I recently received a trade tip from Trader Nate’s blog for a double calendar on Level 3 Communications. I placed a one month calendar at the 105 Puts and 110 Calls for a total debit of 3.13.

On March 25th, I saw that the stock was moving up, so I decided to pay attention closer and mitigate my risk. I closed half my position on the 32.5 calendars and added the same number of contracts on the 35 Put calendars. I sold the 32.5 calendars for .77 credit and had an additional .75 debit for the 35 calendars. I will have to ask my fellow trading group how to calculate the cost basis and potential returns on this trade. 

I have thought of putting this trade on for a bit, but was in a trade that involved an industry competitor (POT). I recently closed POT, so I decided to put an iron condor on Mosaic. Here is what I did:

April 125/130 Calls

April 85/90 Puts

Total Credit of 1.40

Profit Potential – 1.40/3.60 = 38.8%

On March 27th, I opened up a bull put spread on Sprint for a total credit of .30. The strike prices were 5 and 6. I closed the trade today for a debit of .18. That gives me a return of 17.1% in 4 days!

Kohl’s has been moving against me for some time, but recently it has fallen back below my breakeven ranges. It had a nice gap down and I decided to close the trade. I received a total debit of 1.09 on an initial credit of 1.45. That gives me a profit of .36 / (5-initial credit) = 10.1%!

I placed my first bull call spread today on Google.

April 410/430’s – Debit of 13.65

Essentially, I want Google to stay above 430 at expiration. I am still trying to understand why I would use this strategy versus a bull put spread and how to calculate profit potential.

Three days ago, I placed an iron condor on RUT. I received this trade from Insanemoney.com. A great range and sweet profit potential.

April 750/760 Calls

April 580/590 Puts

Total Credit = 1.57

Profit Potential – 1.57 / 3.43 = 45.7%

Yesterday, I got into three short straddles that looked quite good.

Oracle April 21’s – Credit of 1.92

Williams Sonoma 25’s – Credit of 3.52

Paycheck 32.5’s – Credit of 2.87

Yesterday I placed an iron condor on Priceline. The sweet spot was huge and I received a nice credit. Here is what I executed on:

April 145/140 Calls

April 105/110 Puts

Overall Credit = 1.75

Profit Potential - 1.75 / 3.25 = 53.8%

My breakeven ranges are 108 to 141! Sweet!

On March 13th, I opened a triple calendar on UPS at the 65, 70 and 75 strike prices. The total debit was 4.83. Two weeks later, UPS was moving towards the 75 strike price. I decided to close the 65 calendars for a 1.00 credit. I will keep a close eye on the remaining two calendars to see if my profit expectations are met.