Monday, April 30, 2018

Options Update: April 2018

Welcome to my monthly options update!

Here, I shall write monthly options update articles to keep track of options trades in my portfolio. Each options update serves as a status report on the open options and the obligations I have. A running tally of all my options trades and income to date are found on the Options page.

Assigned Options

No options got assigned in April.

Expired Options

One option I sold expired worthless this monthly, securing me $69.70 options income.


Trade #6: Call option on EXC strike 40 exp 04/20/18 for $69.70 income after fees. Price at expiration: $38.60, 3.50% from strike. I will probably sell another call option on EXC soon.

Closed Options

When an out of the money option goes further out of the money, one may close the option early and secure most of the options income.

I did not close any options early in April.

Rolled Options

An option can be rolled forward by buying back an option and selling another option with a later expiration date. Rolling is done to avoid options assignment for in the money options.

No open options were rolled forward in April.

New Calls Options Sold

Selling calls is a way to earn premiums from time decay on securities that are unlikely to reach a certain strike price within a certain time frame. This is best done on stocks you already own so as to limit liabilities should the underlying security shoot to the moon.

I sold 1 call in April, netting $283.90 income after fees:

Trade #22: Sold call option on SQQQ strike 22 exp 09/21/18 for $283.90 income after fees.

As the market declined on 4/6/18, I sold another SQQQ call option to earn a higher premium. This trade is now solidly in the black as the market rebounded. 

New Put Options Sold

Selling put options is a way to earn premium for agreeing to buy a stock at a given price for a period of time. This is best done with high quality, buy and hold stocks that have limited downside.

I sold 1 put in April, netting $109.66 income after fees:

Trade #21: Sold put option on BEN strike 29.50 exp 10/19/18 for $109.66 income after fees.

I sold another put on BEN as it fell to new 52-week low on 4/2/18. This trade is also firmly in the black as the stock price stabilize around $33-34. 

Options Expiring Next Month

No options expire next month.

Cumulative Options Income Summary

As of April 2018:

                             Cumulative      Cumulative Secured
                          Options Income   Options Income
                                                     
This Month:           $  4,902.79             $  575.25
Last Month:           $  4,509.23              $  505.55
Difference:             $    393.56              $    69.70

Thanks for reading!

1 comment:

  1. Hello, JTF. I'm at about $660 for secured options income in 2018, but you've got much more total options income for the future. Most of my trades tend to be in the 15-45 day range as that's all I've gotten comfortable with thus far. I enjoy reading your updates... keep them coming.

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