Got a Bit Nervous on my XLF Puts

About two weeks I go I wrote about selling some XLF Puts. This morning I started getting really nervous about the state of the economy in general. Maybe I have been reading too much of Barry over at The Big Picture, but the more I think about it I might want to be learning basic skills for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. What these skills might be, I have no idea. JUST JOKING.

In all seriousness, I have been getting worried about the state of the US economy (finally). I sold a call this morning, and then I went to look at my short XLF puts. On August 23rd I had done the following:

Sell 1 September XLF 21 put at $1.12
Sell 1 September XLF 20 put at $0.72

Today I bought the 21 put back at $0.87. I will leave the 20 put out there, but I might cover it if I start to get nervous again.

Short Some XLF Puts

A few days ago I went short some September XLF (financial services etf) puts. Though I am losing money on the trade, I like it now more than ever given the selloff on Monday. I am currently short the September 20 and 21 puts with no hedge. Unless they expire worthless, I plan on rolling them out (and possibly down) to October on expiration.

One reason I like trading puts this way is that now, for example, I could buy the 20's back at $0.93 and sell out the October 19's at $0.98. Not much of a credit, but I could lower my strike price by 5% if I wanted to. I plan on waiting until expiration because I will probably be able to do it for more of a credit, or the puts will be expiring worthless. The only risk is that XLF will tank and there will not be any premium in the puts. That is a significant risk, but it is already trading 44% off it's high of $36 from October.