Not sure what the difference is between a butterfly, a condor, or a mouse?

(Hint: there is no strategy called “mouse”)

In this video I open up one of my personal trading accounts to show you 4 trades that are all of a different strategy. We have a naked put in oil futures options, a butterfly in Berkshire Hathaway, an iron condor in LVS, and a straddle in LVS. All four trades are doing well.

Watch the video to see how they look on the risk graphs as well as how they are made up and work.

In the optiongenius portfolio we do not do naked puts or straddles, but we do a lot of iron condors and some butterflies. In times of low volatility with the VIX below 30 these non directional strategies work wonderfully. In high volatility markets, they can work as well but with adjustments and a quicker trigger finger to take profits quickly.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Option Strategies – 4 Strategies You Can Trade is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

Hope you have a wonderful, happy, and well rested holiday!

Here is an update of the MCD and JNJ butterfly trades I showed you in my last video. Had to make an adjustment to each because of the strong down move in the market which also affected these stocks.

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MCD and JNJ Butterfly Trade Adjustments is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

This is a sample of the types of videos that are produced for Option Genius members which anyone can join from our homepage.

Click here to view the embedded video.

2 Butterfly Option Trades is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

So here is what I did:

Sell Oct1 11 1145 Calls and Buy Oct1 11 1150 Calls for a credit of .55 each

85% Probability of Profit. 12% Potential Return.

I don’t want to hold these all the way to expiration (Friday). I am expecting SPX to drop after failing to raise above 1100 and will exit the trade with a respectable profit. If SPX breaks above 1100 to about 1110, I will probably exit the trade as well because my guess was wrong.

A Quicky Weekly Trade is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

The stock is NLY. The trade is a simple Put credit spread

Sell to Open Oct 16 Puts (.40)

Buy To Open Oct 15 Puts (.26) for a credit of .14 cents per spread.

Trade has a 74% probability of success. And can make 16.2% if left to expiration.

NLY is a financial company but a very boring stock. I love owning this one as well because it pays a little over 10% dividend right now.

So here is how the trade works: If NLY is above 16 on expiration day (right now it is trading at 17.68) I make the whole 16.2% minus whatever commissions I paid to get into the trade. If NLY is below 16 and above 15 I will be assigned the stock if I don’t exit the trade. Again, I don’t mind owning this stock. if NLy is below 15, I lose the entire amount that I can risk, which is $86 per spread, plus the commisisons I paid unless I exit the trade.

Here’s the cool part. This is a chart of the stock. The red line is the breakeven on the trade. NLY has to be below that line for my to lose money. Guess what? It has not been that low in MONTHS!

But wait! It gets better. I plan on adding a call spread as well. Selling the 19 stirke and buying the 20. Notice that the stock has not been above 19 in months either. So even though the probability of profit is listed as 74%, I feel it is a lot more than that.

No Stress Options Trade is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

S&P500 is down about 2.5% today. Sitting at 1145.

I am taking a stab at some weekly Puts.

Sell to Open SEP2 11 1070 Puts, Buy to Open SEP2 11 1065 Puts for a credit of .35 each

That equals roughly a 7.5% profit potential. These will stop trading Thursday at the close. The settlement price will be released Friday morning. Same as with regular SPX options.

As long as the SPX stays above 1070, this trade makes money. It has a 90% chance of doing so.

Will SPX drop 80 points in a couple days? Seems unlikely but who knows. Still, I like my chances.

SPX Weekly Trade is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

It’s an iron condor on Apple. It has a 77.43% Probability of profit with 22 days left to expiration.

Sell to Open June 355 Calls, But to Open June 360 Calls

Sell to Open June 310 Puts, Buy to Open June 305 Puts

For a credit of .63

For each contract you do, you get a credit of $63 which is the max gain on the trade. The max loss is $437. So the potential ROI is 14.41%.

My plan for this trade is to keep it super simple. Let it ride until expiration. Look at exiting when up 10% or more. If I get down 15% or so I am going to exit. This is a small position and one I put on because my wife made me. I am teaching her how to trade options and she is coming up with her own trades. This is one she really feels good about and forced me to put it on with real money. Up until now she has been papertrading, and so I decided to share it with all of you as well.

Apple (AAPL) Iron Condor is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

I exited with a credit of 3.10.

I originally paid 3.11 for the trade so I lost .01 on 2 spreads or $2 plus commissions.

There is still 10 days left to expiration and MCD has not hit the expiration day break even yet, so according to the trading plan for the trade, I should have stayed in. But it feels like MCD will move higher and I wanted to get out before I started losing more money. For the 7 trading days I was in the trade, 5 days were up days.

There seems to be some resistance at 77 so the trade might still make money. Since I know that people have read it on the blog and might be following the trade, I decided to just exit here.

With the stock seemingly trading in a 73 – 77 range this one will be a good one to watch next month for a condor, butterfly or calendar, after its earnings come out.

MCD Butterfly Update is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

It’s a classic butterfly spread on MCD – McDonald’s.

The trade was Buy 2 April 70 puts, Sell 4 April 75 Puts, Buy 2 April 80 Puts for a debit of 3.11 per spread or a total cost of $622.

It’s a cheap trade that will make money if MCD stays between 73.12 and 76.92.

Here’s the graph:

The trade has a 48% probaility of profit at expiration. But I dont want to stay until expiration. I want to make 10-20% and get out within 2 weeks. This will happen if MCD stays where it is, or if the volatility in MCD options goes down.

With the end of the quarter coming up next week I am expecting the markets to go strong and higher into April. That will result in a drop in volatility and hopefully a quick profit.

If this trades needs an adjustment, I will add a second butterfly of the same size at either 70 or 80 when it hits the breakeven point on either side.

MCD Butterfly is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com

Here’s a screenshot of a daily chart on LVS as of midday today. As you can see from the chart, LVS has been trading in a range the last couple months, but with the news today is moving towards the upper resistance level.

Click on the Image to Enlarge

So What Will LVS Do?

Will it hit resitance and drop back into the range, or will it break through and go higher?

If you pick correctly you get the amazing prize of knowing you picked correctly.

So please post your answer and your thinking as a comment, and maybe we can all learn together about how stocks move and why.

BTW: do you see the little red button with the -2LMT X in the picture? That’s an order I have enetered that has not gotten filled yet. It is a 45/40 Feb Put spread for a credit of .53 – a ten% ROI in about 2 weeks.  That’s a hint as to what I think LVS is going to do.

What Is LVS Going To Do? is a post from Option Selling.
To learn how you too can earn 8-12% Monthly Returns Safely and Conservatively check out OptionGenius.com