IWM

GrossFleshSack

How are IWM puts for Monday looking?

arthriticpug

buying an (M)ES future is basically buying voo on leverage except and gains (or losses) are immediately added to your account cash balance (they’re mark to market). gains also have the advantage of being taxed as 60/40 long/short term cap gains regardless how long you hold it. 1 MES is about equal to buying 40k VOO and 1 ES is like 400k. the carry cost is similar to buying stock on margin at 3% interest. however you pay nothing upfront and only pnl is reflected in your account. (they do count against your account’s margin though) if the index is flat, the price will slowly decay—that’s your interest/carry cost. you can also buy YM for the dow, NQ for QQQ or RTY for russell 2000 (IWM). i’m treating them as if i actually bought that much stock as that’s how the pricing moves. e.g. if VOO moves 1% you’d get +/- $400 (MES) or $4000 (ES). you don’t get any dividends but that’s reflected in reduced carry costs. the contracts expire so you’ll have to roll them ever 3 months if you stick to the front contracts.

kokkomo

The IWM price action today was bullshit. Small caps outperforming everything like wtf on what planet.

TickTockTaudit

Puts on the Russell seem cheap. And this looks like a good hedge against a market wide sweep next week, and will also pay if money rotates into large cap/mega cap. Picked up 8/21 and 8/28 IWM puts

whodey84

All part of keeping VIX down. QQQ down .3%, IWM up .3% everything in balance

-sakuranbo

IWM consistently pumping this week. I thought small caps were supposed to be "more vulnerable" to the economy or something

whodey84

speak for yourself i been making bank on IWM puts every time it touches 304.60+

-sakuranbo

I swear whenever I sell calls on IWM the thing just goes up straight to the strike

whodey84

IWM back to open would be nice

whodey84

Time to throw IWM off a cliff

whodey84

IWM back to 300 would be really nice.

-sakuranbo

IWM approaching 304 letting me earn my call theta early

OkAlternative7705

Spy dumping and I got IWM PUTS NO WAY IWM HOLDS

OkAlternative7705

Only trade I can see is either NBIS or IWM puts but they both aren’t pumping enough for me to comfortably buy puts

OkAlternative7705

Going in IWM puts, it’s stupid idea that’s why I know it’s gonna work

kokkomo

IWM is the most egregious example of MM just blatantly manipulating price action.

No_Feeling920

IWM is detached from economic reality, IMO. But timing a crash is incredibly difficult in this environment, where market valuations are mostly about (fake) media headlines, hype and vibes. I have a single $260 put expiring next June, but I'm not holding my breath. A sharp rise in fuel costs strangling the economy once crude reserves are depleted could knock some sense into the markets.

IncomingAxofKindness

I was just thinking about IWM puts today. Thanks for reminding me not to be a fucking maroon.

UnusDeicide

Okay your post as others have stated is really all over the place. Instead of cash secured, just run a synthetic long and short against it. This is also called a double diagonal or a "poor mans covered strangle". Essentially you would be purchasing a long dated strangle (1 year or more) at very very very deep ITM strikes. Deltas should be .9 or higher. At this level you are strictly playing for intrinsic value and extrinsic is non-existant. What this means is while you will 100% take the max loss on the long, you can sell shorts weekly, bi-weekly, monthly against it. So if set up correctly your max loss on the long will be roughly 2 - 3 weeks worth of strangle premium. If your shorts are managed correctly and keep hitting you can make some good returns. Real would example: I ran this on IWM. I purchased the long contracts 1 year out for around 7,500$. When I sold it 3 months before expiry, it was negative $346 dollars. So Total loss was $346. However, in that 9 months I made roughly $4,200 dollars from selling weeklies. Thats around a 60% return on expended capital for 9 months. Best thing here is the initial 7.5k to purchase the longs is the only collateral you need. It uses the long as collateral to your shorts. Risk and negatives (no free lunch). 1) If your short positions get away from you, your long will prevent unlimited losses but they can get pretty large. 2) You dont own stock so no benefit to dividends or anything like that. Other than that it works pretty good and is relatively safe if ran on a larger index fund or large cap stock that doesnt have crazy volatility non-stop.

