Trading The End Of Operation Epic Fury
Trading Through The Ceasefire
This week was a reminder that in a headline-driven market, macro events can sometimes do a lot of the work for you.
On Tuesday morning, before the ceasefire was announced, we bet against oil on the view that the Iran war was more likely to end sooner rather than later.
🚨 Fading Oil 🚨
— Portfolio Armor (@PortfolioArmor) April 7, 2026
A bearish bet on oil, as we anticipate the Iran war coming to an end soon.
Plus, three bullish biotech and space setups.https://t.co/Vy6g8DuYUV
By Tuesday night, a tentative ceasefire had been announced. By Wednesday morning, oil was plunging, stocks were ripping higher, and several of the downside-financing put spreads in our open options combos had become cheap enough to buy back for substantial gains.
That was not an accident. It was exactly the kind of environment these structures are designed for.
Relief Rallies And Financing Legs
One of the advantages of the options structures we often use is that they let us finance longer-dated bullish exposure with shorter-dated downside premium. When the market reprices risk quickly—as it did after the ceasefire announcement—that financing can come off much faster than the longer-dated bullish leg.
That is what happened this week.
Several of the put spreads we had sold for credits became cheap enough to buy back at large gains almost immediately after the market shifted into relief-rally mode. In practical terms, that meant we were able to remove downside financing while keeping the longer-dated bullish exposure alive.
That is the kind of outcome you want in a market like this one: reduced net cost on the way in, defined risk if things go wrong, and then the chance to peel off the financing leg after a favorable macro move.
The Ceasefire Effect
The ceasefire did not end the war cleanly. There was still plenty of shooting after the announcement, and by the end of the week the market had already become more cautious about how durable the truce really was.
But that did not stop the initial repricing.
Oil came down hard. Equities rallied. Volatility eased. And that combination was enough to make a number of our financing legs suddenly very profitable exits. Four of them came off the morning after the ceasefire announcement alone.
That does not mean every war-related headline is an opportunity. It means that when you already have structures in place before the headline hits, you are in a much better position to benefit from it.
Why These Structures Work
The point is not that every put spread we sell will come off this cleanly. The point is that when we combine a strong underlying thesis with disciplined entries, defined risk, and preset exits, we give ourselves multiple ways to win.
If the underlying stock rises, the longer-dated bullish leg can appreciate.
If the stock simply holds together or the broader macro backdrop improves, the short put spread can decay and be bought back cheaply.
And if both happen in sequence—as they did in some of these trades—then the structure does exactly what it is supposed to do.
This week was a particularly clear example of that.
When The Full Payoff Comes Later
One other thing this week illustrated is that sometimes the financing leg does its job early, while the larger payoff comes later.
That was the case with one of our full exits this week, where the put spread had already been removed months earlier and the call spread delivered the bigger payoff later on. That is worth emphasizing, because it gets at an important point: once the financing leg has done its job, patience with the remaining bullish leg can still matter a lot.
Sometimes the real money is made only after the hedge has already been peeled off.
This Week's Exits
Stocks or Exchange Traded Products
None.
Options
Put spread on Riot Platforms (RIOT -1.43%↓). Entered at a net credit of $1.42 as part of a 3-leg combo on 12/9/2025; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/8/2026. Profit: 86% (return on max risk: 21%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Micron Technology (MU -0.19%↓). Entered at a net credit of $1.77 as part of a 4-leg combo on 3/3/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/8/2026. Profit: 89% (return on max risk: 49%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Intel Corp. (INTC 1.19%↑). Entered at a net credit of $1.75 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 2/18/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/10/2026. Profit: 89% (return on max risk: 39%). Signal: PA Top Names.
Put spread on Almonty Industries (ALM -0.06%↓). Entered at a net credit of $2.29 as part of a 4-leg hybrid combo on 2/23/2026; exited at a net debit of $0.20 on 4/9/2026. Profit: 91% (return on max risk: 47%). Signal: Market Watchers.
Put spread on Energy Fuels (UUUU -0.11%↓). Entered at a net credit of $2.55 as part of a 3-leg combo on 11/21/2025; exited at a net debit of $0.12 on 4/8/2026. Profit: 95% (return on max risk: 168%). Signal: PA Top Names.
4-leg combo on ITT (ITT 0.42%↑). Entered at a net debit of $3.35 on 10/13/2025. Exited the put spread at a net debit of $0.20 on 10/29/2025, and exited the call spread at a net credit of $16.00 on 4/8/2026. Profit: 372% (147% on max risk). Signal: PA Top Names.
The Bigger Lesson
The bigger lesson from this week is the same one these structures keep reinforcing.
In a market driven by war headlines, ceasefire rumors, repricings in oil, and sudden swings in risk appetite, it helps to have positions that do not require perfection. It helps to have trades where you can benefit from both time decay and directional movement. And it helps to have a plan for taking financing off when the market gives you the chance.
That is what happened this week.
The ceasefire may or may not hold. The market may or may not have fully priced the end of this phase of the Iran war. But for our purposes, the important thing is that we came into the week with positions structured to take advantage of exactly this kind of repricing.
And when the repricing came, we used it.
If you'd like a heads up in real time when we place our next trade, you can sign up for our trading Substack/occasional email list below.
And if you think the ceasefire's going to collapse, and you want to hedge against the war flaring up again, you can use our website or iPhone app to scan for the optimal hedges for that.
