ at $30 if need be? 

Does the fact that this trade has an open interest of only 2 contracts make any difference to the bid/ask spread? Sorry for all the questions GOB, I'm just trying to learn.

I know I should probably be paying more attention to your APPL trades, but since I don't own any US dollars, I can't see myself participating in the US options market anytime soon.

Therefore, if I do decide to open an options account, I will have to trade options on the Montreal exchange.


----------



## GOB

You got it right. I'm happy to own the stock at $30, and if that happens I'll start selling covered calls on it for more income. Maybe I should, but I don't pay much attention to open interest - it does affect the spread but I set a price limit and it ether gets filled or it doesn't. I'm not concerned about liquidity for these single option trades on the Montreal Exchange, but for my AAPL trades liquidity is essential because I am actively trying to avoid assignment. 

Trading options on the MX is tough going. It's very illiquid and there's not much out there. My MX option trades are just a little icing on my AAPL cake. I wouldn't be able to make nearly as much if I had to ignore the U.S. market. 

Learn at your own pace, and start with Canadian stocks, but I would advise that you eventually plan to gain exposure to international markets. Not just for options trading but from a diversification standpoint. There are a lot of fantastic companies outside of these borders, and Canada to me looks to be in for some tough times ahead.


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> You got it right. I'm happy to own the stock at $30, and if that happens I'll start selling covered calls on it for more income. Maybe I should, but I don't pay much attention to open interest - it does affect the spread but I set a price limit and it ether gets filled or it doesn't. I'm not concerned about liquidity for these single option trades on the Montreal Exchange, but for my AAPL trades liquidity is essential because I am actively trying to avoid assignment.
> 
> Trading options on the MX is tough going. It's very illiquid and there's not much out there. My MX option trades are just a little icing on my AAPL cake. I wouldn't be able to make nearly as much if I had to ignore the U.S. market.
> 
> Learn at your own pace, and start with Canadian stocks, but I would advise that you eventually plan to gain exposure to international markets. Not just for options trading but from a diversification standpoint. There are a lot of fantastic companies outside of these borders, and Canada to me looks to be in for some tough times ahead.


Thanks for the excellent response GOB. I'll keep your wise advice in mind. Right now, I'm just starting with Canadian stocks, so I won't get too discouraged having to worry about currency fluctuations as well as the US options trade.

I'll watch ACQ very closely, as it's a *very volatile *stock that's for sure. Your 1 contract naked put trade of ACQ, would totally be an options trade that I would do, *once I gain a lot more experience.*

Thanks again for starting this thread.


----------



## GOB

It's great that you're taking it slow and taking the time to learn before risking hard earned money. One of the mistakes I made was jumping in too early and risking a lot of my money without fully realizing what I was doing. I'm doing well now but in hindsight I could be even further ahead if I had exercised some patience when I was starting out. The market will always be there when you are ready.


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> Closed:
> 
> *16. -10 AAPL 20MAR15 131 PUT (+$5,090) closed for -$3,220: Net profit +$1,870
> 21. -1 AAPL 20MAR15 129 PUT (+$92) closed for -$130: Net profit -$38*
> 
> Opened:
> 
> *23. -1 AAPL 27MAR15 129 PUT (+$213)
> 24. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 131 PUT (+$3,540)*
> 25. -1 ACQ 17APR15 30 PUT (+$65)
> 
> Dipping my toe into ACQ again. 10% further downside before I'm in danger of getting assigned, and the premium I get is an annualized 26%. Nice.


 Hi GOB. Sorry to bother you again. *I notice that as of 1:40 PM Mar 25/15 AAPL is trading at at approx. 124.72 down 1.55% on the day*.

Since these are weekly options, when do you make the decision to rollover options, or how do you handle things to prevent from being exercised?

*Isn't your 131 10 contract 27mar15 naked put trade now getting very dangerous?*

Again, I'm just trying to learn. Sorry for all the questions. I'm finding the AAPL 27mar15 weeklies very exciting to watch.


----------



## GOB

Closed:

28. 30 AAPL 27MAR15 123/124 BPS (+$210) closed for -$1,128: Net profit -$918

Opened:

30. 3 AAPL 10APR15 122/123 BPS (+$108)
31. 27 AAPL 17APR15 123/124 BPS ($1,188)

Rolled out my BPS that suddenly became dangerous today. Not liking this drop so I pushed out a couple of weeks by which time I'm hoping the stock has recovered somewhat.



Squash500 said:


> Hi GOB. Sorry to bother you again. *I notice that as of 1:40 PM Mar 25/15 AAPL is trading at at approx. 124.72 down 1.55% on the day*.
> 
> Since these are weekly options, when do you make the decision to rollover options, or how do you handle things to prevent from being exercised?
> 
> *Isn't your 131 10 contract 27mar15 naked put trade now getting very dangerous?*
> 
> Again, I'm just trying to learn. Sorry for all the questions. I'm finding the AAPL 27mar15 weeklies very exciting to watch.


