Trade Update BAC: My Own Lil “BAC”nk Bail Out

Trade Update May 18th, 2012:  Ok as most of you know I was a little early on the U.S. bank short, but in some ways I feel like I got my own little “Bank bail out” in the BAC May 7/6 1×2 Put Spread that I put on back in February when the stock was $7.80.    I paid .03 for the structure originally, then I paid .11 for one of the May 6 Puts so that I was no longer naked short a downside Put.  So I am now long the May 7/6 Put Spread for .13.  With hours to expiration and the stock below $7, I am keeping a very close eye on this one…..I am selling half of the May 7 Puts that I own at .10 (stock ref 6.92) and will let the other half ride to the afternoon to see if we get another puke, but at the very least I want to recoup a little premium of this trade that just a few weeks ago was a total loser, albeit a small one….at the the time I put this trade on I loved the risk reward and in hindsight it was never a bad trade….the only possible mistake was buying to close one of the May 6 Puts for .11, which made it harder to break-even, but took risk off of the table.

This is a great example why NOT sell tiny options.   Meaning when BAC was much higher just weeks ago, these May 7 Puts where basically worthless, now they are in the game, I would have kicked myself if I had punted on them back in April.  Now I have a shot.  A logical question on the follow would be, why sell them now for .10?  The logical answer is that the stock is likely to get pinned at $7 on today’s close and I will look to take what premium I can by scalping them prior to that while they are still in the money.

ACTION: SOLD to CLOSE Half of my May 7 Puts at .10

Trade Update March 6th 20112: BAC is only a dime lower than a month ago when I put this trade on, but the spread is now worth about .07 (paid .03).  With today’s move lower in the market and the under-performance of most banks, I want to look to reduce risk in this structure by taking off the ratio of this spread.  With the stock at 7.71, I want to buy back one of the May 6 Puts for .11 ( I sold them at .19) as the delta on those  are a bout .10.  So I am now increasing the cost of my spread, but I have defined my risk to the .14 in premium I have now paid for the $1.00 wide spread.

I obviously have no clue whether this move continues but if stocks like MS, GS and C start moving 4-5% again, this will likely not be a good sign for the market and I do not want to be naked short downside puts in a space that has the potential to re-trace a large portion of it’s ytd to date performance.

SO to be clear, my new position is LONG BAC MAY 7/6 Put Spread for .14.   that is my max risk.

Original Post Feb 3rd, 2012: BAC That Spread Up

Here is a little Preview of what I will be discussing on Options Action tonight at 5pm on CNBC:      

BAC ($7.80)  Stock is up 40% ytd and 60% from the 52 week lows made in DEC. While the stock may have been severely oversold heading into the new year, it might have gotten a little ahead of itself in the near term and a re-tracement of a portion of the recent move could be in the cards in the months to come.

Here is a relatively low risk way to play for a pull back in the shares btwn now and May expiration, with the worst possible scenario that you are Put the stock at $6.00 (really $5.03 when you include the gains of the spread as if it was 1 up), that is down 35%!

TRADE: BAC ($7.80) Bought May 7 / 6 1×2 Put Spread for .03

-Bought 1 May 7 Put for .41

-Sold 2 May 6 Puts for a total of .38

Break-Even May Expiration:

Profits btwn 6.97 and 6.00 make up to .97, profits trail off btwn 6.00 and 5.03

Losses of .03 above 7.00 and up to .03 btwn 6.97 and 7.00……

MAX RISK, if stock is 6.00 or lower you are Put the stock, but you have made .97 so effectively you are protected to 5.03, SO YOU WOULD ESSENTIALLY BE LONG THE STOCK AT 5.03 (down 35% from current levels)

TRADE RATIONALE:  The company clearly seems to be “out of the woods” so to speak, but don’t think for a second that if we get a re-emergence of debt fears in Europe, that investors won’t hit the pause button in U.S. banks that have enjoyed fabulous gains over the last 6 weeks.

I want to reiterate that I have no strong negative fundamental view on BAC, This is merely a low premium way to get exposure to a move lower, that offers a very wide point in which you would lose real money on this trade.  I LIKE THE RISK REWARD.

Think of it as a put spread with an equal number of short puts added. If you did this trade 5×10, you would be long 5 of the 7′s, and short 10 of the 6′s. If the stock went down a lot it would be the equivalent of being long 500 shares at 5.03. The 500 shares being the extra 5 puts you are short in the spread. The pricing of the options and the fact that it is a 1×2 ratio means you have a long distance in the stock falling before that starts to be a problem,and a pretty big range on a more moderate drop where you can make a profit.

So keep that in mind on trades like this. If one didn’t want to own 10k shares of BAC at 5.03, one doesn’t do this trade 100 times. Because it’s possible that’s what would happen in the worst case scenario.