Sell to open Ultra Financials ProShares (UYG) March 6.00 covered calls. All the moving averages have flattened out on UYG so I’m writing some calls to capture some time decay. UYG is below the 50 and 100 day MA as well. I might consider converting this to a short strangle by selling some March 5 puts. I’ll see what tomorrow brings. UYG/XLF didn’t seem to drawn down nearly as much as the other indexes last week.
UYG Daily
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.
November 2009 Options Expiration summary.
I made a few trade adjustments earlier this month and rolled CENX and GMXR forward and down:
I also closed out of some short options positions early to lock in a profit and eliminate any risk of assignment.
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.
DRYS Hourly
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 wrote some December 6 covered-calls on my UYG position about mid-morning. All the moving averages are flat and this stock is pretty much devoid of any recognizable trend at this point. I closed my November calls for a profit a few days ago and didn’t roll them to December at the time. The market is moving sideways so I need to focus on call writing whenever and wherever I can – for the short-term anyway.
I took my own advice and bought to close the UYG November 6.00 covered calls I sold back on October 6th. This is a five week return of 2.85%.*
UYG jumped back above the rising 50-day SMA today. The next resistance in the $6.25-6.45 area. I will look to sell December 6 or 7 calls based on the price action this week.
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.
I sold some November 6 calls on my UYG position. This has been range-bound for a few weeks now and I decided to try and grab some premium from that time decay. I don’t really mind letting this get called away at $6 but I will still be watching it closely in case an adjustment is necessary.
UYG Hourly
The hardest decision when trading is knowing when to sell a winner. UYG is hardly a winner for me. I’ve held on to this stink bomb for quite a while now and I’ve managed to whittle my cost-basis down quite a bit by selling puts and calls as this thing bounced along what I hope is the bottom.
I’m not ready to close this one out yet but I am anxious to sell some calls on this to get me closer to my break even point. I still think it has some room to go, but there is a lot of supply available in the $5-7 range (see daily).
UYG 60 Minute
UYG Daily
XLF punched through some resistance and is in a pretty bullish orientation. All the MA’s are lined up nicely – but it is doing this on low volume.
