Credit Option Spread exit strategy - roll up, buy back, or leave alone?
April 17, 2007 by Daniel Beatty
OK our credit spread for this month was a May bull put 1395/1400 spread that was easily sold for .65 on April 11. Many of you could have sold it for .75, but we will go with .65 because that was the example given.
Well now what has happened the past week is astonishing. The market has skyrocketted - (use caution here because it has done this on average volume.) So what do we do with our spread trade. Here are some exit strategies -
1.) hold on to it till expiration with it going so high and now having at least two levels of support between the current price and the spread we should be OK.
2.) buy back the 1400 put and sell the 1410 - this is a good choice as it does not raise the risk considerably with the sold put being right at the last level of support, but it does raise your capital risk because the spread is now larger. I would buy back the 1400 put for $3.60 and sell the 1410 for $4.30 this will net you another .60 in credit almost doubling your original credit. However now because of the increased capital risk your play becomes only an 8% gain
3.) buy back the entire spread for .45 making a gain of .20 in the last week and roll into the next spread trade taking a look at the 1410/1415 bull put spread for .70. This would increase your credit for the month to .90 or a 20% gain (averaging the two capital risks)
Now lets imagine if the market did the opposite and had dropped, this is how I would have exited the trade. If for any reason the SPX closed below 1410 I would close the trade, most likely for a loss. We could roll back into another lower spread trade say 1385/1390, but why would I if I had read the market or the stock wrong or thesituation has changed then I want out of the trade completely, take my loss and move on. So that is the trigger, if the indice or stock closes below the support I was using for my estimates in the trade then I close the trade. Otherwise I just wait.
Now there is another time I would close a trade early. Lets say the SPX continues its rise and my spread becomes worth only .20 or less, and we have a week or more left till expiration, I feel it is too risky to leave my trade open for the measly little credit left, just close the trade. Take the .45 or .50 gain and be happy.
bull put spread, capital risk, credit spread, exit strategies, spread trade











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