Weekly Option Expiration Insanity = Pennies Into Dollars

Weekly stock options haven't always been there for traders.  I used to have to buy monthly options at inflated premiums, instead of trading options with much shorter life spans.  It isn't until the last few years that us option traders were been given the chance to buy weekly options on some of the major stocks out there.  This opened the door to more potential gains as the time to expiration can be decreased through weekly options as opposed to the normal monthly option expiration.

What makes trading stock options so appealing is the opportunity to buy an option for pennies and be able to sell that option  later on that same day for dollars.  There is no other  place, no other market where the price of something can rise so rapidly.  I've seen options trade from $.50 to $50 in less than a full trading day.

Back in 2010 I sold all of  my GS $170 strike puts to limit my losses only to see the company get sued by the gov't a day later.  My sales at $.23 - $.25 a contract totaled about $2k.  Had I held those puts one more day I would have been sitting on over $200k.  While the sale was unfortunate it does highlight, not only the potential move an option can make, but also my skill as an option trader.  I have become a much better trader since the GS trade.

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The possibilities of a giant move are certainly there on daily basis.  At Option Millionaires have seen these moves, we've traded similar moves, and over the course of the last 6 months, we've alerted such moves in the chat room.

Recently Jimmybob alerted WYNN calls on two occasions, both the same day, that ended up being a pennies to dollars type move.

On Friday the moves by both GOOG and AAPL were fabulous for the bears.  Many of the put options on GOOG and AAPl at their highs could have been bought for pennies on the dollar and later sold for 2,3,4,5,6 even $7.  For instance:

AAPL the $605 puts could have been bought for $.04 the went to $2.30

AAPL the $610 puts could have been bought for $.09 they went to $7.70

$40 into $2,400

$90 into $7,700

Not the norm, but shows just how much money can be made on opex.  By following my favorite strategy you limit your losses and maximize your gains.

The insanity continues on Monday.

Have an insane weekend.