Hey folks!
July had me in Poland. A couple of concerts in Warsaw, some sightseeing around Krakow, and catching the World Cup with friends in a bunker. What a blast.
Meanwhile, the market had its fair share of red days in July.
This time it suited me fine. I had around $50k sitting on the sidelines that needed to be put to work, and red days are exactly when the premiums get juicy.
Which… is exactly where this strategy tends to do well.
I post every trade like these in real time over in the Alpha Desk, my options trading Discord channel. Try it free for 14 days and see if you don’t get just as hooked on options income paying for your life as I am.
Right, enough of me flapping my gums. Let’s get in to what you came for… the trades.
July 17, 2026
HOOD – Cash Secured Put
Strike: $98 Duration: 7 days Premium: $192 CoCR: 1.95% (101% pa)
Been wanting back into HOOD since I got called away from it earlier this year. Rather than chase the price back up, I’m just running cash-secured puts until it comes to me. Drops through $98, I own it at a discount. Doesn’t, I get paid to wait. Either way works.
July 22, 2026
SOXL – Cash Secured Put
Strike: $115 Duration: 9 days Premium: $525 CoCR: 4.56% (184% pa)
Quick disclosure on this one: SOXL is part of a small experiment as I get more comfortable trading leveraged ETFs. 3x leveraged, semiconductor-focused, and volatile enough that the premiums come in fat, which is exactly why the return below looks so good.
Nine days, 4.56% cash-on-cash. Annualise that and it looks silly. It isn’t. Nine days is nine days, not a year.
That volatility cuts both ways though, so I’m sizing this smaller than I would with a name like VRT until I’ve got more reps in with how leveraged ETFs actually behave. Don’t get seduced by the pa number and start sizing like it’s guaranteed. This thing whips around like a rollercoaster, so be warned.
July 22, 2026
VRT – Cash Secured Put
Strike: $260 Duration: 30 days Premium: $1,117 CoCR: 4.29% (51% pa)
Bigger name, bigger strike, bigger premium in real dollars, even though the annualised number looks smaller sitting next to SOXL above. $1,117 is $1,117. Don’t let the percentage chase distract you from the account actually growing.
July 27, 2026
PLTR – Covered Call x2
Strike: $143 Duration: 29 days Premium: $770 CoCR: 3.35% (41.6% pa)
I f***ed this one up.
Sold a couple of covered calls on PLTR without checking when they reported earnings. Turns out earnings were dropping only a few days later.
And report earnings they did. Big earnings. Blew straight through my strikes.
So it’s likely both of these get called away from me. That’s the price of inattention.
Lesson relearned.
Why Only These Trades?
This isn’t everything.
I post my trades in the Alpha Desk as they happen. These are just a few examples to show how it actually looks in practice.
If you want to see the rest, or want an extra income stream of your own by the end of September, join the Alpha Desk free for 14 days and watch the trades land in real time.
You don’t need perfect markets.
You just need a process you actually follow.
Cheers
Andy
Valencia – Cat sitting this cutie!