Trade Alert – (CRWD) January 23, 2026 – EXPIRATION AT MAX PROFIT

When John identifies a strategic exit point, he will send you an alert with specific trade information as to what security to sell, when to sell it, and at what price. Most often, it will be to TAKE PROFITS, but, on rare occasions, it will be to exercise a STOP LOSS at a predetermined price to adhere to strict risk management discipline.

 

Trade Alert – (CRWD) – EXPIRATION AT MAX PROFIT

EXPIRATION of the CrowdStrike (CRWD) January 2026 $420-$430 vertical BULL CALL debit spread at $10.00

 

Closing Trade

1-23-2026

expiration date: January 23, 2026

Portfolio weighting: 10%

Number of Contracts = 12 contracts

Just to be clear, this position does not expire until 4:15 PM today, January 23.

As a result, you get to take home $720 or 6.38% in 10 trading days. Well done, and on to the next trade.

This trade offers us many lessons. First of all, it pays to be cautious in 2026. Trading with a Dow at 50,000 is very different from trading when it was at 6,000 17 years ago. Look at a 17-year chart for the averages, and you see markets that have basically gone straight up for a generation.

With a black swan a day, you can expect your shares to drop 10% or more at any time. Pick your strike prices accordingly. In a market that is giving us twice the volatility with half the returns, you are going to have to accept smaller profits on your trades. The upside is you get to sleep at night.

Second, buying the big dips pays off, not chasing all-time highs. With this trade, I am returning to a 100% cash position with a small profit for January, awaiting the next black swan. For the third time this month, we got dressed up with no place to go regarding the Supreme Court decision on Tariffs. We may also be only a week away from the next government shutdown.

Third, the merits of deep-in-the-money vertical bull call spreads have been demonstrated once again. Even though the shares dropped $18 since we initiated this trade, we still made the maximum profit. A profit of 6.38% is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

You don’t have to do anything with this expiration.

Your broker will automatically use your long position to cover your short position, canceling out the total holdings.

The entire profit will be credited to your account on Monday morning, January 26, and the margin freed up.

Some firms charge you a modest $10 or $15 fee for performing this service. The flight of money right now is from small, undercapitalized, and questionable to large, overcapitalized, and rock-solid balance sheets.

I have been a huge fan of cybersecurity for decades and have been following CrowdStrike since it was founded in 2011. AI has ignited an arms race in the field, with ever more sophisticated criminals demanding ever more sophisticated cybersecurity to combat it.

I have been buying every dip, and we definitely had one two weeks ago with the stock down 21% from its November $567 high.

The long-term bull case for CrowdStrike is overwhelming.

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. is an American cybersecurity technology company based in Austin, Texas. It provides endpoint security, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services. It was founded in 2011.

CrowdStrike has investigated several high-profile cyberattacks, including the 2014 Sony attacks from North Korea, which almost destroyed the company. It was also involved in the 2015 attack on the Democratic National Committee.

For details about CrowdStrike, please click here to visit their website.

This was a bet that (CRWD) would not fall below $430 by the January 23 option expiration in 10 trading days.

Here is the specific accounting you need to close out this position:

EXPIRATION of 12 January 2026 (CRWD) $420 calls at………….…$33.77

EXPIRATION of short 12 January 2026 (CRWD) $430 calls at……$23.77

Net Proceeds:…………………………….….………..…………………….……..$10.00

Profit: $10.00 – $9.40 = $0.60

(12 X 100 X $0.60) = $720 or 6.38% in 10 trading days.