I Paid $8,500 To Stay In The Rally. Here's Why. Last week I wrote about how the portfolio is built to work regardless of whether 7000 is a bull run or a blow-off top. Three strategies, three different market conditions, same portfolio. This week the market tested that. And I want to show you exactly what happened — the good, the bad, and the $19,000 loss I took on purpose. What Actually Happened MARA ripped past $11.80. SPY kept grinding above $700. Both moves blew straight through my short call strikes. On MARA I had 80 contracts of $11 covered calls expiring April 17. When the stock pushed through $11 and kept going, those calls went deep in the money. I had a choice — let them get assigned and lose my shares at $11, or roll them up to higher strikes and pay the difference. I rolled. Cos