Good luck in whatever you decide. No matter how it worked out, it was interesting and great learning experience.
I figured I'd go ahead and add an update here. I'm expecting to have my ITM puts get exercised anytime now since there is virtually no time premium left in them. I also wanted to add an update to what the returns are looking like going into the final week. In November I had the following closed positions: bot nov 530/540 RUT call @ profit of $16 sold 65 nov iwm put @ profit of $35 bot nov 610/620 RUT call @ loss of ($562) short 100 shares iwm @ loss of ($1394.21) short 100 shares iwm @ loss of ($874.04) So the net loss for November was ($2779.25) So I have the following returns thus far: Jan cycle = $683.17 Feb cycle = $2051.06 Mar cycle = $796.14 Apr cycle = $389.58 May cycle = $681.73 June cycle = $1587.96 July cycle = $28.44 Aug cycle = $1304 Sep cycle = $1591.25 Oct cycle = ($110.87) Nov cycle = ($2779.25) Total gain = $6223.21 Percent return = 6223.21/30000 = 20.74% The rest of my losses will occur when the final remaining positions get closed out in the next 6 trading days. I have the following open positions left: short 100 shares iwm @ credit of $4830.38 short 100 shares iwm @ credit of $4886.13 short 100 shares iwm @ credit of $4990.94 sold 65 dec iwm put @ credit of $417.60 sold 65 dec iwm put @ credit of $452.60 sold 65 dec iwm put @ credit of $417.60 When the remaining positions expire in the next 6 trading days barring a massive rally above 65 on IWM the expected loss from the remaining positions is about ($3504.75). This results in a disappointing return of just (6223.21- 3504.75) = $2718.46 which is only about 9% and the target was 30% so pretty bad miss.
Sorry about not updating the the result of this thread. I let all the positions get closed in the December option cycle (unfortunate because I could have kept rolling the 65 iwm puts for at least another cycle or two for some nice gains but oh well). I haven't been paying much attention to the market since its been zooming higher and just now its finally coming in a bit. So now I'm getting back in!! So here is how December ended: I had the following open positions: short 100 shares iwm @ credit of $4830.38 short 100 shares iwm @ credit of $4886.13 short 100 shares iwm @ credit of $4990.94 sold 65 dec iwm put @ credit of $417.60 sold 65 dec iwm put @ credit of $452.60 sold 65 dec iwm put @ credit of $417.60 I was assigned on all 3 of my 65 dec iwm puts which means I got to keep all of the premium I received for the 65 iwm puts in exchange for buying 300 shares of iwm for a whopping $65 a share....what a deal! So basically this results in the following return for december: CLOSED POSITIONS sold 65 dec iwm put @ profit of $417.60 sold 65 dec iwm put @ profit of $452.60 sold 65 dec iwm put @ profit of $417.60 short 100 shares iwm @ loss of (4830.38-6500) = -$1669.62 short 100 shares iwm @ loss of (4886.13-6500) = -$1613.87 short 100 shares iwm @ loss of (4990.94-6500) = -$1509.06 So the net loss for December was ($3504.75) So I have the following return for the strat: Jan cycle = $683.17 Feb cycle = $2051.06 Mar cycle = $796.14 Apr cycle = $389.58 May cycle = $681.73 June cycle = $1587.96 July cycle = $28.44 Aug cycle = $1304 Sep cycle = $1591.25 Oct cycle = ($110.87) Nov cycle = ($2779.25) Dec cycle = ($3504.75) Total gain = $2718.46 Percent return = 2718.46/30000 = 9.06% So the strat returned a dismal 9.06% which left a bad taste in my mouth as I had to eat crow as I HORRIBLY underperformed the RUT last year. As a result I've decided to shelve this strategy for now. Instead its going back onto simulation row as I tweak it, and instead I'm reallocating my trading account to good old fashioned simple leap vertical call spread trades to ride the bull market which will hopefully last a couple of years. I'd mentioned previously on this thread that the current bull market was still unconfirmed as the 200 day avg had not been retested sufficiently as support since the golden cross. It seems like we may finally get a test of that confirmation as the market seems to be heading towards that 1040-1050 area. My belief is that once we test that area and we hold, that the market will be higher than 1050 on the S&P a couple of years from now and so I am slowly starting to buy some ATM and slightly OTM leap call spreads on stocks. Been waiting a loooooong time for this pullback.
Thanks for the update! All it matters is that you made more than MM. It's been nice to just read about your trades and adjustment. Are you going to open a thread for you leaps?