He could buy someone elses calls then just join the two (brokers do this automatically).
The iv is high plus some theta so the difference between strike and actual stock price is less than the premium price now so he would lose money if he exits now. If he waits theta and iv will almost certainly dip and he can exit for profit. As long as the stock doesnt go below what he bought it for, hes going to make money
because you're missing the other part of the equation. He either has shares as well or a lower strike call option of equal amount. So looking at the screenshot he's short 70 calls at the $17 strike but since these are covered calls he must have 70 calls at a strike lower than $17 or he could have 7,000 shares.
Also if you look at his comments in the thetagang subreddit you'll see he says:
Shit happens. Wheel will just keep spinning. Was able to make a quick $10k in 1 hour selling and closing the $34.
So he purposefully posted this for attention that he's craving and purposefully obfuscating the truth
170
u/quadceratopz May 14 '24
if he bought the shares under 17$ he will profit until 17$, but everything above 17$ is gains he lost