Exits, 4/17/2026
How we did on the trades we exited this week.
This Week’s Trade Exits
As soon as I exit a trade, I note that in the comments of the post where I first mentioned the trade; at the end of the week, I try to track them all in one post. Starting in July, 2024, I have also been tracking them in this spreadsheet. These are the trades I exited this week.
Stocks or Exchange Traded Products
None.
Options
3-leg combo on AirSculpt Technologies (AIRS 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $1.90 on 11/6/2025. Exited one put spread at a net debit of $1.96 on 11/21/2025, closed the other via assignment and exercise at a net debit of $2.00 on 11/21/2025, and the calls expired worthless on 4/17/2026. Loss: 100% of max risk (204% on premium outlay). Signal: Multibaggers.
4-leg combo on NuScale Power (SMR 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $0.55 on 10/27/2025. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $4.86 on 11/7/2025, and the call spread expired worthless on 4/17/2026. Loss: 98% of max risk (984% on premium outlay). Signal: PA Top Names.
4-leg combo on MP Materials (MP 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $1.55 on 10/23/2025. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $5.00 on 11/7/2025, and the call spread expired worthless on 4/17/2026. Loss: 96% of max risk (423% on premium outlay). Signal: PA Top Names.
3-leg combo on Semler Scientific (SMLR). Entered at a net debit of $0.80 on 9/22/2025. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $5.61 on 4/17/2026, and the calls expired worthless on 4/17/2026. Loss: 94% of max risk (801% on premium outlay). Signal: Me.
Butterfly spread on CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). Entered at a net debit of $0.60 on 3/25/2026; exited at $0.21 on 4/17/2026. Loss: 65% of max risk (65% on premium outlay). Signal: Me.
3-leg combo on Asp Isotopes (ASPI 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $1.45 on 9/4/2025. Exited half of the calls at $5.00 on 9/23/2025, sold the assigned shares at $5.28 on 4/17/2026, and the other half of the calls and the $5 puts expired worthless on 4/17/2026. Loss: 40% of max risk (46% on premium outlay). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.30 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 1/12/2026; exited at a net debit of $1.95 on 4/17/2026. Loss: 38% of max risk (50% on premium collected). Signal: PA Top Names.
Risk-reversal on AirSculpt Technologies (AIRS 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $0.35 on 8/14/2025. Exited half of the calls at $4.00 on 10/15/2025, bought-to-close the puts at $3.40 on 4/17/2026, and the other half of the calls expired worthless on 4/17/2026. Loss: 28% of max risk (500% on premium outlay). Signal: Market Watchers.
4-leg combo on Universal Health Services (UHS 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $1.35 on 9/10/2025. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.20 on 10/30/2025, and exited the call spread at $0.05 on 4/16/2026. Loss: 23% of max risk (111% on premium outlay). Signal: Me, ChatGPT.
Put spread on ClearPoint Neuro (CLPT). Entered at a net credit of $1.33 as part of a 3-leg combo on 12/26/2025; exited at an equivalent net debit of $1.55 on 4/17/2026. Loss: 5% of max risk (17% on premium collected). Signal: Multibaggers.
Put spread on uniQure (QURE 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.81 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 12/16/2025; exited at a net debit of $1.55 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 14% (return on max risk: 137%). Signal: Multibaggers.
Short calls on SandRidge Energy (SD 0.00%↑). Sold-to-open at $0.44 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 3/12/2026; bought-to-close at $0.12 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 73%. Signal: Chartmill.
Put spread on ASML Holding (ASML 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $0.92 as part of a 4-leg combo on 3/19/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/14/2026. Profit: 78% (return on max risk: 18%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on USA Rare Earth (USAR 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.05 as part of a 3-leg combo on 12/4/2025; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 81% (return on max risk: 19%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.15 as part of a 4-leg combo on 3/31/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/13/2026. Profit: 83% (return on max risk: 25%). Signal: Chartmill.
3-leg combo on Rush Street Interactive (RSI 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $1.45 on 10/8/2025. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.20 on 11/20/2025, and exited the calls at $2.90 on 4/16/2026. Profit: 86% (return on max risk: 32%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Freeport-McMoRan (FCX 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.58 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 2/4/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 87% (return on max risk: 31%). Signal: Me.
Put spread on Seagate Technology (STX 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.60 as part of a 4-leg combo on 3/13/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/14/2026. Profit: 88% (return on max risk: 35%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Lam Research (LRCX 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.71 as part of a 4-leg combo on 4/2/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/13/2026. Profit: 88% (return on max risk: 46%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Tower Semiconductor (TSEM 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $2.10 as part of a 4-leg combo on 2/20/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/13/2026. Profit: 90% (return on max risk: 66%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Aehr Test Systems (AEHR 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $2.22 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 3/25/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/16/2026. Profit: 91% (return on max risk: 41%). Signal: Market Watchers.
