WOW! You've been insulting me all along in this thread. . . a sure sign you have no facts to support your position. I shall not reciprocate.
I have degrees in Economics and Finance. I've been a CEO. I do know what I am talking about. Your claims I don't know what I'm talking about don't wash when you take snippets from my replies out of context to make straw man claims about my lack of knowledge. I've made that point about trading. . . for pennies per share option, several times. And yes, I know they are trading in blocks of shares.
It's obvious when you don't have a clue what you are talking about in this area when you don't seem to know that puts and calls are opposite in function. If he's shorting an existing derivative contract, it's short put contracts he's bought, not a calls. Those are called long calls. Or, he's creating them himself.
I would, if I were your friend, unless I had insider knowledge about what the media was going to pull, most likely have made a straddle on AAPL approaching the Financial Call because of the volatile reactions of the market to such announcements and the fact it could go either way with the fickle stock market. . . if I did not know the history of the manipulators who make sure that neither puts nor calls have any value by the time the strike date arrives. They NEVER do.
There are ways to do an short put. . . but they can be very risky because you should put up cash equal to the value of the stock you are shorting. Short puts profit by the amount of the credit if the stock is above the strike price at expiration: The maximum profit is the credit that you took into your account when you sell the put. For example, with a stock at $131, let's say you sold the 130 put for $3. You get to keep your $3 credit if at expiration the stock is anywhere above 130. If the stock is at 127.50 at expiration, you will have made $2.50, but you also will be assigned and have to purchase the stock at 127.50. (This is why it's advisable to secure the put with cash.) The strategy is actually profitable down to $127, since you did get a credit. Most traders close out the position prior to expiration if they can buy back the option for a much lower price than they sold it, for instance selling the put for $3.00, and buying back for $.35.
Perhaps that is what your friend did. . . but it still would not be enough for a "long vacation" which he has, according to you, already taken. Of course, you did say 2500. . . so maybe. I forgot the quantity.
It would still be smarter to straddle AAPL with both a short put and a long call and play both ends against the middle, especially if, as you say he's a day trader and can watch these options in real time. . . and he'd have to wait until July 24th. . . or July 31st to cash in, unless he was merely trading and bought them back discounted, trading in and out as they go up and down. The big money is for the creators of the short puts.
WOW! Adding verisimilitude. . . you got your postcard from Switzerland very quickly . . . I'm impressed at the speed of the International post.
By the way, I'm glad your friend made a big pile of money. . . but I bet he did a straddle. . . if he did it last week. Which frankly, Cold Heat, I don't believe for an instant.
You do recall you've used a very similar/same anecdote before, don't you?
Same claims, same arguments, same shorting, same friend, same vacation, same postcard, same insults. . . months ago, maybe a year? Then, IIRC, it was about buying several Apple iPhone 6plusses over the counter on release day, "unlocked" without contracts when Apple was not selling unlocked iPhone 6plus without contracts. . . and then deciding it was a piece of junk and going home and shorting the stock. it's getting old. I find it hard to believe that the same thing happens twice. Really?
Then it's quite clear that you are a Apple buttboy and a idiot.
I sure don't....it's the first time, because he is one of the few people I call a friend.
Same claims, same arguments, same shorting, same friend, same vacation, same postcard, same insults. . . months ago, maybe a year? Then, IIRC, it was about buying several Apple iPhone 6plusses over the counter on release day, "unlocked" without contracts when Apple was not selling unlocked iPhone 6plus without contracts. . . and then deciding it was a piece of junk and going home and shorting the stock. it's getting old. I find it hard to believe that the same thing happens twice. Really?
Obviously. (maybe not so obvious to you) you have me confused in your brilliant mind with someone else.
BTW....I am not going to0 address all of the errors in your post, but in the trading community, we refer to any device used to make money on a falling stock as a short, no matter how you arrange the options or if you use any other derivatives. It's still a short trade because you are playing the downside and the underlying stock has to lose money for you to make a profit.
All you know is textbook crap you learned in school.
BTW, I was also a CEO, studied business admin in college and have a degree. But I don't use much of that to trade stocks, with the exception of the accounting knowledge that helps a little with reading a 10K.
No, your problem is your goat stinking personality.