Questions are always welcome here, so feel free. You are right that my naked puts are in the money, but that is not of much concern to me. I don't have a set rule about when to roll them, as long as it gets done before the market closes on Friday. If you look back you'll see that I've actually been rolling them forward for a couple of weeks now. The beautiful thing about it is that whatever I roll to next week will have a higher premium than what I currently hold, even at the same strike price. No additional risk and extra premium - I'm simply selling time. This is how I make money while remaining bullish even when the stock trends flat or negative.

When it comes to the spreads it becomes a lot trickier to roll profitably because you will quickly hit a maximum loss scenario and then it becomes futile to roll. That's why as as soon as I saw it get dangerous today I decided to roll and out a couple of weeks.


----------



## humble_pie

GOB said:


> ... When it comes to the spreads it becomes a lot trickier to roll profitably because you will quickly hit a maximum loss scenario and then it becomes futile to roll. That's why as as soon as I saw it get dangerous today I decided to roll and out a couple of weeks.




funny! this is what i was trying to explain to you 2 1/2 years ago, in your original AAPL option thread. 

stock was starting to break down badly as its historic collapse got underway in late 2012. I could see the no-go option wall looming. Giant moves up or down in an underlying often mean that no rollout trade is possible. The greeks will have killed it.

as i recall i was suggesting that you get busy before that happened, roll down quickly to a 650 put as AAPL was starting to plunge, instead of merely from the 690 to the 680 put that you were contemplating.

but you replied with classic torrentspeak, about how you had such confidence in the stock, it could not drop et patati et patata.

ok the rest was history. But thank goodness you've learned. Quidquid id est timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Always fear the greeks, especially when they come bearing gifts.


----------



## GOB

Closed: 

22. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 128 PUT (+$1,670) closed for -$3,920: Net profit -$2,250
24. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 131 PUT (+$3,540) closed for -$7,350: Net profit -$3,810
29. 30 AAPL 02APR14 121/122 BPS (+$240) closed for -$780: Net profit -$540

Opened:

32. -10 AAPL 02APR15 128 PUT (+$4,390)
33. -10 AAPL 10APR15 131 PUT (+$7,740)
34. 30 AAPL 01MAY15 121/122 BPS (+$1,140)

March is shaping up to be an ugly month.


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> Closed:
> 
> 22. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 128 PUT (+$1,670) closed for -$3,920: Net profit -$2,250
> *24. -10 AAPL 27MAR15 131 PUT (+$3,540) closed for -$7,350: Net profit -$3,810*
> 29. 30 AAPL 02APR14 121/122 BPS (+$240) closed for -$780: Net profit -$540
> 
> Opened:
> 
> 32. -10 AAPL 02APR15 128 PUT (+$4,390)
> *33. -10 AAPL 10APR15 131 PUT (+$7,740)*
> 34. 30 AAPL 01MAY15 121/122 BPS (+$1,140)
> 
> March is shaping up to be an ugly month.


Hi again GOB. Now I'm really starting to understand *how risky,* selling weekly naked puts can be.

*I'm just trying to understand the math around the 10AAPL 27MAR15 131 PUT as an example.*

On March 20/2015, AAPL opened at a price of 128.25. On that day AAPL traded in a range between 128.25-125.16 and closed at 125.90. Therefore on march 20/2015, you received a premium of 3.54 x1000 shares== $3540.

On March 26/2015, AAPL opened at 122.76 and closed at 124.24. Obviously, the AAPL price was going totally against you. On the other hand, AAPL has shown in the past, that it has the ability to go up or down by 3.00 in a trading day. Therefore, AAPL could have just as easily been over 131.00 by now, and *you would have been a big winner.*

Therefore realizing the *131 put trade *was going against you, you decided to cut your losses and bought back your 10 contract position at a premium of 7.35. *Therefore 3.54 -7.35*==-3.81 or -3810 loss.

* If you would have held on to your position, 1000 AAPL shares x 131==131000, could have been Put to you, at the end of market close today? * Am I on the right track here?

GOB, thanks again for sharing your options trades.


----------



## GOB

Yes, you are right. I would get assigned 1000 shares at $131 at market close today if I did not roll over.

Note that I don't really think of what I'm doing here as "cutting my losses" because I consider it an eventuality that AAPL will eventually hit $131. When this happens I will make back all my money in addition to all the time premium I'm collecting every week. If I'm lucky it will happen soon enough - if I'm unlucky it could take years. I do admit this is an aggressive mindset but barring catastrophe I'm certain AAPL will be seeing much higher prices than $131 - it is just a matter of time.

