We had a resting GTC order filled at our profit target in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

We’re making an adjustment to an existing position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio today.

For this week's trade, we're buying a $CVX October 180/200 Bull Call Spread for approximately $6.50 here. This means we're long the 180 calls and short an equal amount of the 200 calls for a net debit.

Get the full details, risk management procedures and targets for this trade here:

Back on February 2nd, we initiated a long-term bullish bet in Chevron $CVX January 2024 150-strike calls. You can read all about our thinking at the time here. In short, we were of the belief that a big breakout in the energy sector was appearing likely.

As you can see from this updated chart, our bet proved to be prescient. We've already taken back our original risk capital in this trade when we sold half of our position on March 2 at double what we originally paid. That has given us the super power to continue holding the remaining half position until now, achieving more gains.

While we still continue to our remaining January 2024 calls, the chart action suggests to us that another leg higher in $CVX may be imminent. And with the big round number price level -- $200 -- dangling above, we think there's an opportunity to make an additional tactical bet to augment our current gains in this position.

We're making an adjustment to an existing position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

If you joined JC and the guys on our live twitter spaces session today, towards the end you heard me venting my current frustration in finding good opportunities to make directional bets in either direction right now. It's tough sticking our neck out here.

But of course, as options traders, we are not limited to just directional bets. We can attempt to pull profits from sideways markets as well. And when volatility is still elevated in most areas, there are plenty of places to look to sell premium. And the best place to do that is in an instrument that we feel is likely to continue trading in a sideways range for a period of time.

Today's idea is one such ETF that has been mired in a nice juicy range for nearly a year now.

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

From a directional standpoint, there currently aren't any stock ideas on the board that are getting me excited to get involved in either direction. Bear markets can do that.

However, from an options premium selling point of view, there are some good opportunities out there. But best to stick with instruments that are showing signs of at least some near-term support and resistance.

One such instrument is in the interest rates space.

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

The next new trade in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

The team at All Star Charts lately has been talking about how a lot of stocks are displaying declining moving averages and share prices continue to trade below these downward-sloping moving averages. There is nothing bullish about that.

What it means is there is likely an avalanche of overhead supply in most areas of the stock market right now and therefore many rallies will be met with more and more people trying to unload their positions. This is a tough environment to be a bull in.

There is always money to be made in bear markets, but it requires a different skillset, steel nerves, and quick decisions. And whereas in bull markets, we love to put on bullish positions that have 6-9 months to play out so that we can let the underlying trends grind their way higher, in bear markets we like to take more shorter-termed positions because we need to take profits quicker. Bear market rallies are notorious for stopping out even the best of short positions.

With all this in mind, today's trade is in one of those names that have been in a persistent downtrend, and is trading below significant moving averages.