My portfolio: another week where the process paid

Last week worked out well for the book.

Alpha Generation up around 6% on the week. Long-only made back close to 3% on a broad recovery. YTD now sitting at +6.4% including hedges.

Here's an insight into what our subs get every week in the Alpha Pod

Let me walk you through the decisions.

Delta book: where most of the money came from

The QQQ vs IWM relative value trade worked quickly. Bought NASDAQ calls funded by selling Russell call spreads. Tech led the charge on the rally, the spread widened, I banked it toward the end of the week before it could give back.

That's rule one: when a thesis plays out faster than you expected, take the money. You'll rarely regret booking a triple-digit return in a week, plus the IWM also broke out to a new high, so I bailed.

I replaced it with a call ratio backspread on QQQ only. Short one call near the money, long two calls further out, for close to zero premium. That structure gives me continuation exposure without paying much premium and the vol isn't resetting until earnings have played out.

On TAN (solar), I bought back the downside put leg because it had made most of its premium already. Cleaner book. Less risk on a rollover.

Added a new XLE position on the pullback in energy. Outright calls as a placeholder while I wait for a deeper dip to add to the long-only book.

Theta book: where I took a small hit

The SPX diagonal call calendar (17th vs 20th April) got squeezed when the market kept ripping. I was leaning on the 20th keeping an event-risk bid over the weekend. The 17th strikes just got run over.

Rolled the strikes higher, took partial damage, chopped the trade.

Net loss about $300. Small relative to what the delta book brought in.

That's the job on theta trades. Limit damage when the thesis breaks. Traders who blow up on income books are usually the ones who refuse to accept a $300 loss and turn it into a $3,000 one.

Vega book: where the asymmetry lives

April VIX call flies expired worthless, as they should. Those are insurance, paid for with a small ticket.

Added a fresh May fly. The setup I liked: VIX spot stuck around 17.5, but May futures pinned near 20 and refusing to drop even through this violent equity rally.

That's a tell. The forward surface doesn't trust this rally. Cheap way to own optionality for a VIX recovery.

Considering adding more next week if the setup stays attractive.

Long-only plus hedges

Cash sitting around 40%. Long book up nicely on the broad recovery. Hedges down around $4K as the market ripped higher.

The important bit: equity hedge ratio went from under 10% last week to roughly 47% now. Actively rolling, replenishing, getting more defensive as we climb.

Intel holding got reduced into the 70 strike on the risk reversal because that level felt overbought after the run from $26. Kept the 55 puts as cheap optional protection.

Added fresh risk reversals to hedge FCX and TSM because the old hedges were dead money and we had already bought back the calls which gave us ammunition to add.

Outlook

Base case: we might still see one more leg lower toward 6,850, but the lows are probably in. Could be headed for a summer rally into new highs around 7,500.

My play from here is rolling put spreads and put flies up with the market. Protection on the way higher, without trying to short the rally via index calls after a move this violent.

Cash stays around 39-40%. Defensive positioning with room to participate.

Every decision above came from the same framework.

Market regime, volatility metrics, trade structure, risk management

Banking the QQQ/IWM trade was a rule: thesis played out quick, take the money.

Taking the $300 loss on the theta trade was a rule: when the structure breaks, limit damage.

Adding the May VIX fly was a rule: when the vol refuses to drop with spot, build VIX longs for asymmetry.

That's the whole game. A repeatable decision process applied consistently across regimes.

You can run it with $25,000 or $25 million. The math doesn't care.

If you've been trading options without a framework for turning a market view into the right structure, with the right sizing, at the right expiry, that's exactly the gap The Ultimate Options Course is built to close.

8 modules walking you through the foundational theory and practical techniques to trade options like a pro. Plus 3 months in the Alpha Pod watching me apply it live every single day with my own capital on the line.

[Join The Ultimate Options Course →]