Also note that for this options income strategy *I prefer that AAPL does not rise too rapidly, and trades flat for a while*. I'm very comfortable to be applying this strategy to AAPL when it's in the $120s/$130s but if it shoots up to $170+ the risk becomes much higher that the price could correct without a recovery for a long time. The longer AAPL remains obviously undervalued, the longer I can comfortably apply this aggressive and highly lucrative strategy.

Rolling over my last put that expires today:

Closed:

23. -1 AAPL 27MAR15 129 PUT (+$213) closed for -$491: Net profit -$278
27. -7 AAPL 27MAR15 132 CALL (+$56) closed for $0: Net profit +$56

Opened: 

35. -1 AAPL 10APR15 129 PUT (+$557)

Also logged the covered call that will expire worthless (barring an $8 rise today :big grin


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> Yes, you are right. I would get assigned 1000 shares at $131 at market close today if I did not roll over.
> 
> Note that I don't really think of what I'm doing here as "cutting my losses" because I consider it an eventuality that AAPL will eventually hit $131. When this happens I will make back all my money in addition to all the time premium I'm collecting every week. If I'm lucky it will happen soon enough - if I'm unlucky it could take years. I do admit this is an aggressive mindset but barring catastrophe I'm certain AAPL will be seeing much higher prices than $131 - it is just a matter of time.
> 
> Also note that for this options income strategy *I prefer that AAPL does not rise too rapidly, and trades flat for a while*. I'm very comfortable to be applying this strategy to AAPL when it's in the $120s/$130s but if it shoots up to $170+ the risk becomes much higher that the price could correct without a recovery for a long time. The longer AAPL remains obviously undervalued, the longer I can comfortably apply this aggressive and highly lucrative strategy.


Thanks for the excellent response GOB. Much appreciated!!


----------



## GOB

Couple of trades I made on Thursday:

Closed:

32. -10 AAPL 02APR15 128 PUT (+$4,390) closed for $3,510: Net profit +$880

Opened: 

36. -1 CWB 27APR15 28 CALL (+$30)
37. -10 AAPL 10APR15 128 PUT (+$3,960)

March was a poor month due to AAPL languishing. Account value at end of March was $260,400.

Monthly performance: -6.5%
YTD performance: +29.2% (117% annualized)


----------



## Squash500

Thanks for updating your trades GOB. Much appreciated!!


----------



## james4beach

Your trading profits are impressive but obviously you just fundamentally have a bullish position on AAPL, and your monthly results directly correlate to how well a month AAPL has had.

Do your options positions just effectively increase your net long exposure to AAPL? I don't understand the options strategy well enough but obviously the options can offer a tremendous leverage effect (large notional values).

If you're effectively just increasing your long exposure to AAPL, would you end up in the same place if you simply had a leveraged-long AAPL position?

In any case, congrats on how these positions are working out but beware making highly leveraged bets on single things. Many fortunes have been made & lost like that.


----------



## GOB

Closed: 

33. -10 AAPL 10APR15 131 PUT (+$7,740) closed for $5,670: Net profit $2,070
35. -1 AAPL 10APR15 129 PUT (+$557) closed for $372: Net profit $185
37. -10 AAPL 10APR15 128 PUT (+$3,960) closed for $2,720: Net profit $1,240

Opened:

38. -10 AAPL 17APR15 128 PUT (+$3.240)
39. -10 AAPL 17APR15 131 PUT (+$5,670)
40. -1 AAPL 17APR15 129 PUT (+$410)

James, it certainly is a bullish play on AAPL. However, the options positions are not exactly analogous to simply leveraging an equity position. With the options, time premium is a factor. If I were buying options I'd be paying a time premium, but I'm selling so I'm getting paid to hold the options. If AAPL doesn't move a penny all week, I can make ~$1,000 from a batch of 10 options just from the time premium that I sold. In fact, I've made tens of thousands this way - my success would not be the same simply holding the stock, leveraged or not. 

I'm aware of the risks and have been burned before. Though it is aggressive for sure, I have a pretty good handle on things now. But it never hurts to be reminded, so thank you.


----------



## humble_pie

james4beach said:


> Your trading profits are impressive but obviously you just fundamentally have a bullish position on AAPL, and your monthly results directly correlate to how well a month AAPL has had




james4 this isn't quite true at all!

you are still thinking as do non-options players & novice options players. You're thinking Wow-this-stock-is-soaring/plummeting-i'll-buy-cheap-calls/puts-to-leverage-my-money-&-then-i'll-just-go-with-the-flow

but the more advanced option player doesn't leverage, whatever that means. Instead he looks to see where future time decay is going to erode an option's premium, possibly to zero. Then he looks to find a pair of options that will bracket that erosion. Then he looks to net sell that pair (he may have to buy one side while selling the other side, though.)

an underlying stock's move up or down doesn't matter that much. What matters is the volatility that produces the valuable net premium that he can sell.

there are strategies built on going long, but i much prefer short strategies like the above-described.

i remember it took a year to get Argonaut to this point. In the beginning Argo was enamoured of his monodirectional calls. The delicious irony was that he had a long roll of beginner's luck, every monodirectional option he bought went straight up for 6 months.

perhaps that's why it took some time before Argo understood in his bones that, as a long-term strategy, it's safer to put on 2-legged positions, or even 3 or 4 legged. But catch on he did. One year on & Argo was flipping contingencies like pancakes.

as i recall, it took GOB much less time. But then, the gobster was always out in front.


