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/CLH6 short strangle

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The details of this trade are as follows:

Date Inst. Mark. # L/S Strike C/P Price Δ Days Max profit Comm. Reason P/L
1 1/4/2016 /CLH6
(mar)		 37.68 1 short 31 P 0.30 0.09 44 $590 $3.71 open –
1 short 49 C 0.29 0.10 $3.71
2 1/11/2016 /CLH6
(mar)		 32.38 1 short 28 P 0.60 0.15 37 $410 $3.71 adjustment –
1 long (close) 31 P 0.29 0.30 $3.71
1 short 26 P 0.32 0.09 $3.71 –
1 short 43 C 0.25 0.10 $3.71
1 2/3/2016 /CLH6
(mar)		 31.35 1 long (close) 28 P 0.51 0.20 14 $120 $3.71 adjustment –
1 short 26 P 0.22 0.10 $3.71

Trade reasoning

OVX is up, there are tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. They have severed diplomatic ties. Unless there is some sort of supply disruption, this is actually bearish, since it’ll cause increased production from Iran and the Saudis.

OVX jumped back above 50 again, so I think this is a good time to open the trade, especially since the DTE is ideal as well. $31 is below the 2008 crisis lows, and $49 is very far away, so my strangle is pretty “safe”, or at least as safe as a strangle can be.

The oil glut is still strong, and some say the spring refinery maintenance season will bring new lows. We’ll see. Again, my position size is small, so I can manage the trade if needed, without worrying about an increased position size.
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/CLF6 short strangle

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I just opened a short strangle position on the January 2016 contract of WTI crude oil, which expires on December 22 of this year still.

The details of this trade are as follows:

Date Inst. Mark. # L/S Strike C/P Price Δ Days Max profit Comm. Close P/L
1 10/21/2015 /CLF6
(jan)		 45.43 2 short 37 P 0.39 0.07 56 $1380 $7.42 – –
2 short 57 C 0.30 0.09 $7.42
2 11/17/2015 /CLF6
(jan)		 41.99 1 long 37 P -0.52 0.15 29 $860 $3.71 – $180
1 long 57 C 0.02 $3.71
3 12/03/2015 /CLF6
(jan)		 40.14 1 long 37 P -0.56 0.21 15 – $3.71 – $130
1 long 57 C 0.02 $3.71

Trade reasoning

I closed the CLz5 trade yesterday, since the trade made 75% of profits in about 40% of it’s time, there was an OPEC meeting today in Vienna, and I also wanted to see the inventory numbers.
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/CLZ5 short strangle

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I just opened a short strangle position on the December contract of WTI crude oil.

The details of this trade are as follows:

Date Inst. Mark. # L/S Strike C/P Price Δ Days Max profit Comm. Close P/L
1 9/29/2015 /CLz5
(dec)		 45.40 2 short 35 P 0.32 0.07 49 $1200 $7.42 – –
2 short 58 C 0.28 0.09 $7.42
2 10/20/2015 /CLz5
(dec)		 46.06 2 long 35 P 0.07 0.03 28 – $7.42 bought to
close		 $900
2 long 58 C 0.08 0.03 $7.42

My previous crude trade is still open, but it’s safe with deltas 0.02 on both legs, so I’m going to let it expire in 2 weeks. This trade is very similar to the previous one.

Trade reasoning

For the last few weeks, oil has been trading in a nice range. The OVX at 49.25 is still high, so you can still get good premium for selling options. Unfortunately, Thinkorswim seems to be acting up, and I can’t get a clear reading on the implied volatility of CLZ5.
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/CLX5 short strangle

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I just opened a short strangle position on the upcoming month contract of WTI crude oil.

The details of this trade are as follows:

Date Inst. Mark. # L/S Strike C/P Price Δ Days Max profit Comm. Close P/L
1 9/10/2015 /CLX5
(november)		 45.63 2 short 35 P 0.18 5 35 $760 $7.42 expired OTM $760
2 short 58 C 0.20 7 $7.42

This is another high probability trade with low deltas.

Trade reasoning

I’ve been eyeballing oil ever since it’s implied volatility spiked, with the massive 25% increase it had in 3 days. I didn’t have the nerves to open a short strangle when the IV was at its peak, but it’s still relatively high, so now was the time. Read more

/CLQ5 short strangle

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This is the first post in my shiny new options trading journal. Yippie!

I finally got approved for everything I needed at TD Ameritrade, since I want to keep using the ThinkOrSwim platform. I know it’s a bit heavy on commissions, but the platform itself is just so much better than anything else out there. Someone recommended that I use TOS Paper Trade to analyze everything, but to do the actual trades somewhere cheaper. I decided against this, but I’ll leave my reasoning for another post, since this post is about my first real trade.

Symbol: /CLQ5
Status: opening trade
Strategy: short strangle, JUL 15 47 P /-\ JUL 15 58 C (market at $52.72)
Days to expiry: 7
Max profit: $250

Trade reasoning

Things are not looking bullish for oil, it has dropped over 10% in the last few days. The supposed reasons:

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