Cav829

SPY and IWM were literally hitting near channel highs. This is a lot of rebalancing into the Qs now that they've broken out again. I fail to see anything particularly bearish here other than the standard we're up in the stratosphere.

-sakuranbo

wtf that volume and candle on IWM some algo is going insane

-sakuranbo

SPY straight line up IWM in theta day all is perfect in the world

OkAlternative7705

Only trade I had left in this market was puts on IWM and they crashed IWM before I could do that. They really don’t let you trade in this market 

-sakuranbo

holy pump on IWM

-sakuranbo

SPY zigzagging for the past hour while IWM is a straight line up

-sakuranbo

I sold an IWM 305 call so the pre-market's gonna pump to 304 and then we'll see 305 at the end of day

-sakuranbo

why is IWM pumping

AcademicStandard3701

IWM to 0 😤

-sakuranbo

Bought 100 shares of IWM at $299.75, so it's gonna start drilling

-sakuranbo

sold IWM 300 put at $0.46 if I get assigned, I'm simply wheeling it

tzuica_de_mar

I got assigned 2500 shares of IWM after Friday close, if we pump by open I'm ultra fucked

8lbs_overweight

If you degens want to make money, simply short IWM at opening. This index cant hold gains to save its life.

SirenSynt

You can get an IWM or Apple contract with that. I’ve had a $3 contract on Apple move pretty good when it’s trending

bbbbombbbb

bro I just needed IWM to not sit in the smallest intraday range it's had in months but full port Sandick calls sounds good too

bbbbombbbb

spent all day watching paint dry (IWM do absolutely nothing all day) it's okay, just down 100% on the port this week

OkAlternative7705

You got billion dollars? If yes short IWM with all that money 

OkAlternative7705

Went all in on puts just now FUCKING CRASH IWM CRAHS THIS SHIT COME ON

AstronomerBorn7666

Is IWM going PUTS?

No_Feeling920

That's IWM.

Old-Lengthiness-6116

you thinking IWM 0dte or swinging it, i know a tad bit about spy but looking for some insight

rain168

I don’t get it, the IWM went down, how did the puts not print?

Imaginary_Ad_5019

IWM is a scam

ANGELeffEr

There’s always a chance. After a particularly bad Monday, an entire market overreaction in October last year, I bought 70 IWM calls@ .03 for about $240. At the end of the week they were worth 1.89 each or $13,230. So yeah, there’s always a chance…but like someone else mentioned-the pressure at $25-50 compared to $5K compared to 5 & 6 digits is uncharted territory for many traders & something most don’t & won’t experience.

BLU-102

One suggestion I would make is that if you don't want to get rid of your shares, stop trading covered calls. I trade covered calls on SPY, to which I obviously own the shares. However, I am ok getting called away, so I never take a loss. I simply buy them back at the higher price and continue. The point is that I am looking for income on my covered calls. If you are looking for capital gains, then CC's are the wrong choice in my opinion. Also, I used to trade CSPs on SPY as well. Then I found a better solution where I never had to worry about assignment. If assignment doesn't bother you or that's your thesis, then disregard. But, in my case, I now take the same strategy I used for CSPs and now sell an SPX Vertical Credit Spread. What I love about SPX is that there is no early assignment. And if you live in the US, the taxation is 60/40, with 60% of your gains being taxed at long term capital gains with the other 40% at short term capital gains. That's quite a savings in taxes to Uncle Sam's sticky fingers. I started as a stock options trade, but now just trade SPY and SPX and I'm now testing IWM. I like the index ETFs because there's no research to do on a particular company and the volatility is much tamer compared to individual stocks. My last point is about psychology. This is by far the most important aspect when it comes to trading and investing in my opinion. Most strategies work, but what always gets in the way is that little demon on your shoulder. You know, the one that tells you to cut your profits and get out early because he just knows the stock is going to dump. Mindset in trading is 80% and strategy is 20%. A good book to read is "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel.

