Well this is supposed to be the scary day of the option cycle. I have about 30 minutes to decide if I want to bail out and close my March positions, or let the settlement prices determine my fate! Given the nice big cushions that my current March positions have, I’m going to hold out and let the settlements work their magic. Tomorrow, I’ll get on the live chat with my buddies at think or swim and see if I can get some margin relief to setup a few new April trades.

That is just one of the many advantages of a good options broker. Obviously, they don’t release margin for all trades, but when things are working in your favor there is no reason for them to hold your money if its “safe”. The settlements will come out sometime around noon (EST) tomorrow, that should leave plenty of time to find a good April trade or two and let the weekend time expire!

If these trades looked like they might be in danger, I would have to do the prudent thing and close them out. It looks like they can be unwound for about a nickel a piece, so why risk it if the market is pushing your position. However, since each on of these looks to have a nice 30+ point cushion, I don’t see any reason to give back my earnings to the market, and pay additional commissions.

Play your own portfolio based on your own risk profile! Just make sure you don’t give away money… I’ll post updates after the settlements come out detailing the trades.

Categories: Options Trading