Short call on Peabody Energy (BTU 0.00%↑). Sold-to-open at $2.21 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 2/24/2026; bought-to-close at $0.20 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 91%. Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Energy Fuels (UUUU 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $2.55 as part of a 3-leg combo on 11/6/2025; exited at a net debit of $0.19 on 4/16/2026. Profit: 93% (return on max risk: 40%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Western Digital (WDC 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $5.74 as part of a 4-leg combo on 2/13/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/14/2026. Profit: 97% (return on max risk: 130%). Signal: Market Watchers.
3-leg combo on Abivax (ABVX 0.00%↑). Entered at a net credit of $0.70 on 1/28/2026. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.05 on 2/27/2026, and exited the calls at $0.70 on 4/16/2026. Profit: 193% (return on max risk: 15%). Signal: Multibaggers.
3-leg combo on Twist Bioscience (TWST 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $2.40 on 10/3/2025. The put spread was closed by assignment and exercise on 11/19/2025, one of the calls was sold at $11.00 on 2/4/2026, and the other call was sold at $19.00 on 4/14/2026. Profit: 317% (return on max risk: 99%). Signal: Multibaggers.
4-leg combo on Bank of Montreal (BMO 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $1.85 on 10/17/2025. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.15 on 12/5/2025, and exited the call spread at $8.00 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 324% (return on max risk: 86%). Signal: PA Top Names.
4-leg hybrid combo on Alcoa (AA 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $1.20 on 2/6/2026. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/1/2026, and exited the call calendar at $5.40 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 333% (return on max risk: 82%). Signal: PA Top Names.
3-leg combo on Nokia Corp. (NOK 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $0.59 on 1/21/2026. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.05 on 1/30/2026, sold half of the calls at $2.50 on 3/2/2026, and sold the other half of the calls at $4.20 on 4/13/2026. Profit: 423% (return on max risk: 242%). Signal: PA Top Names.
4-leg combo on Ciena (CIEN 0.00%↑). Entered at a net debit of $0.05 on 1/23/2026. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.20 on 3/9/2026, and exited the call spread at $16.00 on 4/17/2026. Profit: 31,500% (return on max risk: 157%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Comments
Stocks or Exchange Traded Products
No exits this week, as I haven’t been doing our basic strategy, which involves buying stocks and ETFs, and have been focusing on options instead. Nevertheless, the performance of our system’s top names have nearly doubled that of the SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY 1.32%↑) since I launched this Substack in December of 2022.
Options
A Solid OpEx Day
Today was the big Options Expiration day for April, and OpEx days tend to be where our losing trades cluster, because we usually take winners off before expiration. That’s what makes this week’s exits notable: out of 30 full or partial exits, 20 were profitable.
That’s a good result in its own right, but it also reflects the improvements we’ve made to our process along the way.
A few of this week’s trades are worth highlighting in particular, either because they illustrate where the process worked well, where the thesis was right but the expression was wrong, or where changes we made to our process later on might have helped us avoid some of the losses.
VIX: The macro call was basically right. The Iran war really was winding down by April 22, and volatility was lower by then. But I got the execution wrong. I centered the butterfly too high, around a 24 VIX, when something closer to 18 would have fit the way volatility actually resolved.
Abivax: This was a good reminder that we don’t always need the original headline thesis to play out in its cleanest form to make money. The takeover some traders were speculating about didn’t happen, but we still made money because of how we structured the trade and how we entered it opportunistically.
Universal Health Services: Another case where our broader thesis was right, but the expression was wrong. The Trump administration did launch a crackdown on violent crime, with task forces in D.C. and Memphis, for example, after the killing of Iryna Zarutska. But the company I picked in this case to express the thesis didn’t pan out.
Semler: This was a merger-arbitrage / exchange-ratio trade where the math looked attractive based on the price of the acquiring shares. But aside from the subsequent collapse in bitcoin prices, I didn’t realize the acquiring company was associated with Vivek Ramaswamy, some of whose previous public-company ventures have destroyed shareholder value.
AirSculpt: As I wrote in No Crying in the Casino, not every trade from our Multibaggers workflow is going to work. In this case, the analyst who originally suggested AIRS is no longer on that list. That doesn’t make the trade irrational in hindsight, but it does underscore the value of continuing to refine who earns a place on that list is going to work.
NuScale and some other previous winners: Some of these trades were entered before we started applying our current RSI and Setup Rating screens in their present form. We did start thinking explicitly about avoiding falling knives last November, but the fuller version of the screens we implemented later also helps us avoid buying overextended names. In at least some cases, including NuScale, that probably would have kept us from entering or re-entering names that had already had a big move.
More broadly, a number of our financing legs again did what they were supposed to do, helping us take gains and reduce cost on longer-dated bullish positions, many of which we entered during “risk-off” periods of elevated volatility.