Delicious_Put_5857

!banbet IWM delisted 1d

RedBeard_FrostGiant

0 Day to Expiration and 1 Day to Expiration options trading. QQQ, SPY, and IWM are the tickers with the most liquid options chains, so you can get in and out easily. I've been scalping moves. Today I caught a move for 108% gain on my account, then caught a 40+% move after that for a total of 196% gain on the day. Both plays were QQQ option calls.

RedBeard_FrostGiant

All off 0DTE and 1DTE options, mostly on QQQ with a couple SPY and one IWM.

0DTEDEGEN1

iono i bought some OTM spy and IWM calls tho

thenorthernwhiteboy

IWM and SPY calls at open, should’ve at close

OkAlternative7705

I just can't stop thinking about IWM puts, no way this pump holds on IWM

OkAlternative7705

anyone wanna do IWM puts here? anyone

traderbusto

How long can IWM hold 301?

tldamico

IWM broke over 299. Is 300 in the cards?

Midnightruined

IWM go even higher

tldamico

I'm gonna need IWM above $299 at market open. Thank you for your matter to this attention.

Content-Drawing5774

about 400k on calls in IWM yolo

LeakMyBigBowls

IWM to 305 tomorrow

TastyPeach916

BUY PLTR call at open and PUT at IWM if reach to 300. i'm thinking small rotate to tech

Defiant_Fan4126

I don’t many ODTE contracts. I bought a 2DTE call IWM on Thursday and rang the bell a little too early just before 11:00. I should’ve waited would’ve made for a much better day.

verified-trader

Bulls. SPY +1.50%, IWM +1.86%, DIA +1.47%. Broad sweep across large and small caps. Not debatable today.

Difficult_Mix8321

IWM wants to explode eh

Cav829

Russelll/IWM seems like the play the rest of the week. Way stronger looking chart than the S&P and the Nasdaq.

fire_alarmist

Wrong. Literally the day this SEC ruling happened was the bottom. [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/02/2026-06365/order-regarding-the-collateral-broker-dealers-may-pledge-when-borrowing-customer-securities](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/02/2026-06365/order-regarding-the-collateral-broker-dealers-may-pledge-when-borrowing-customer-securities) The SEC stepped in, quietly changed the rules and removed the contingency that brokers have to back certain transactions/stock loans with US dollars, bank vouchers or US dollar equivalents. Instead said they can start using SPY, IWM, QQQ and other index funds or even baskets of individual stocks in those funds marked to market. What this did is explode the level of risk in our markets and supercharged the level of leverage based on loaning stock shares in the market. They now borrow shares from other brokers based on shares they have. There is really no limit to how insanely leveraged based on nothing they can get now. AI summary for you - Order Regarding the Collateral Broker-Dealers May Pledge When Borrowing Customer Securities on March 30, 2026, allowing broker-dealers to use specific large-cap equity baskets as collateral under Rule 15c3-3. This update expands permissible collateral, improves liquidity, and modifies operational standards for U.S. securities lending.

GneissFrog

i wonder what it was like back in the old days, when different indexes like didn't move in lockstep. SPY, QQQ, IWM, triplets today, finishing each others' sentences

UsualOk7794

Swan dip iron buttcheeks forming on IWM 5m. If it continues, she gone

ThinkingOfTheOldDays

IWM is crashing, and it'll affect large caps sooner than later

WordsHappenedHere

Breadth collapsing. RSP and IWM breaking down. Market narrowing. 10yr mooning. Oil mooning. Confidence in the Fed collapsing. Hedge funds going tits up. Memory stocks pumping and dumping 300 points in days. Yea. This is probably where you want to take your profits. Raise cash and wait it out.

hermeskino715

Looking at SPY vs IWM daily, you can tell which 1 is the meme

Imaginary_Ad_5019

Again IWM pull through for me. 293 bruh

The_Jeremy_O

$IWM is going to bankrupt me…. Why are we RED??

