I had a bull call spread in Walmart at the 140/145 strikes.  It was in the money heading into earnings and I intended to close early for a profit.  The winter storm in Houston left me both without power and without cell service.  I decided to risk earnings rather than risk the roads to find a place with wi-fi.  Earnings were a big miss with lowered guidance as well.  WMT fell 5% putting both strikes out of the money with a day till expiry.

I finally capitulated and collected whatever time value I could remaining in the trade.  The original trade was on 25JAN2021 for 3.20 a share (12 spreads).  I sold for 67 cents a share. My loss is 3,036 or 79% over 25 days.  This one hurts more than most because I had a win in the bag that I couldn’t book due to an unlikely weather scenario.

February will still finish the month in the black but not by enough to cover my monthly budget.  Fortunately, January was very kind.  No positions are currently threatened.  However shares of PSEC are likely to be called away after rallying post writing calls.  That situation will be in play another 30 days.

Overall, I’m thankful.  The lights and heat are back on, the roads are finally clear, and I’m going to have lunch with my father.  The retired life is a good life.

Devour your prey raptors!