I still haven't closed my August 600/595 Bull Put Spread, though for any other stock I would have taken the loss and exited by now. But AAPL is different! It really didn't fall that much after the earnings miss (compare its 4% dip to what CMG did for example), and going up 10+ points a day is not a problem for AAPL. So I'm gonna break my sacred sell rules and hang on. 600+ by August 17th or bust! (Gulp...)
I normally close a losing position around 30-25 days before Expiration, while it still has some Extrinsic (Time) Value left, to avoid a Max Loss. The attached graph shows how the Extrinsic (Time) Value falls off quite rapidly near the end. You've probably seen it before. At the close on Friday, the August 600/595 Bull Put Vertical could be Bought to Close for roughly $3.60. On August 17th, if AAPL is still below 595, it will probably cost $5.00 to Close - a Max Loss. Of course if AAPL goes bad from here, like a high volume sell-off to $550 for instance, I probably will end up closing as originally planned.
2 Timeframes / 2 Trends: AAPL has been in a Short Term Uptrend since 05/18/12, when the Long Term Uptrend corrected 18.92% to a Higher Low of 522.18. The Short Term Uptrend needs to push through resistance at 600 first, then go to a new high above 619.87 to continue. The Long Term Uptrend must go to a Higher High above 644.00 to remain in place. AAPL, may the Force be with you...