07/31 Daily Update

Nothing major to report, MNX Iron Butterfly made a nice recovery with the small pull back and extra theta I added Yesterday with the adjustment. IBM Calendar working fine and the SPY Double Diagonal still hanging in there.

The RUT Iron Condor was the one in worst shape, the trade was approaching -15% and going into the weekend theta negative with a huge vega. If we moved up it would certainly hit the stop loss. It could also hit the stop loss if we stayed flat on Monday and Vols decreased. So I decided to call for help and added an Iron Butterfly on the position.

Detailed Positions:
07/31 IBM Calendar
07/30 RUT 30-Day Iron Condor
07/31 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/30 SPY Double Diagonal

07/31 IBM Calendar

IBM is being nice to me. The position needs nothing, I still have "buying power" to add a new calendar if we move up or down and so far it seems like it won't be needed.


Position's History:
07/30 IBM Calendar
07/29 IBM Calendar
07/28 IBM Calendar
07/27 IBM Calendar *New*

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07/31 MNX Iron Butterfly

So far, the best position out of the ones in trouble. The MNX Iron Butterfly is handling very well and I find that once I make the adjustments, they don't kill the trade's potential for profits. I'll have a long and hard discussion with my risk manager (aka wife) to discuss why we're doing anything but the iron butterfly in the portfolio.

So far, the trade recovered nicely and if we pull back it will be profitable faster.

Position's History
07/30 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/29 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/28 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/27 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/23 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/22 MNX Iron Butterfly
7/21 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/20 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/17 MNX Iron Butterfly
07/16 MNX Iron Butterfly *New*

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07/31 RUT 30-Day Iron Condor

Today the position got in a tough spot. It was theta negative going into the weekend, a 1 st. deviation move on Monday would hit the stop loss. I didn't want to go through the weekend with a theta negative position pulling down on the portfolio, so I needed to do something.

I decided to add an Iron Butterfly. My thinking is that it will bring a lot of extra (and much needed) theta and help control the vega risk, which was getting big because of the Long SEP Call contracts. I still have risk to the up-side, and plan on hedging if we break this week's highs. If we start moving to the down-side, I believe I can manage the risk a bit easier. It will all depend on how RUT behaves on Monday.

Position's History:
07/30 RUT 30-Day Iron Condor
07/29 RUT 30-day Iron Condor
07/28 RUT 30-day Iron Condor
07/27 RUT 30-Day Iron Condor
07/23 RUT 30-Day Iron Condor
7/22 RUT 30-Day Iron Condor
7/21 RUT 30-Day Condor *New*

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07/30 SPY Double Diagonal

The trade is still in a tought spot. It is theta positive going into the weekend, but in reality a pull back is just about all that can bring it back into play. Yesterday and Today were important days in a technical stand-point, as we faded the top in the last hour of trading, let's see if this is indicative of a pull back next week.

Position's History:
07/30 SPY Double Diagonal
07/29 SPY Double Diagonal
07/28 SPY Double Diagonal
07/27 SPY Double Diagonal
7/23 SPY Double Diagonal
07/22 SPY Double Diagonal
07/21 SPY Double Diagonal
07/20 SPY Double Diagonal
07/17 SPY Double Diagonal
07/16 SPY Double Diagonal Decision Making
07/16 SPY Double Diagonal
07/15 SPY Double Diagonal
07/14 SPY Double Diagonal
07/13 SPY Double Diagonal *New*


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