----------



## james4beach

Interesting, thanks for those replies (both of you). I certainly don't understand advanced options strategies. It's great to hear that you're not simply taking magnified AAPL exposure, as would be the case if you just went long calls or short puts for instance.

Maybe you can help me understand at a high level. _Since there's no such thing as free money_, what risk is being taken to make the money? It sounds like it's a bet on volatility. So it is a generic bet on low AAPL volatility, or more precise volatility gambles?

I'm very curious


----------



## GOB

There are two major risks:

1) The stock price falls far below the strike price of the puts creating large unrealized losses
2) The price of the stock never again reaches the strike price of the puts

1) is not a catastrophic risk if the account is well funded enough to avoid margin call and price eventually recovers. All it means is there will be a period of time where money is not made and you see a lot of red in your account. Only if the price never recovers will this strategy fail, and I am extremely confident we are going to see much higher prices in AAPL than we see today. The beauty of this strategy is that I don't have to time when this will occur - I simply collect weekly premiums and wait for it to happen. Apple could trade flat for the entire year and I will make a ton of money, which is why I said earlier in the thread that I actually prefer AAPL not to rise too quickly. Sounds crazy but I make more money that way.


----------



## humble_pie

GOB said:


> Apple could trade flat for the entire year and I will make a ton of money, which is why I said earlier in the thread that I actually prefer AAPL not to rise too quickly. Sounds crazy but I make more money that way.



not crazy at all, this is the lifetime sustainable strategy.

the best underlying stock is one that's volatile enough that its options have high premium. But the stock swings in a band, probably a broad band if the options are pricey, but a band nevertheless. The trader navigates forward, selling options that are closer to the money (GOB), or farther away & closer to the extremities of the band (a more conservative trader like myself.)

however, this hypothetical stock - which does not need to be AAPL - seldom trades outside its band, so the probability is high that the seller of bull put spreads priced somewhere within the band, will fare well.

the very best scenario for an investor in GOB's shoes would be a gently rising share price in AAPL. This investor's shares would fully benefit from the gain in price of the common stock. He'd benefit also from premiums sold via call spreads or put spreads or 4-legged iron spreads. The probability would be high that he'd never be assigned, as long as the stock more or less respected its traditional trading band.


----------



## james4beach

Sounds great, as long as the price doesn't peak and then fall - and keep falling!


----------



## GOB

Closed:

30. 3 AAPL 10APR15 122/123 BPS (+$108) closed for $0: Net profit +$108 (this happened end of last week)
38. -10 AAPL 17APR15 128 PUT (+$3.240) closed for $1,610: Net profit +$1,630
39. -10 AAPL 17APR15 131 PUT (+$5,670) closed for $4,490: Net profit +$1,180
40. -1 AAPL 17APR15 129 PUT (+$410) closed for $248: Net profit +$162

Opened:

41. -10 AAPL 24APR15 128 PUT (+$2,430)
42. -10 AAPL 24APR15 131 PUT (+$4,700)
43. -1 AAPL 24APR15 129 PUT (+$307)


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> Closed:
> 
> *30. 3 AAPL 10APR15 122/123 BPS (+$108) closed for $0: Net profit +$108 (this happened end of last week)
> 38. -10 AAPL 17APR15 128 PUT (+$3.240) closed for $1,610: Net profit +$1,630
> 39. -10 AAPL 17APR15 131 PUT (+$5,670) closed for $4,490: Net profit +$1,180
> 40. -1 AAPL 17APR15 129 PUT (+$410) closed for $248: Net profit +$162*
> 
> Opened:
> 
> 41. -10 AAPL 24APR15 128 PUT (+$2,430)
> 42. -10 AAPL 24APR15 131 PUT (+$4,700)
> 43. -1 AAPL 24APR15 129 PUT (+$307)


Hi GOB. Thanks again for posting your trades. Just a couple more questions. Is the main reason why you closed out your positions a day early, is because AAPL closed yesterday at 126.17? If hypothetically, AAPL closed yesterday at 127.00, would you have held on to your 128 PUT position? Due to the fact that if AAPL closed above 128.00 at market close today, then you would have kept the full $3240 premium.

I guess when placing these type of weekly options trades, that you have to be at the computer from 9:30 am ---4PM as the AAPL premiums can change in a flash, depending on the underlying AAPL price.

