To The Moon

US stocks started last week strong before pulling back, with tech stocks seeing notable volatility.

Interestingly, both DELL and TSLA finished the week higher, yet four Put trades in Prestige trader jerryiscat's Profit Top 5 generated nearly US$157K in realised profits!

With both stocks gaining, how did Put options become his biggest source of profit?

Quick recap of last week's rankings:

Prestige Top 3: 🥇 @NicolasSoo , 🥈 @888Hong , 🥉 @David Tan 89

Elite Top 3: 🥇 @Jack Tiger21 , 🥈 @njj01 , 🥉 @Ah Nyar Thar

Team Top 3: 🥇AIPIA, 🥈Wheelers, 🥉Early Retirement

Full leaderboards at the end 👇

🏆 Top Trader Breakdown | jerryiscat

Trading Performance:

• Ranked 4th on the Prestige leaderboard last week, jerryiscat recorded a weekly TWR of 11.23%, with a maximum drawdown of 8.44%.

• His Profit Top 5 came entirely from DELL and TSLA, totalling approximately US$177.91K. $Dell Technologies Inc.(DELL)$ $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$

Trade Breakdown:

01 | DELL: The Nearly US$110K Profit May Have Started a Week Earlier

His biggest profit came from the DELL 23 Oct 525 Put, which generated approximately US$109.92K.

Looking back, DELL plunged from around US$572 on 13 Oct to US$452 on 16 Oct, a drop of more than 21% in just three trading sessions.

The 525 Put moved from out-of-the-money (OTM) to deep in-the-money (ITM). If the trader had bought the Put before the sell-off, the Delta-driven gains from this sharp decline could have been a major contributor to the profit.

02 | DELL: Why a 450 Put Alongside the 525 Put?

Besides the 525 Put, the trader also profited from a 450 Put expiring on 6 Nov.

• 525 Put: Already deep ITM, with price sensitivity increasingly resembling a short position in the underlying stock.

• 450 Put: With a strike slightly below DELL's share price at the time and a later expiry, it offered more time to benefit from potential further downside.

Assuming a long Put strategy, the first contract may reflect gains built up during the earlier sell-off, while the second could represent an opportunity to participate in further declines.

03 | TSLA: How Did Two 370 Puts Profit Around Earnings?

The trader recorded profits from three TSLA positions:

• TSLA shares: +US$21.09K

• 19 Oct 370 Put: +US$26.41K

• 28 Oct 370 Put: +US$18.32K

TSLA rallied from US$354.72 at the previous week's close to US$386.47 on 21 Oct, before pulling back following its earnings release.

The two Puts shared the same strike but expired on opposite sides of earnings.

👉 Possible profit drivers: For short Puts, the earlier contract could have benefited from the rally and Theta decay, while the later one may have benefited from a post-earnings IV decline. For long Puts, entry and exit timing would have been key.

💡 Takeaway

• After a big gain, reassess whether to hold the position.

As a long Put moves deep ITM, its Delta approaches -1. Weigh the remaining downside potential against the risk of a rebound eroding your gains.

• Adjust your strike to match your market outlook.

A lower-strike Put may offer another way to capture further downside, but always consider the premium, time to expiry and expected price move before adjusting.

*This analysis is based only on publicly available Trade to Win information and does not constitute investment advice.

💬 Community Corner

When trading around earnings, do you focus more on stock price direction or changes in IV before and after the announcement?

Share your thoughts in the comments! 👇

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