GneissFrog

lol IWM

Past-Entertainer335

SPY and IWM free fall, followed by QQQ

AnimCo

the worse part is i gave up day trading because i cant keep track of the market that close and have a job, and i fucking sucked at it. I decided I would just buy some shit and sit on it. •So here is mostly: NLR, VRT, SPY, VXUS, IWM, •with some under 300$ plays in: IE, IBIT, Himx, sldp, nbis, sqqq. and after a year to be in the negative is great. so i sold everything except SPY, VXUS, IWM put most my money in SPY going to wait for my 6k to give me 60$ in a year and buy some shotgun rounds and repaint my ceiling fuck this bs.

WorldlyWar2143

I really gotta take a look at whats been working for me. My retirement port is down menially in comparison to my gambling port, and the only difference is 3x versus 1x etfs lol. Maybe I should really just sell the rip, if it ever comes, and dump it all in my 3 fund port gradually. VOO/VXUS/IWM has been kicking ass for me and I should probably just stick to that

bbbbombbbb

IWM 291 0dte put from 0.03 to 2.6 who had the balls?

JustLurkCarryOn

Grabbed some IWM calls expiring Friday on the dip, LFG make me some dinner money.

ThinkingOfTheOldDays

gold & IWM mooning.

livin_in_the_land

115% gain on IWM today

ThinkingOfTheOldDays

IWM calls or puts. if a cut or flat, buy near to the money calls. if a hike, buy far OTM puts.

MrMcjibblets1990

For the first time in 3 months, I wasn't burned by IWM puts. WOOOOHOOOO

ten7four

DIA +9.14% YTD (+16.50% annualized) SPY +7.73% YTD (+13.89% annualized) QQQ +8.01% YTD (+14.40% annualized) IWM +18.02% YTD (+33.56% annualized)

JettyJoe

going in on IWM. call me lame... going to sell options around it of course

95Daphne

Look, I get it. We want to relate everything to macro fears if we can. This is not a macro/rate fears move though because I can link this to exactly where it began (and really that would be Broadcom earnings with memory just pouring gas on the fire), and rates were going down initially then, plus IWM is holding up well. This, believe it or not, is probably at least the 3rd time the Nasdaq has pitched a fit with it at least starting out not being US macro fundamental based fears in the past few years. Maybe macro pours gas on the fire again, who knows, the last time was EXTREMELY tricky because it looked like the Dow/IWM was going to hide tech falling flat perfectly for a good LONG while.

Freedom-Of-Trades

Not quite sure what you mean "on the way down to this level" . It's still up 18% ytd, and only down 2% this last month, and 3.26% from it's all time high. The IWM had three things going for it. Low PE and projected lower interest rates and projected lower inflation. There is a risk to that now. I'm surprised that it hasn't dumped, if that's what your point is.

sloanemonroe

And IWM is doing just fine.

Significant_Speed854

What's been interesting to see is SPY and IWM both holding up very well

JettyJoe

HOOD PLTR GE VRT SPCX SPY SPMO QQQ IWM long term DCA. lets see if I can stick with it...

95Daphne

Low beta breaking out vs high beta does tho. Look, I'm just completely jaded from the past couple years. I think this Dow/IWM outperformance deal is going to fail to keep US markets up yet again, as usual. In fact, I think there's already been signs of a slow turn to boot too.

tachyonvelocity

You still didn't tell me your DTEs for your money losing IWM puts yet. Did they expire on Friday? If not, how much are you down? [https://www.reddit.com/r/stocks/comments/1v56gxq/comment/ozi17ve/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/stocks/comments/1v56gxq/comment/ozi17ve/?context=3)

fire_alarmist

Right... and all of those are very sensitive to rate adjustments and we have all but confirmed rate hikes coming with the new Fed chair. Even without that, IWM has been on a tear and we got like 2 of the last 6 rate cuts that were priced in late 2024.

IvoryTowerResident

well i own KRE which is the regional bank ETF most of IWM are components

fire_alarmist

How does IWM literally NEVER move down. I cant fathom it. Can anyone even name ONE company in the Russell 2000? There is zero bull catalyst for that index yet all it does is go up an inordinate amount on no news and never go down.