Also do you factor in commissions when figuring out your overall profit? For example, at TDW the Commish on 10 AAPL contracts would be 22.49 each way of the trade. 10 contracts at 1.25 contract + 9.99 commish ==$22.49.

Last thing. How much margin do you need to have to place these naked put trades? For example, for these 131 PUT 10 AAPL trades you would need $131000 in margin just for this trade? Is that right or wrong?

GOB, again I apologize for all the questions, but with that being said I do really appreciate the fact that you post your AAPL option trades.


----------



## GOB

Squash500 said:


> Hi GOB. Thanks again for posting your trades. Just a couple more questions. Is the main reason why you closed out your positions a day early, is because AAPL closed yesterday at 126.17? If hypothetically, AAPL closed yesterday at 127.00, would you have held on to your 128 PUT position? Due to the fact that if AAPL closed above 128.00 at market close today, then you would have kept the full $3240 premium.
> 
> I guess when placing these type of weekly options trades, that you have to be at the computer from 9:30 am ---4PM as the AAPL premiums can change in a flash, depending on the underlying AAPL price.
> 
> Also do you factor in commissions when figuring out your overall profit? For example, at TDW the Commish on 10 AAPL contracts would be 22.49 each way of the trade. 10 contracts at 1.25 contract + 9.99 commish ==$22.49.
> 
> Last thing. How much margin do you need to have to place these naked put trades? For example, for these 131 PUT 10 AAPL trades you would need $131000 in margin just for this trade? Is that right or wrong?
> 
> GOB, again I apologize for all the questions, but with that being said I do really appreciate the fact that you post your AAPL option trades.


The idea is actually to never have them expire (as long as the premise that AAPL is undervalued stays true). It really doesn't matter too much that I closed early, because if AAPL went up, the premium I lost for this week would be carried over to next week. If AAPL went to $127 I'd make more this week but next week's $128 put would be cheaper, giving me less potential income. This is a strategy that needs to be looked at monthly and yearly, though the trades are weekly. 

I do not add commissions to my trade just for easiness. It's actually quite hard to log every single trade I make in a timely manner. Commissions are about $1/contract. The prices I'm listing are also in USD in the case of AAPL. It'll all get converted in my monthly summaries. 

Margin requirements are about 3.3:1, so for a $128 put you'd need $12800/3.3 = $3880USD. But that gives you no room for drawdown, so I stay well clear of the minimum requirement.


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> The idea is actually to never have them expire (as long as the premise that AAPL is undervalued stays true). It really doesn't matter too much that I closed early, because if AAPL went up, the premium I lost for this week would be carried over to next week. If AAPL went to $127 I'd make more this week but next week's $128 put would be cheaper, giving me less potential income. This is a strategy that needs to be looked at monthly and yearly, though the trades are weekly.
> 
> I do not add commissions to my trade just for easiness. It's actually quite hard to log every single trade I make in a timely manner. Commissions are about $1/contract. The prices I'm listing are also in USD in the case of AAPL. It'll all get converted in my monthly summaries.
> 
> Margin requirements are about 3.3:1, so for a $128 put you'd need $12800/3.3 = $3880USD. But that gives you no room for drawdown, so I stay well clear of the minimum requirement.


Thanks for the excellent response GOB. Much appreciated!!


----------



## GOB

A few options positions expired today, and I made one trade I consider to have a fairly good chance of payout:

Closed:
25. -1 ACQ 17APR15 30 PUT (+$65) closed for $0: Net profit +$65
31. 27 AAPL 17APR15 123/124 BPS ($1,188) closed for $0: Net profit +$1,188
36. -1 CWB 27APR15 28 CALL (+$30) closed for $0: Net profit +$30

Sold 100 CWB at $28: Net profit $0

Opened:

44. 25 AAPL 08MAY15 114/115 BPS (+$400)

Due to my covered call, I was forced to sell CWB at $28 (breakeven), even though the stock is trading at $30.67. This is the downside of covered calls - it limits profit for stocks that make a run. It's happened to me a few times, and I'm questioning whether the weekly/monthly income of covered calls makes up for times like these where I miss out on big jumps. Perhaps I need to be more strategic about when I enter such trades. 

Another mediocre week for AAPL, but my put selling strategy continues to pay off nicely. Watching a key 50 day support level in the low $124s...a break of that could be cause for concern. Earnings are coming up on the 27th and I expect them to be good, along with a nice dividend increase and updated buyback plan. But as we all know, the stock can go down on good news, go up on bad news, and anything in between.


----------



## GOB

AAPL premiums for next week are sky high - looks like the options market is predicting a big earnings move. Took advantage by rolling this week's options forward for great profit and also rolled down (131 to 130, 129 to 123, 128 to 127) to slightly lower risk. I think earnings will be good but you never know. If the stock drops I don't think it will be long before Apple steps in and puts their buyback cash to good use. The threat of this may prevent much of a sell-off in the first place. This is a big part of why I'm so confident in the stock long term.

