May is off to a great start with profits literally coming in on the first day - let's get right into it.
This week:
$86 profit in McDonald's (MCD)
$31 profit in Best Buy (BBY)
$86 profit in MCD
On April 25 I sold a $275 cash-secured put in MCD expiring Jun 16 for $172 in premium. This came after earnings and while MCD didn't report horrible earnings, it did provide a small amount of volatility to set up a position. Just 4 trading days later on May 1, the option hit my profit target of 50% and closed automatically, locking in $86 in realised profits.
Obviously not every trade is going to be a quick winner, but when the chance comes, you have to take it.
$31 profit in BBY
Last weekend I did a rare portfolio review with people in my private community because I didn't like the extremely low VIX reading below 16, and BBY was one of the positions I was looking to take off if the opportunity presented itself. The trade was put on a while ago on Apr 19, where I sold a cash-secured put at the $67.50 strike, expiring May 19 for $61. On Monday, the option was trading at $25, more than 50% profit, but I didn't close it. By Thursday thanks to volatility in the market, it was trading up to $55! Talk about letting profits slip away. Thankfully on Friday the market rallied and the BBY position dropped to $30, this time I didn't hesitate and closed the trade.
With less than 14 days to go and earnings coming up on May 25, this was not a position I wanted to hold on to for too long, so it was great to close it for $31 or 50% of max profit. I just posted about the opening trade in BBY last week, you can read it at the link below.
That's it for this week - with volatility creeping up every so slightly this week, I also put on new positions in SBUX and NKE and will update them in due course.
This article is for educational purposes only. This is my own portfolio which is being managed according to my goals and risk tolerance. Your situation is likely different and you should do your own due diligence before investing in stocks or options.