GrassOrAss954

I took the road less traveled by (IWM). That is going to make all the difference (at open)

MorphIQ-Labs

Interesting split. The caveat about inferred dealer positioning is the key one. Have you stress-tested net GEX and the flip levels under alternative positioning conventions? OI identifies open contracts, but not who owns which side, so a central estimate with sensitivity bands would be more useful than one exact flip. How are you moving the volatility surface when solving for the flip: sticky strike, sticky delta, or a refitted smile at each spot? Holding each contract’s IV fixed while moving spot can materially shift the flip, particularly post-OpEx when near-dated gamma dominates. Are these deliberately ETF-chain calculations, or do you incorporate SPX/NDX/RUT and futures options? Without those, I’d interpret the figures as SPY/QQQ/IWM option exposure rather than total dealer gamma for the underlying indexes. The clean validation target seems non-directional: whether subsequent realized variance and short-horizon return persistence change with net gamma and distance from the flip, tested out of sample. Are you planning to publish that validation as the history grows?

sloanemonroe

I had a good week! Traded in and out of qqq. I lost money on IWM the other day though. I guess that was yesterday.

theJimmybob

YTD Performance: 📈S&P: +8.27% 📈Nasdaq: +7.46% 📈Dow: +8.06% 📈Small Caps: +18.67% 🥇Gold: -6.20% 🛢️Oil: +56.43% 💵US Dollar: +3.25% ₿ Bitcoin: -26.26% \#YTDPerformance $SPY $QQQ $DIA $SPX #GOLD $GLD #Bitcoin $BTCUSD $IWM $RUT $USD

tachyonvelocity

Haha ok, did you lose all your money yet on this puts? IWM has rebounded

fire_alarmist

I know more about options than you bro, I know the greeks. You are using outdated information, the greeks are made up now. No one uses black scholes to price options anymore. Look how linearized the options chain prices are now, you dont even see any exponential drop off anymore, its a straight linearized , AI statistical analysis price regime now. Gone are the days of options prices dropping drastically outside a 3 sigma move. SPX 0dte is the engine for market manipulation, VIX is based off SPX options prices. Their SPX+VIX is an unbreakable anchor for the market. They manipulate VIX through the futures and presidential actions, which then lets them manipulate the SPX options with total precision. Then they use the NDX index for rocket fuel to launch the broad market up higher and take everything with it, then deploy the SPX/VIX anchor to keep it from retracing. IWM and DOW are just quietly in the background as illiquid market manipulation tools that literally no one pays attention too. Its all a statstical pricing model and they backfill the greeks to be whatever they need them to be to rig it however they need to now. Vix isnt down, vix is suppressed to a massive degree due to the treasury department shorting front month futures + selling massive amounts of vix straddles + buying back month vix futures. Bessant was a hedge fund manager, he is pulling literally every single wall street manipulation trick with the authority and backing of the US treasury department to keep this shit propped up.

fire_alarmist

I cant with this fraud man... I bought a 1% OTM put around 9:37. IWM has since moved .5% down from where I bought and now my put is worth less than when I bought it 25 mins ago up .5%. This entire market runs on just gaslighting everyone that puts arent printing when they should be and stealing that option premium to fake pump.

Market_Pro99

On the durability question: this reads more like a structural feature for IWM specifically, less so for SPY. If IWM was negative gamma every single day for three weeks while the Russell was basically flat, dealers never got a realized move that would force them to buy back that short gamma. So the reading isn’t waiting on a catalyst to resolve, it’s just the ambient state until put demand in that wrapper actually changes. That’s a different animal from a one-print artifact. SPY is more likely to be the one-print case you’re worried about. Right after monthly OpEx, a chunk of positive gamma from the expiring contracts rolls off before the next cycle’s positioning gets rebuilt, so the print right after tends to look more negative than the underlying trend really is. I’d want to see it hold for a week or so past the 17th before trusting the direction, especially with the July 29 FOMC pulling fresh hedging demand into near dated strikes right now. The split you’re seeing between the wrappers and the six names that weight them is consistent with a crowded dispersion setup: index level downside protection getting bought while the concentrated single names get call flow written against them. Those two tend to show up together, and it’s been a persistent pattern this cycle given how top heavy SPY and QQQ both are.