Closed a bull call spread that I entered over a year ago for a 280% gain. Entering these trades when AAPL is sold off is a no brainer and has almost always paid off big for me. 


Closed:

41. -10 AAPL 24APR15 128 PUT (+$2,430) closed for -$810: Net profit +$1,620 
42. -10 AAPL 24APR15 131 PUT (+$4,700) closed for -$3,040: Net profit +$1,660
43. -1 AAPL 24APR15 129 PUT (+$307) closed for -$135: Net profit +$172
7 AAPL 85.71/92.86 BCS (-$1,228) closed for +$4,690: Net profit +$3,462 

Opened:

45. -10 AAPL 01MAY15 127 PUT (+$2,990)
46. -10 AAPL 01MAY15 130 PUT (+$4,490)
47. -1 AAPL 01MAY15 123 PUT (+$157)


----------



## Squash500

*Great job GOB.* I notice the price of AAPL has been as high as 129.78 today already. I guess you could have rolled over your naked puts today, and made more profit, but then again the price of AAPL could have gone down today as well?

Thanks to you and a few other CMFers , I now understand what naked puts are. Thanks again for posting your trades.

Just in the last few minutes, (before 11AM), AAPL has already dropped to 129.00. GOB, what I'm learning is that you need special skills in Options trading, to judge when you need to rollover or close your positions etc.


----------



## GOB

If I rolled over at $129.78 my profit this week would certainly have been higher, but the $127 put for next week would be at a lower price than I got, so my potential profit for next week would be lower. To analyze what the best rollover point is, you need to look at both the closing price of this week's put and the opening price of next week's put _together_, not individually. What I've seen is that the combination so far has not deviated too much from the price I got - generally within a 5% band. This is usually the case, and as a result I don't spend too much time trying to predict when the perfect time to rollover is - with a full-time job I simply don't have the time to do so.


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> If I rolled over at $129.78 my profit this week would certainly have been higher, but the $127 put for next week would be at a lower price than I got, so my potential profit for next week would be lower. To analyze what the best rollover point is, you need to look at both the closing price of this week's put and the opening price of next week's put _together_, not individually. What I've seen is that the combination so far has not deviated too much from the price I got - generally within a 5% band. This is usually the case, and as a result I don't spend too much time trying to predict when the perfect time to rollover is - with a full-time job I simply don't have the time to do so.


Thanks for the excellent explanation GOB. Much appreciated!!


----------



## GOB

Closed: 

45/48. -13 AAPL 01MAY15 127 PUT (+$3,653) closed for -$1,846: Net profit +$1,807

Opened: 

48. -3 AAPL 01MAY15 127 PUT (+$663) (made this trade on Friday)
49. -13 AAPL 01MAY15 129 PUT (+$2,574)
50. -7 AAPL 01MAY15 150 CALL (+$56)


----------



## peterk

Very interesting thread. Thanks for taking the time to post all you trades, GOB!

How do you decide the number of contracts you sell? Sometimes you sell 10 puts at a certain strike, 10 for a couple bucks lower and then a single contract in the middle. Why that single contract? why 3 and 13 above?

How did you decide on $150 for your May 1 covered call, why not $149?


----------



## GOB

Closed: 
46. -10 AAPL 01MAY15 130 PUT (+$4,490) closed for -$540: Net profit +$3,950
49. -13 AAPL 01MAY15 129 PUT (+$2,574) closed for -$390: Net profit +$2,184

Opened: 

51. -10 AAPL 01MAY15 131 PUT (+$790) 
52. -13 AAPL 01MAY15 133 PUT (+$1,443)

Earnings were blowout as I suspect and AAPL opened at all-time highs. However, it sold off throughout the day and now sitting below Monday's close. A little surprising but not totally unexpected, and it's actually not a bad thing for me. I captured the huge options premium and didn't lose out on a big rise. I'll be able to capture all the upside from here if it continues a slow grind. 

Peter, to answer your question, the number of options I trade depends on how much free cash is in my account. I added 3 more puts last week because my account can handle and I wanted to capture earnings premium. I'll probably stick with these numbers for a while, and gradually increase them if/when my profits increase. As for why I chose $150, basically just free money. I didn't want to get called away, so I chose a number that I thought would certainly not hit. In hindsight, I could have gone lower and made a lot more on the premiums, but I've been too aggressive in the past and lost money on the covered call play by playing too close. Didn't want that to happen. Why $150 and not $149? No real reason.


----------



## GOB

I'm starting to get the feeling that AAPL may be entering correction mode. Rumours about Watch production issues and warning about Irish tax might be enough to set it off. Depending on the next couple of days ago I may have to roll my options out further and hibernate for a while. I'm really kicking myself for rolling up this week after earnings. If I kept last week's options I'd be in perfect position right now with 127 and 130 puts. But hindsight is 20/20. Bought a LEAP call today, and will continue to buy if the stock trends downwards. Corrections are where the future big money is made. 

