Day 71

Market Recap

The market broke the indifference of the last 2 weeks. Both SPY and QQQ saw big moves, ending the week much higher than where they started.

• SPY: +3.19%
• QQQ: +3.66%

Year-over-year:

• SPY: +12.48%
• QQQ: +14.05%

Trading Update: June 23 – June 27, 2025

Here is a summary of all trades I made during the week (details listed below).

• Unrealized Profit/Loss: +$657
• Realized Profit/Loss: +$229
• Buying Power Used: $3.6K
• Buying Power Remaining: $9.5K

Closing Trades

I had three different APLD trades staring at a loss at the start of the week. Now I have two. I rolled one out and low last week (APLD $11 7/18 to $9 12/19), but my psyche wouldn't let me keep seeing that trade in red for long, so I ended up closing it out. The net loss turned out to be $23 eventually.

In some good news though, all of my credit spreads did fantastic, and I managed to close them out between 35% to 50% of original premium.

In total, I realized a $229 net gain for the week.

New Trades

I opened one QQQ Put Credit Spread late on Friday. This is my typical trade - saw QQQ was in red for the day, so opened a close to 45 (42) DTE trade, at ~18 ∆. Hoping to close this out at between 30-50% of premium gain in a week or two.

Portfolio Status

Generally speaking, this was a good week. The trades mostly played out as I expected, and managed them mechanically - irrespective of whether they were at a gain or at a loss (alright, mostly mechanically!).

• 2025 Net P&L: Down $2.92K
• All Time: Down $6.43K

Profit and Loss Trend - Monthly - Year to Date

Portfolio Strategy Breakdown

Here's a view showing my Win Rate breakdown by strategy deployed. While the sample size is still small and it's too early to draw definitive statistical conclusions, it provides an initial glimpse into performance.

Here is a breakdown of P/L by strategies I have used so far.

• Best Performing Strategy: Cash Secured Put
• Worst Performing Strategy: Call (LEAPS)

Plan for Next Week

Last week, I noted:

Tactically, I anticipate a minor volatility spike in the near term due to geopolitical tensions, though I expect the volatility to settle down within two to three weeks.

However, I have not seen any such volatility yet. The market seems to be very optimistic, and VIX is currently at 16. This low VIX means the premiums for selling are not quite juicy enough. I will wait for something to show up for a few days, and if nothing does, will most likely open some spreads on QQQ or SPY on their red days, like I did today on QQQ.

Thanks for following along - see you next week!

📌 Disclaimer: Nothing on this site is financial advice - I’m just here to entertain! Here’s my introduction, my trading philosophy, and some ground rules.

New to Options Trading? A Quick Primer for Terms used Today!

Rolling a Trade

Rolling an options trade involves simultaneously closing an existing position and opening a new one, often with a different expiration date, or a different strike price, or both. This strategy is used to manage existing positions that have moved against your thesis, and helps to potentially increase your profitability or reduce your risk exposure.

Put Credit Spread (also known as Bull Put Spread, or Short Put Vertical Spread)

This is a very capital efficient way to be bullish on a ticker.

Essentially, the trade is comprised of:

• Selling a Put at a Higher Strike Price
• Buying a Put at a Lower Strike Price

Here is how the trade setup looks based on today's QQQ option prices.

Pay attention to some of the information shared in the analysis I highlighted.

• The extrinsic value of the Option trade is $121. This is the time value of the option.
• I am risking $879 to make a profit of $121. That is a near 13.77% gain, if I am right.
• My probability of being right is 80%, see POP.
• My probability of the trade reaching at least a 50% of $121 is 91%.

When I put such a trade up, to increase my odds of success, I typically close the trade at a 50% profit, and sometimes even lower at 30%, if the trade becomes profitable in less than a week of opening. That way my capital is released without me having to wait longer.

And if the trade moves against me, I am prepared to manage it at 21 DTE. This might involve rolling or just plainly closing the trade.

Here is some additional reading from the pros at TastyTrade: https://tastytrade.com/learn/trading-products/options/short-put-vertical-spread/