Brook Reef

Selling to Open AAPL $100 11/6 puts for $0.73 5% position, if exercised I don't own any AAPL. I shorted it after that earnings pop where it jumped over $100. So buying it around there is a pretty logical spot. And it's been so beaten down this week that I think it could have a decent bounce back. I get 8.2% downside protection in exchange for 0.71% of return. Not a bad deal.

Buying XLK $116 11/13 calls for $1.19 0.1% position 6% position, if exercised In keeping with my thought that we'll rally after the election, assuming a clear outcome, I'm buying some XLK calls. Pretty cheap, safe way to get upside protection. 

Rolling BUD $53 10/30 puts to BUD $51 11/6 puts at breakeven 2% position Sometimes these trades don't work. So I usually roll them into the following week, at a lower strike, and hope it sorts itself out.  My other choice would be to take delivery of the shares at the strike price and hope the stock price rises next week. I like lowering my potential cost basis instead. I sized this position as if it was a purchase, so no sweat if next week doesn't work. Buying BUD at $51 feels pretty good to me.

Buying AAPL $120 11/13 CALLS for $0.67 0.1% position 10% position, if exercised With AAPL shares so beaten down this week, buying upside is extremely cheap. I'm definitely not an Apple bull, but can't shake the feeling that we'll rally after the election given how many think we'll selloff.  I'll argue that in the short-term, a contested election is priced-in. So any clear outcome would mean stocks rise. And this is a cheap way to be long. AAPL was last over $120 on Oct. 19th, just 11 days ago. 

**DAY TRADE** Selling TZA @ $15.59 Realized gain of $0.39 (2.57%) I almost sold 1/2 of the position at $15.75 but decided to let it ride. My stop got picked off at $15.59. Perhaps I should have had it a little bit lower to let the position breathe. Oh, well. Onward and upward!

Buying to close AMT 10/30 $230 puts for $0.50 Realized gain of $1.25 (0.55%) Not a bad trade for a stock that's DOWN since I put on the position! Making 0.5% in a week is amazing!

**DAY TRADE** Buying TZA @ $15.20 10% position I'm pushing my luck here on more selling pressure and buying TZA, which is 3x short IWM. Tight stops, per usual.

Apple and Amazon had amazing quarters. Records, really. Huge profits, revenues, etc. But in the stock market, we always need MORE. More growth. More revenues. More profits. Investors price companies based on growth continuing at a certain, unattainable rate FOREVER. And when that rosy forecast starts to slow to a reasonable rate, if not flat or negative, the stock gets absolutely hammered. AAPL and AMZN shares have been down ~1-4% most of the after-hours and pre-market sessions - giving back some of the gains from Thursday, if not a bit more.  Why should a company grow forever? We should price companies as if they have somewhat finite lives. A big growth followed by a 50% decline and then a long, flat line. I was thinking about this same concept in the utility world - where in a certain version of the future, we don't need utilities any more. The good news is there's a concept in utilities of a "stranded asset". Where if an asset is no longer "used and useful...

Buying to close EBAY $48 puts for $0.12 Realized gain of $0.17 (0.36%) A classic bread & butter trade. Not quite 0.5% in a week, but still a decent little use of capital.

Rolling MMM $160 10/30 Puts to MMM $155 11/6 Puts Buy to close MMM $160 10/30 puts for $2.39 Sell to open MMM $155 11/6 puts for $2.73 No change to position size (slight reduction because of lower strike) This is a classic move when a put goes against me. I roll the put to the next week - giving me more time for it to work. In this case, I even get to lower my strike price and bring in a bit more income. It's a move you make only if you think the stock price should stay/go above the strike price. Since I thought the $160 strike was good, I definitely think the $155 strike is good.  In many ways, I'm long the stock. So I have to like it. At 18-19x P/E and 3.5% dividend yield, what's not to like?

Covering QQQ @ $273.03 Realized gain of $1.81 (0.66%) I held onto this one for a long time #hoping it would come back to me. And it did. So I'm out. I think this makes me truly net long?

Buying to close KHC $27 10/30 puts for $0.04 Realized gain of $0.13 (0.48%) Decent earnings report from Kraft with a little boost from broader markets means profit for me!

Yesterday was a wave of selling pressure. Across the board. Every sector closed in the red. It was broad-based and pretty even. Nothing was spared. At the same time, it was one of those days where decent relative opportunities were probably made - as the selling was so widespread. Futures were up over 1% at various times through the night before going red again about 90 minutes before the open. Fun, fun! We get a Q3 GDP print this morning - expected to be quite huge. ___________________________ 1) Interesting.. 2) Europe's stock markets compared: 3) Next wave in China? ___________________________ I'm looking to close my positions that have already reported and add some new ones that report today. EBAY, BUD, KHC should be closed while I open SKX, AAPL, SBUX, and XOM - if it all works out. LONG BOOK SHORT BOOK Ticker Cost Basis Size Ticker Cost Basis Size IRM 27.56 2% IWM 139.41 15% KR 33.47 2% QQQ 274.84 5% CSCO 41.61 4% KRE 35.77 5% AY 29.09 4% DUK 88.04 2% AMT 241.36 2% NEE 75...

Selling KHC $27 10/30 puts for $0.17 2% position Kraft reports tomorrow morning before the open and with the selloff today and VIX over 38, put premiums are wild. This put gives me: 8.5% downside protection in exchange for 0.63% of gain. Not too shabby so long as the selloff doesn't accelerate and continue tomorrow. I'd guess even if KHC is down 5% between now and tomorrow's open, this one will be a winner.

Sometimes the lunacy of the markets amazes me. We've been able to track covid cases, basically in real-time, but the market ignored it. Until we - both the USA and the world - set new records for cases in a single day on back-to-back-to-back days and new lockdowns are being put into place around the country and world. Also, the stimulus hopes seem to be quashed for the time being.  I don't think we've yet seen the pain of the damage caused by the recession (that started before the virus hit) and the subsequent lockdowns and jobless spike. We haven't seen businesses fail. There's not a rush of bankruptcies. No homes being foreclosed. No stories about cars being reposessed. Nothing. No pain. But it's there. And until we see the pain - or a stimulus more than $1,200 to end the pain - it's not over. Futures are red today, if that's not clear. __________________________ 1) CDS (credit default swaps) holders are getting paid next to nothing when a loan/swap go...