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.
AEO Daily
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.
CENX Daily
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.
DRYS Daily
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.
DSX Daily
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.
ENER Daily
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) The Jan 22.50 puts I wrote on 12/08/09 expired OTM for a 5 week return of 2.63% *.
HBI Daily
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% *.
RTI Daily
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% *.
UAUA Daily
* 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 had the following options expire in December.
Century Aluminum Co. (CENX). The December 7.5 puts I wrote back on November 12th expired OTM for a 5 week return of 2.67%. * I’m also short the Jan 7.50 puts. CENX exploded back on December 10th and I’m glad I could participate in part of that move. If we get some consolidation or a pullback in the next couple weeks I may look to sell the Feb 12.50 or 10 puts.
CENX Hourly
Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX) – I had both the December 12.50 puts and December 17.50 calls expiring OTM. I wrote the puts back on October 29th for a 7 week return of 4.74%. * I wrote the calls on November 19th for a 4 week return of 3.10%. * This knocks my cost-basis down to $11.09. I’m currently short the January 15 puts.
DSX Hourly
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ENER) – I wrote December 14 calls back on November 6th. This is a 6 week return of 2.45%. * ENER is showing some signs of improvement. I’m short the January 11 puts.
ENER Hourly
Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG) - The December 6 calls I wrote back on November 13th expired OTM for a 6 week return of 3.49%. *
UYG Hourly
* 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.
STO DSX (Diana Shipping Inc.) Jan 15 puts. I mentioned a week or so ago that I would be ready to sell the January 15 puts on a pullback. I’m still short the December 12.50 puts and the December 17.50 calls. On continued strength I will probably close the December calls.
I was tempted to sell some DRYS puts as well but I need to see a little more follow through in the shippers before I make that commitment.
DSX Hourly
I sold to open DSX December $17.50 calls. I’m expecting some near-term weakness and consolidation. I will look to sell December or January 15 strike puts after a decent pullback – maybe in about a week.
DSX Hourly
I bought back the covered calls I sold against my Diana Shipping Inc. position. My order filled about mid-morning and DSX continues on a tear into the bell – as do the other shippers (with the noted exception of TBSI). I was able to buy these calls back at break-even and since I got them at break-even I decided not to roll them forward and up to December 17.50 calls. Not yet anyway.
DSX and other shippers had positive earnings reports yesterday and today. China’s continued demand for raw materials has improved the Baltic Dry index as well.
I’m still short DSX December $12.50 puts I sold back on Oct 29th.
Looking at that hourly chart just makes me shake my head in disbelief. I can’t believe how quickly that snapped back. I need to be more aggressive and close out these short call positions once the premium is down to 25% of what I received when I opened it. I love to hold these into expiration when they are clearly going to expire OTM and get the full premium, but a profit is a profit and I need to take it when I have the opportunity.
DSX Hourly
DSX Daily
I sold some Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX) December 12.50 puts earlier today. I’m still short the November covered calls I put on back on the 20th and I don’t intend on closing those out just yet. I don’t mind picking up some more DSX at $12.50.
DSX is right at the 50-day SMA which has flattened out. DSX might be making a higher-low on the hourly chart and the $12.50-$13 area has multiple areas of support.
DSX Hourly
I sold to open some November 15.00 calls on my DSX position (Diana Shipping Inc). DSX has been range-bound between $12 and $15 for the last few months. The October calls I sold expired OTM and I’m hoping to do it again in November. Selling the November calls gives me some room to roll them up and forward into December if necessary.
DSX Hourly
I had the following options expire in October 2009.
AMB Property Corp. (AMB) – I sold to open AMB October 20.00 puts back on September 8th that expired OTM. This is a five week return of 4.21%.*
AMB Hourly
CardioNet, Inc. (BEAT) – I sold to open BEAT Oct 7.50 calls on September 21st. This is a 4 week return of 5.23%.* I also bought some BEAT 7.50 calls on October 6th. BEAT is still range-bound between $6 and $8.
BEAT Hourly
Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX) – I sold to open DSX October 15.00 calls back on September 16th that expired OTM. This is a 5 week return of 3.28%.* I might turn around and sell some November 15 calls right away.
DSX Hourly
Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ENER) I sold to open ENER October 13 puts in my taxable account on September 17th. I was put these shares at $13. When I opened this trade ENER had a flat 50 day SMA but it has since started declining. I’m leaning towards selling some November 13 calls on any further signs of weakness. ENER does have some nice volume on these recent rallies as seen on the hourly chart.
I also had some ENER October 14.00 calls expiring OTM in my IRA. I sold these back on September 21st and they expired OTM for a 4 week return of 3.90%.* This brings my cost basis down to $12.48.
ENER Hourly
United States Natural Gas (UNG) – I sold to open UNG October 12.00 calls back on September 18th and again on the 24th. These calls expired OTM for a 4 week net return of 4.12%.*
UNG Hourly
* 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 some October 15 strike calls on my DSX position. There is a lot of resistance around $15 and I want to grab some premium while I can. I have a tendency of missing out on opportunities to sell calls so I got a little more aggressive on this one. Either way I will get the premium and I don’t mind if this is called away at $15. I’m still long DRYS and TBSI so I have plenty of exposure to shippers.
If DSX pulls back to the 50 day SMA I would consider selling more puts.
DSX Hourly
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. *
TBSI Hourly Chart
* 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.
