Options Expiration – April 2020

I’m in a bit of a holding pattern until Monday so I can see how much my margin requirements change after my April options are assigned. I have one QQQ April $225 naked put that I’m down around $600 on as of mid-morning today. I’ll take that assignment and I’m trying to decide if I’ll sell a covered call on it. The June $230 calls look good to me right now and you might see me sell that contract soon.

My most painful position is my five TLT April $149 naked calls. I’m down over $10,000 on paper and plan to ride it lower after assignment. I have no idea when bond prices will come back to anything close to a reasonable level, but know they will come down eventually. I can cover the dividend payments if I sell June $145 covered puts. If TLT drops significantly by June expiration, I’ll add $4 per contract of profit on top of the premiums I’ve received, minus the dividends I’ve had to pay for a couple of months. 

Depending what my margin requirements are, I’d like to sell some June $180 or $185 naked calls to help my profit/loss picture. TLT peaked at $179.69 very briefly on March 9. I don’t think it’ll move above that mark unless the world completely falls apart (further). TLT has been rising the past few days and sits at the top of a key range today. Using the intraday highs that began on March 6, it’s hitting resistance at its trendline of higher highs (excluding the March 9 – 10 highs). I want to see resistance hold before I sell new naked calls and that’s if I have room on margin.