Option to Profit
Week in Review
June – 5, 2015
| NEW POSITIONS/STO | NEW STO | ROLLOVERS | CALLS ASSIGNED/PUTS EXPIRED | CALLS EXPIRED/PUTS ASSIGNED | CLOSED |
| 4/ 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 / 0 | 2 / 0 | 0 |
Weekly Up to Date Performance
June 1 – 5, 2015
At least there was something to do this week and not just sit around watching the world pass us all by.
There were 4 new positions opened this week and all followed the theme of the pursuit of dividends, as the market was continuing to build on its uncertainty.
New positions surpassed the adjusted S&P 500 by o.3% and the unadjusted S&P 500 index by 0.2%.
However, those new positions ended the week 0.5% lower, while the adjusted S&P 500 was 0.8% lower and the unadjusted S&P 500 went 0.7% lower.
Existing positions managed to beat the market for the week by 0.3%, but still ended up on the downside, having lost 0.4%
With no assignments for the week the lots closed in 2015 had unchanged performance. They continue to out-perform the market. They are an average of 5.2% higher, while the comparable time adjusted S&P 500 average performance has been 1.5% higher. That 3.7% difference represents a 256.6% performance differential. That’s too large to be sustained, but I’ve been saying that for a while, including much of 2014.
Just as with the previous week there wasn’t much in the way of economic news.
And just as with the previous week it was on the final day of trading that the one bit of important news was unveiled, as both of those weeks just went back and forth with a bias to the downside, as any attempts to move the market toward and beyond recent record highs were beaten back and done so with a certain kind of vengeance.
While the market did finish the final day of trading lower, it could have been much worse and was for a short while, just as it was also better. As it turned out the market simply continued with its confusion over what any bit of news actually meant in terms of what it might bring tomorrow.
The single saving grace for the week was having lots of ex-dividend positions and that continues next week, as well.
Next week will be yet anothe
r with very little economic news, but won’t have any particular blockbuster kind of event at any point in the week, such as the past 2 weeks with GDP and the Employment Situation Report.
There will be a JOLT Survey, but everyone continues to ignore it, despite Janet Yellen continuing to point out its importance and relevance.
Sitting on a minimal cash reserve and with scant positions set to expire next week, there’s not likely to be many trading actions unless the market shows some strength and offers some opportunity to sell calls on existing positions.
That wasn’t the case this week as the single session in which some reasonable gains were being made evaporated and those gains were more confined to the DJIA rather than being broadly distributed.
While I don’t know what next week will portend for the market, as it has been directionless now for a few weeks, I do know that I won’t be doing too much other than hoping for some assignments or some more rollovers.
With an FOMC Statement release coming in the week after next, and with already plenty of positions set to expire as the monthly cycle ends just 2 days later, I would like to see some opportunity to move expirations out beyond that date in the event the FOMC hints at something that the market has been dreading.
Although it’s not too likely that Friday’s strong Employment Situation Report will lead to an interest rate hike as early as this upcoming meeting, sooner rather than later is back on the table and the first clues may soon appear.
I’d rather have some distance between my expiration dates and that first good clue.
This week’s details may be seen in the Weekly Performance spreadsheet * or in the PDF file, as well as in the summary below
(Note: Duplicate mention of positions reflects different priced lots):
New Positions Opened: GM, KSS, MOS, WY
Puts Closed in order to take profits: none
Calls Rolled over, taking profits, into the next weekly cycle: none
Calls Rolled over, taking profits, into extended weekly cycle: MOS (6/26)
Calls Rolled over, taking profits, into the monthly cycle: ANF
Calls Rolled Over, taking profits, into a future monthly cycle: none
Calls Rolled Up, taking net profits into same cycle: none
New STO: none
Put contracts expired: none
Put contracts rolled over: TWTR
Long term call contracts sold: none
Calls Assigned: none
Calls Expired: MRO, WY
Puts Assigned: none
Stock positions Closed to take profits: none
Stock positions Closed to take losses: none
Calls Closed to Take Profits: none
Ex-dividend Positions: HAL (6/1 $0.18), JOY (6/2 $0.20), MOS (6/2 $0.28), BAC (6/3 $0.05), COH (6/3 $0.34), HFC (6/3 $0.33), WY (6/3 $0.29)
Ex-dividend Positions Next Week: GM (6/8 $0.36), KSS (6/8 $0.45), BBY (6/9 $0.23), NEM (6/9 $0.025), KO 6/11 $0.33)
For the coming week the existing positions have lots that still require the sale of contracts: AGQ, ANF, CHK, CLF, FAST, FCX, HAL, .INTC, JCP, JOY, LVS, MCP, MOS, MRO, RIG, WFM, WLT, WY(See “Weekly Performance” spreadsheet or PDF file)
* If you don’t have a program to read or modify spreadsheets, you can download the OpenOffice Suite at no cost.