Yesterday I put on a couple of gold positions and an oil services position.
BHI (Baker Hughes Intl)
Was privy to some unusual options activity in the Oct calls, and thought I’d give it a look. Was coming up on resistance, and the sense the call buyers had was this would push though. Implied Volatility came down from 45 to about 32, with historical vol at 57. So, cheap. I went ahead and bought a call spread to participate in the potential move without risking a whole heck of a lot.
•••â₠¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓ Άβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ ¢â€¢â€¢â€¢â €¢â€¢â€¢â€ ΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆΓΆβ‚¬ΒΆ
Risk: $98 per contract
Reward: Potential $460 per contract
Scenario: BOT Nov 100 Call/SOLD Nov 105 Call for net debit of $0.98. BHI has to close above 105 by Nov expiration for me to get maximum profits. BHI currently is trading 96.87 and today broke to record highs. Note, too, the volume on the breakout. This is supporting it’s breakout to these new highs, and it should continue on it’s path upward.
Currently: +59.50 per contract
GDX (Market Vectors Gold Mining ETF)
Was stalking this one for a potential entry on a breakout of the recent consolidation. This morning gapped open and price fell back to the top of the range of the consolidation, and I bought some calls outright as the IV was showing it to be decently cheap.
Risk: $155 per contract
Reward: Unlimited
Scenario: BOT Nov 48 Calls at $1.55. GDX was consolidating at highs and was poised for a breakout. IV had been forming a triangle and was looking to break to the upside. I *could* have bought a call spread on this, too, but the IV was low enough for me to see some upside room to it. When IV hits around 46 (currently at 39) I’d look to exit the trade. Also, note the volume on the breakout today:
Currently: Calls trading at 1.62 mid, up about 7 dollars per contract.