First Round Trip, Then Double the Premium

Week of Mar 16–Mar 22, 2026

Twenty-eight days after it was opened, and eighteen days into a war, the account’s first trade came off the books on purpose: bought back Wednesday, March 18 for 1.65 against the 4.15 collected, a $233.04 profit after fees. The same day, the same structure went back on, a 2-lot /ES strangle for the May 8 expiration, and here the record quietly shows what a war does to an options seller’s paycheck: the new position collected 7.90, nearly double the first trade’s credit, with the call strike pulled in from 7800 to 7600.

What actually happened

Date	Action	Details
Wed Mar 18	Closed	2x /ESM6 Apr 10 4500P/7800C strangle, 1.65 debit. +$233.04
Wed Mar 18	Opened	2x /ESM6 May 8 4500P/7600C strangle, 7.90 credit

The full arc of that first trade is written up as its own entry in the trade journal, and the week it was opened has its own summary. What belongs to this week is the re-entry decision visible in the strikes: same put strike, call strike 200 points closer, and a credit that jumped from 4.15 to 7.90. The market was paying roughly double for the same job because the job had gotten more dangerous.

What moved the market this week?

A choppy attempt at a recovery that didn’t hold. Monday the S&P rose about 1% to around 6,700 as oil pulled back and tankers moved through the Strait of Hormuz; by Friday, March 20 the index had logged its fourth straight losing week. Under the surface, the rates market was doing something that mattered more to premium sellers: expectations moved from multiple 2026 rate cuts toward a real possibility of hikes, as war-driven energy prices fed inflation.

The honest caveat, as always: the log shows the close and the re-entry, not the reasoning. What the numbers alone support is that the account took a profitable exit mid-chop and immediately re-sold richer premium rather than stepping aside.

Anything new tried?

No new structures. But this was the first close, the first realized P&L, and the first re-entry decision, which makes it the week the strategy became a cycle instead of a single bet.

Takeaway

First round trip: +$233.04, held through the start of a war without a single adjustment. The re-entry at double the credit is the week’s real information. In hindsight it marks the account’s pattern for the whole spring: keep selling the same wide shape, and let the market decide how much it pays.

Frequently asked questions

How did the account's first trade end?

The 2-contract /ES short strangle sold February 18 for a 4.15 credit was bought back March 18 for 1.65, a net profit of $233.04 after fees, held 28 days through the outbreak of the Iran war.

Why was the second strangle's credit so much higher than the first?

The first strangle collected 4.15 points; the second, similar in shape, collected 7.90. The difference was volatility: with the war driving oil and inflation fears, options premium had inflated across the board, so the same kind of position paid nearly twice as much. Richer premium also means the market is pricing bigger moves.

Did the market recover this week?

It tried. Monday saw the S&P rise about 1% to around 6,700, but the index finished lower again by Friday, its fourth straight losing week, with rate expectations shifting away from cuts as energy-driven inflation fears built.