Herm...thanks for the FTSE quotes URL, that will help in the early mornings sometimes.
I had actually bought ITM Long LEaps calls at 40...when SCH was well above 40....and then rode it down usually going about 2 months out to CC. I had some Jan 2001 40's long...and I now have them for a net nut of $1, due to CCing right along.
so the Jan 2000 CC 37.5 was upstrike when I sold them about 6-8 weeks ago.
I did learn something from this, the first time I had been assigned a CC in my Diagonal Calendar Spread program with CC's.
I had 20 contracts....and I watched this one pretty close on Friday.
It closed at 37 7/16 on the New York....but apparently in after hours trading went up to 38 1/2 and closed on Island, or some other afterhours trading venue at that level.
I talked to a stockbroker friend who does options. He says that they (options clearing people at expiry) have until one hour after the exchange closes......2 pm Calif, 5 pm New York........and they can use that extra hour to do what they did. He recommended that I require Ameritrade to confirm the exact time of the last trade, AND, when the assignment was made.
I called Ameritrade....as usual....when you call them, you get some young person who doesn't know a great deal. They said that the "Options Clearing Corporation" of the CBOE did the assignments, and it was beyond their control.
I was pretty frustrated.....but then they also explained how it works. (I've been wondering how it works for some time.) When I was assigned.....I sold short the 2000 shares. So about $75,000 went into my account. All I had to do was buy the shares this morning. Fortunately for me, I was watching in real time....and I caught it at 37 3/16 and bought it, so after the dust cleared, and my anger at Ameritrade dissipated, I made 5/16 @ 2000 shares. $375...a moral victory. (but I still have the long LEAPS, and I can CC them again!) |