Closed: 
52. -13 AAPL 01MAY15 133 PUT (+$1,443) closed for -$5,915: Net profit -$4,472

Opened:
53. -13 AAPL 08MAY15 133 PUT (+$7,098)
54. 1 AAPL 20JAN17 125 CALL (-$1,985)


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> I'm starting to get the feeling that AAPL may be entering correction mode. Rumours about Watch production issues and warning about Irish tax might be enough to set it off. Depending on the next couple of days ago I may have to roll my options out further and hibernate for a while. I'm really kicking myself for rolling up this week after earnings. If I kept last week's options I'd be in perfect position right now with 127 and 130 puts. But hindsight is 20/20. Bought a LEAP call today, and will continue to buy if the stock trends downwards. Corrections are where the future big money is made.
> 
> Closed:
> 52. -13 AAPL 01MAY15 133 PUT (+$1,443) closed for -$5,915: Net profit -$4,472
> 
> Opened:
> 53. -13 AAPL 08MAY15 133 PUT (+$7,098)
> 54. 1 AAPL 20JAN17 125 CALL (-$1,985)


Wow, AAPL going into a free fall today. Priced at 125.54 at 12:50 PM. GOB, are you going to cut your losses on the May1 131 PUT? You made a smart move cutting your losses on the May1 133 PUT.

Now I can see why TDW won't let me sell level 4 naked puts for quite awhile. You can get wiped out in a hurry if you don't know what your doing, *which I certainly don't.*


----------



## GOB

Second best earnings in Apple's history, in a non-holiday quarter no less, and the stock is rewarded with a 7% haircut in three days. I can't say I'm surprised - I've seen it before but it's still very annoying. Not worried in the slightest, as Apple announced a $200B capital return program including $140B of buybacks. I don't think Apple will let the stock slide too much before stepping in and buying millions of shares back and supporting the price. 

Squash, I'm not cutting my losses, just rolling over my puts as I always do. Just happens to a big loss this week but it will be made back when the stock recovers. I've learned not to get too high when I'm up and not to get too low when I'm down. Account growth can fluctuate wildly week to week and month to month but I'm confident that long term I can grow at a healthy clip that significantly beats the market. 

Closed:

51. -10 AAPL 01MAY15 131 PUT (+$790) Closed for -$4,200: Net profit -$3,410

Opened:
55. -10 AAPL 08MAY15 130 PUT (+$4,320)


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> Second best earnings in Apple's history, in a non-holiday quarter no less, and the stock is rewarded with a 7% haircut in three days. I can't say I'm surprised - I've seen it before but it's still very annoying. Not worried in the slightest, as Apple announced a $200B capital return program including $140B of buybacks. I don't think Apple will let the stock slide too much before stepping in and buying millions of shares back and supporting the price.
> 
> Squash, I'm not cutting my losses, just rolling over my puts as I always do. Just happens to a big loss this week but it will be made back when the stock recovers. I've learned not to get too high when I'm up and not to get too low when I'm down. Account growth can fluctuate wildly week to week and month to month but I'm confident that long term I can grow at a healthy clip that significantly beats the market.
> 
> Closed:
> 
> 51. -10 AAPL 01MAY15 131 PUT (+$790) Closed for -$4,200: Net profit -$3,410
> 
> Opened:
> 55. -10 AAPL 08MAY15 130 PUT (+$4,320)


Excellent response GOB. I'm learning a lot from you. Thanks again for posting your trades!!


----------



## peterk

^ 1+


----------



## GOB

Few options expired today: 

Closed:
34. 30 AAPL 01MAY15 121/122 BPS (+$1,140) closed for $0: Net profit +$1,140
47. -1 AAPL 01MAY15 123 PUT (+$157) closed for $0: Net profit +$157
50. -7 AAPL 01MAY15 150 CALL (+$56) closed for $0: Net profit +$56


*April 2015 Summary*

April was a pretty good month, and May is off is off to a good start too. I had some currency conversion errors for March so the numbers are a little different than what I reported last time. Account balance on April 30th was $270,500. 

Monthly performance: +3.9%
YTD performance: +34.2% (102.6% annualized)


----------



## peterk

Wow that's mighty impressive. So you are making about average of 10-15k/month off of options gains based on about $100,000 worth of AAPL? Insanely awesome!

You say that $18,785 this month is a 3.9% gain. That works out to a 481k portfolio value, but you state 270k above. Does that mean you had about 210k in margin taken on during the month? Just trying to figure out how you do your calculations 

edit: Oh also, are your capital gains in the chart just options profits? or is that actual capital gain from any stock sales included as well?


