I was at baseball. Here's what happened to the money.

Real trades. Real money. Documented live.

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My son’s baseball team made the playoffs. Three weeks of evening games, weekend tournaments, and the kind of chaos that makes it genuinely hard to sit down and write.

So I didn’t write. But the positions kept running.

That’s the whole point of building a system with GTCs — the trades don’t need you. I opened each position with a buy-to-close order already in place at 50% profit. When the price hit it, the order filled. I found out after the fact, usually while standing behind a chain-link fence.

Here’s the full accounting of what happened while I was gone.

What closed at target

AVGO — $360 put, July 17. I featured this one in Issue 014. Broadcom dropped 20% after earnings, premium spiked, I sold a put well below where the stock settled. It never came close to $360. The GTC fired June 18 at exactly 50%. +$2,088 on four contracts, 13 days after entry.

INTC — $105 put, July 17. Intel. I opened this June 17, the same week the AVGO position was working. GTC fired the next day, June 18. +$494. Twenty-four hours.

NKE — $40 put, July 17. Nike. This one had been sitting since late May, grinding toward target while the market moved around it. Hit 50% June 15. +$350. No drama.

TXN — $270 put, July 17. Texas Instruments. Same story. Opened June 8, closed June 15. +$453.

BMY — $52.50 put, August 21. Bristol-Myers Squibb. Slower mover, healthcare name, nothing exciting. Closed June 30. +$210.

Five positions closed at exactly where I told them to close when I opened them. That’s the system working.

What didn’t go as planned

I’m going to give you the losses too, because that’s what documenting this live means.

NFLX — $80 put, July 17. Netflix moved against the position and I closed it June 23 at a loss. -$3,050. I entered at 0.25 delta — meaning there was a 25% probability at open that the stock would be below that strike at expiration. This was one of those times. Not a mistake. The probability played out.

OXY — $55 put, July 17. Occidental Petroleum. Energy had significant headwinds — a US-Iran peace deal in mid-June sent oil prices tumbling as Strait of Hormuz risk premium unwound, and XLE dropped over 10% while SPY gained 13%. I rolled OXY once and closed it June 25 at -$1,052. Closed it, moved on.

NEM — $105 put. Newmont Mining, a gold miner. I put this position on in April with a thesis that gold would hold. I rolled it twice — which is my maximum — as the stock moved against me. After the second roll I closed it June 11. Net loss across three cycles: -$6,008.

This isn’t a story about a mistake. I followed the rules exactly: entered at 0.25 delta, set the GTC, rolled when it made sense, stopped at two rolls and closed. Gold didn’t hold long enough. That’s the 25% scenario playing out across a longer timeframe than usual. The system worked the way it was supposed to — I just happened to be on the wrong side of the probability this time.

What got managed

Two positions were heading into expiration underwater and needed decisions rather than exits.

GOOGL — $360 put, originally July 17. Google had been grinding lower. Rather than take assignment on a $360K obligation with the stock below that level, I rolled it to August 21 at the same strike. The total credit collected across both legs is $16.40 per share. Effective basis on potential assignment: $343.60. The thesis — Anthropic IPO catalyst in Q4, SpaceX liquidity event — is intact. I’m comfortable holding through August.

MCD — $280 put, originally July 17. McDonald’s. Same playbook. Rolled to August 21, collected additional credit. Total credits both legs: $7.68. Effective basis: $272.32. Defensive name, consistent earnings, nowhere near a thesis change.

What’s going to assignment

NVDA — $205 put, July 17. I made the decision two weeks ago: let this go to assignment. NVIDIA is trading above $194 right now, the put is in the money at $205, and the answer to “do I want to own 500 shares of NVIDIA at an effective basis under $199?” is yes. This isn’t a mistake. It’s plan B executing exactly as designed. After July 17, I’ll sell covered calls on 500 shares and the wheel keeps turning on a stock I actually want to own.

Where things stand

Four weeks. Five positions closed at target. Three that didn’t go as planned. Two rolled for more runway. One going to assignment on purpose.

Q2 closed at 20.6% annualized return on capital employed. That includes everything above — the wins, the losses, the rolls. That’s the number that matters.

What to watch: NVDA is heading into assignment July 17. GOOGL and MCD are running through August with room to breathe. The next cycle of entries is being staged now.

All current open positions are live on the → Start Here page.

— Keith

The Income Wheel | theincomewheel.com

Real trades. Real money. Documented live.

Nothing here is financial advice. I’m documenting how I personally trade — not telling you what to do with your money.