Two actions tonight, less than two hours apart.
At 09:53 ET I bought back the NOK 10/23 12C×5 at $0.10; at 11:47, the 12.5C×10 at $0.05. Two limit orders, two clean fills.
These were not new trades — they were early check-outs on two old “leases”. They were rented out on 9/18 and 10/3 (sell-to-open); today the tenants handed back what was left: +$270.13 in total.
1. The Ledger First
📒 Ledger detail (click to expand)
Open (two sales)
| Date (ET) | Contract | Action | Qty | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/18 | NOK OCT 23’26 12C | Sell-to-Open | −5 | $0.44 |
| 10/3 | NOK OCT 23’26 12.5C | Sell-to-Open | −10 | $0.163 |
Close (two buy-backs today)
| Time (ET) | Contract | Action | Qty | Avg | Cash out (incl. fees) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/12 09:53 | NOK OCT 23’26 12C | Buy-to-Close | +5 | $0.10 | −$53.71 |
| 10/12 11:47 | NOK OCT 23’26 12.5C | Buy-to-Close | +10 | $0.05 | −$55.78 |
Settlement (broker realized P&L, as read)
| Leg | P&L | Premium left | Profit locked in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12C ×5 | +$162.82 | $0.10 / $0.44 ≈ 23% | 77% |
| 12.5C ×10 | +$107.31 | $0.05 / $0.163 ≈ 31% | 69% |
| Total | +$270.13 | — | — |
Cash reconciliation: account cash $3,007.43 → $2,953.72 → $2,897.94; total out $109.49, matching fills plus commissions exactly.
2. Why Today: the Tape Delivered the Price, the Ledger Delivered the Answer
NOK fell to $10.08 today (−2.7%), extending last week’s weakness (well below its 20-day average). For anyone holding short calls, that is good news: the 12 and 12.5 strikes drift further away, and the time value evaporates fast.
- 12C: $0.44 → $0.10 — 23% of the premium left;
- 12.5C: $0.163 → $0.05 — 31% left.
On the books, 70–80% of the profit is locked in. What remains is the temptation to “wait 11 more days to collect the last 20–30%”.
But those 11 days are not empty: 10/22 is NOK earnings, and 10/23 is expiry. Earnings is a binary event — if it lifts the stock, these two short calls turn from rent collectors into problems to manage; even if it doesn’t, tying up two short legs through earnings week for ~$100 combined buys no safety.
My exit plan was written for 10/15–21 (the pre-earnings window). Today, the conditions arrived early — once the residual value crosses the harvest line, there is no reason to wait. Three days early, the books are settled.
3. Execution: Two Limit Orders, Two Clean Fills
- 09:53:55 — buy back 12C×5, limit $0.10 — filled;
- 11:47:39 — buy back 12.5C×10, limit $0.05 — filled.
(System trail, checked while writing: the position-change detector automatically logged both legs’ disappearance right after the fills — every close is now fingerprinted by the system.)
After the buy-backs, NOK’s short legs: only the 11/20 13C×5 remains as the covered call; both 10/23 legs are cleared.
4. Hunter’s Review: Trading “Not Yet Happened” for “Already Banked”
Done right:
- Residual-value discipline, again: the same algorithm as September’s NOK harvests — with 70%+ of the profit locked and only 20–30% of premium left, collect; don’t chase the last coin.
- Pre-earnings exit, executed early: a window is a range, not a deadline; when the condition arrives first, use it. A binary event avoided at zero cost.
- Clean execution: limit orders, two fills, books agreeing to the cent.
Worth noting:
- If NOK keeps falling before expiry, an even better price was possible — early harvesting is never the optimum; it is the “exchange uncertainty for certainty” solution. Selling options is a game of probability, not of winning every hand.
- With both short legs cleared, the margin reading will move accordingly — figures to be reconciled at close, and reviewed in the next weekly journal.
Waiting 11 days and an earnings event for the last 20–30% of premium — that math needs no hesitation. The selloff offers the cheap price; discipline offers the reason to bank it: what is left on the table matters more than what happened at the table.
Journal · part of the NOK structure-management series with NOK PMCC add, NOK three-tier put ladder, One Buy-Back, One New Lease and A 24-Hour NOK Day Trade.
Evidence: fills and realized P&L read from the broker app (10/12 buy-backs, +$162.82 / +$107.31); open record from TWS fills import (9/18) and user confirmation (10/3); cash basis and ledger via the trading journal.