----------



## GOB

The numbers in the chart is booked profit/loss - what would be reported for taxes. My monthly and annualized percentage gains are calculated based on the total value of my portfolio, which includes unrealized gains/losses. Hope that clears it up. Portfolio is $270,500 as of April 30 if I were to liquidate all my positions.

Also, I'm not expecting to be making this much consistently. A lot of the gains are from long term options entered in 2013 when AAPL was near its bottom (example in post #60). Those were easy and very profitable trades. I don't have too many of those left to close, so I'd be very surprised if I were able to keep up this pace throughout the year.


----------



## Squash500

Hi GOB. Just curious. Are you going to rollover your trades 53 and 55 today or will you wait closer to the May 8 expiration to rollover?

Trade 53.....
53. -13 AAPL 08MAY15 133 PUT (+$7,098)

Trade 55....
55. -10 AAPL 08MAY15 130 PUT (+$4,320) 

Right now, AAPL trading at 123.92 as of 2:35 PM.....May 6/2015.


----------



## GOB

You are on the ball! I decided to roll Trade 53 out a few weeks to give it time. Really kicking myself for reacting so quickly after earnings - the market definitely faked me out. I would be in a much better position with those 127s. Oh well. I'm still holding Trade 55 for now...let's see what happens tomorrow. 

Closed: 
53. -13 AAPL 08MAY15 133 PUT (+$7,098) closed for ($12,740): Net profit -$5,642

Opened:
56. -13 AAPL 29MAY15 133 PUT (+$13,390)

Also bought 100 shares of CU at $36.92, bringing me to a total of 300 shares. I won't mark a trade number against because this is a long term hold. This is part of my very gradual strategy to transition into more diversified dividend growth as the years go on. CU has raised dividends for 43 consecutive years, and has a very attractive combination of yield and payout ratio. I expect the divided to continue rising for decades to come.


----------



## Squash500

GOB said:


> You are on the ball! I decided to roll Trade 53 out a few weeks to give it time. Really kicking myself for reacting so quickly after earnings - the market definitely faked me out. I would be in a much better position with those 127s. Oh well. I'm still holding Trade 55 for now...let's see what happens tomorrow.
> 
> Closed:
> 53. -13 AAPL 08MAY15 133 PUT (+$7,098) closed for ($12,740): Net profit -$5,642
> 
> Opened:
> 56. -13 AAPL 29MAY15 133 PUT (+$13,390)
> 
> Also bought 100 shares of CU at $36.92, bringing me to a total of 300 shares. I won't mark a trade number against because this is a long term hold. This is part of my very gradual strategy to transition into more diversified dividend growth as the years go on. CU has raised dividends for 43 consecutive years, and has a very attractive combination of yield and payout ratio. I expect the divided to continue rising for decades to come.


Thanks for the excellent response GOB. Just too repeat. I'm learning a lot from you. Much appreciated!!


----------



## GOB

Closed:

44. 25 AAPL 08MAY15 114/115 BPS (+$400) closed for $0: Net profit +$400
55. -10 AAPL 08MAY15 130 PUT (+$4,320) closed for -#3,390: Net profit +$930

Opened:

57. -10 AAPL 15MAY15 130 PUT (+$3,850)


----------



## GOB

Opened:

58. -7 AAPL 15MAY15 131 CALL (+$49)


----------



## GOB

Closed: 

57. -10 AAPL 15MAY15 130 PUT (+$3,850) closed for $1,520: Net profit +$2,320
58. -7 AAPL 15MAY15 131 CALL (+$49) closed for $0: Net profit +$49

Opened: 

59. -10 AAPL 22MAY15 130 PUT (+$2,330)


----------



## GOB

Sorry for the lack of updates - had a business trip to the US and was too tied up to post. Made a few trades over the last couple of weeks:

*May 20*

Opened:
60. -1 HCG 19JUN15 42 PUT (+$85)

*May 21*

Closed: 
59. -10 AAPL 22MAY15 130 PUT (+$2,330) closed for $160: Net profit +$2,170

Opened: 
61. -10 AAPL 29MAY15 130 PUT (+$700)

*May 26*

Opened: 
62. -7 AAPL 29MAY15 137 CALL (+$35)

*May 27*

Closed:
56. -13 AAPL 29MAY15 133 PUT (+$13,390) closed for $1,573: Net profit +$11,817
61. -10 AAPL 29MAY15 130 PUT (+$700) closed for $160: Net profit +$540

Opened:
63. -13 AAPL 05JUN15 133 PUT (+$2,457)
64. -10 AAPL 05JUN15 130 PUT (+$690)


----------



## GOB

Closed: 
62. -7 AAPL 29MAY15 137 CALL (+$35) closed for $0: Net profit +$35

*May 2015 Summary*

Good month for me!

Account balance: $301,500 
Monthly performance: +11.5%
YTD performance: +49.6% (119% annualized)


----------



## Squash500

Good for you GOB. Thanks for the updates!!


----------

