Well Puts

I had the following options expire in January. January was a good month. I don’t think I will be nearly as prosperous in February.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) The Jan 15 puts expired OTM. I wrote these back on 11/25/09 for a 7 week return of 5.28% *. AEO is back below the 100 day SMA. I might consider selling some more 15 strike puts if support holds. This will come off my watch list for now.

Century Aluminum Co. (CENX) I wrote these puts in my IRA back on 11/18. They expired OTM for a 8 week return of 3.23% *. There is support at 12 and I might look to reenter this by selling March 10 or 12.50 puts.

DryShips, Inc. (DRYS) The Jan 7.50 calls I wrote back on 12/02/09 expired OTM for a 6 week return of 2.16%. I had also sold some 6 strike puts as part of this trade but I closed them out at break even. DRYS is breaking down and I won’t sell any more puts at this point.

Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX) I wrote Jan 15 puts in my IRA back on 12/1. This is a 6 week return of 5.61% *. I still hold some DSX in my Roth. My cost-basis is $11.09.

Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) The Jan 11 puts I wrote on 11/27/09 expired OTM. This was part of a trade adjustment I made to roll the Dec 12 puts to Jan 11. I also wrote Jan 11 puts in my IRA.

Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) The Jan 22.50 puts I wrote on 12/08/09 expired OTM for a 5 week return of 2.63% *.

RTI International Metals, Inc. (RTI) The Jan 17.50 puts I wrote back on 11/24/09 expired OTM. This is a 7 week return of 4.24% *.

UAL Corporation (UAUA) The Jan 7.50 puts I wrote back on 12/01/09 expired OTM. This is a 6 week return of 6.56% *.

* The return is calculated using the premium I received from the sale of the options (less commissions) and the capital required to pay for their possible assignment.

Earlier this morning I closed out the DRYS January 6 puts I wrote back on December 2nd. I also sold covered calls as part of that trade. I’m keeping the calls open and closing the put side of that strangle.

I was able to close these puts out at break-even so I decided against rolling them to February. DRYS is back below the 50 and 100 day SMA. If I want any more exposure to shippers I will probably look to sell DSX puts instead.

I wrote DryShips, Inc. (DRYS) Jan 6.00 puts and Jan 7.50 covered calls earlier today. DRYS has been forming a symmetrical triangle for the last few months and all the moving averages have flattened out as seen on the daily chart.

I’ve been able to sell a lot of puts over the last several months on DRYS, but I need to watch this set of options very closely for a breakout as it is nearing the apex of the triangle. I don’t really follow chart patterns in a strict sense – I’m just aware of them. Trend lines and moving averages hold much more importance with my system.

November 2009 Options Expiration summary.

I made a few trade adjustments earlier this month and rolled CENX and GMXR forward and down:

• Century Aluminum Co. (CENX)
• GMX Resources Inc. (GMXR)

I also closed out of some short options positions early to lock in a profit and eliminate any risk of assignment.

• Ultra Financials (UYG)
• McMoRan Exploration Co. (MMR)

DryShips, Inc. (DRYS) – The DRYS November 6.00 puts I wrote at the end of September expired OTM. This is a 7 week return of 7.38%. *

DRYS is forming a wedge on the hourly chart – like just about every other chart I’m seeing right now. I might take another opportunity to sell more puts this coming week. Probably the January 5 strike. I should probably write some covered calls on the small position I’m holding too. I was hoping for a breakout much like DSX but it hasn’t formulated yet.

My current cash position is at about 60%.

* The return is calculated using the premium I received from the sale of the options (less commissions) and the capital required to pay for their possible assignment.

I sold to open some DryShips (DRYS) Nov 6 puts this morning. DRYS has support at a rising 50 day SMA and 61.8% retracement as well as ascending trendline. DRYS is up sharply this morning on average volume with reports of a Baltic Dry rally.

I closed out my TBSI puts I sold short back on August 24th. You can see from the chart that TBSI moved back to the 61.8% retracement level from the June 2nd high. I also feel TBSI is pretty overextended on a short-term basis and I want to lock this in while I can. This lowers my cost basis to $8.59 on my original long position I was assigned at 10.

Longer term I feel TBSI still has some room to go. The moving averages are all lined up nicely and there was some insider buying back at the end of August as well. I am still long the stock but I decided to close out my puts because there are several weeks to go before Oct expiration and the bid on them is .05. This frees up some cash I can put to work on something else. The other shippers I am holding are doing very well too (DRYS, DSX).

I sold these at .85 and bought them back at .10. That gives me a net return of 7.13% in just over 2 weeks. *

* This is based on the premium I received from the sale of the options (less commissions) and the unmargined capital set aside to pay for their possible assignment.

I sold some TBSI October 7.50 puts this morning. TBSI got back above the 50 DMA on higher volume, but it is still descending so I’m still cautious. DSX and DHT are also doing well today so far and I might buy back my DSX protective put while I still have a small profit. DRYS is pretty quiet.

I didn’t have a lot of options expiring in August. I bought-to-close my JASO puts back on Aug 11th for a nice profit and ZOLT on the 19th at breakeven. I only held DRYS and UNG puts through expiration.

UNG - I choose not to roll my UNG puts into Sep therefore I will be put some UNG at 13 and 14 (2 different accounts). This is the third month I’ve sold UNG puts (June and July expired OTM) so my cost-basis is thankfully much lower than the strike price.

UNG just can’t seem to find a bottom so I need to be very careful acquiring much more. The hourly chart looks terrible. There was a lot of volume on Thursday and that could have been the final shakeout of any weak longs but only time will tell. I will be watching this for a pop next week and possibly sell some Oct 11 or 12 puts.

DRYS - I sold some August 5 strike puts back on 7/9 that exipired OTM. This brings my cost-basis down to $8.73 from a starting point of $14.76. It’s always nice to be able to hold through expiration and collect the entire premium.

All the MA’s are flat so I need to wait and see where the next short-term trend is. If it can break through the 6.25 level it could get going to the upside nicely. If we breakdown and head back towards support at 5.00 I will look to sell more puts again.

I bought some 15 strike September puts to protect my DSX position. The puts I sold to enter this position nearly paid for the protective puts. I’m still short some DRYS and TBSI puts which already have a nice profit locked in. I have some orders in to close those out.

Back to DSX. Lot’s of MA crossovers and it is fighting the 50 DMA which is flat to declining. I still like it long-term but you can’t be too careful.

I’ve been pretty quiet this week. I just haven’t seen any setups I like. I’m watching the following today.

• CRS, TIE
• ENER, JASO, WFR – I sold some 12.50 Sep ENER puts in my taxable account earlier this week. I may sell some more in my Roth if the 38.2 retr holds.
• ANW, FTO, HAL, MDR, UNG
  USO is fighting the 200 DMA and looks like a total chopfest.
• ZUMZ – BEBE took off. I missed that one.

I’m still holding DRYS. Lots of volume this AM and all the MA’s are getting lined up nicely. Be nice to see this one get on a tear. Also watching TBSI and DSX.