I noticed that UPST got pounded by a big gap down this morning, so I quickly put in place a strangle, Call 200, Put 150, August 25, total price 0.96. I wrote down 41.71 as the price, but it was tumbling at the beginning of the day, so I’m not totally sure what the actual ticker price was when my options were filled.
The stock kept going down, and when it got to the point where I had a small profit (~5%) on the total play, I closed the puts. The price kept bouncing down finding slightly lower prices and may be trying to find a more significant bounce. At least I hope so. The thing is I’m just going to have to wait until tomorrow and maybe in the coming week to see if it can bounce. It’s really hard to tell how much to trust after hours and pre-market movement because the volume is so low it is easier for a small number of people to affect the price.
The situation that I am in right now is that I made 5% on this trade and I stand a good chance to book more profit. The calls are still active, and even if they lose, any money I get for them adds to my profit. I am essentially trading on the house right now on UPST. With an Aug 25 expiry, I have some time to wait for a bounce.
Ideally, the price will bounce up into last night’s gap (resistance is usually lower inside the gap) giving me a profit on both sides of my strangle, which is very rare.