Option to Profit
Week in Review
FEBRUARY 22 – 26, 2016
| NEW POSITIONS/STO | NEW STO | ROLLOVERS | CALLS ASSIGNED/PUTS EXPIRED | CALLS EXPIRED/PUTS ASSIGNED | CLOSED | EX-DIVIDEND |
| 0 / 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 | 0 |
Weekly Up to Date Performance
February 22 – 26, 2016
No matter how each week ends, it’s pretty clear that all that matters was, is and maybe will be, oil.< /strong>
This past week saw multiple examples, including multiple examples of intra-day reversals in oil and then the obligatory intra-day reversals in the stock market.
This week, those reversals were good.
But again, there were no new positions opened for the week, as it continues to be mostly a situation of the market going lower and then stocks attempting to erase some of those losses.
During the week the S&P 500 was 1.6% higher and that was good enough again for me. Watching portfolio value claw back does feel good, especially when that performance exceeds the market, as it did by 0.9%
Also feeling good was the ability to sell calls on a couple of uncovered positions, although some other hoped for trades went unrequited.
This was another week of nothing more than oil, oil and oil.
With some suggestion that the economy may be heating up, maybe more than just rents and health care, has to come the concern that interest rates will be rising soon.
In the past, that has mostly been a concern and received lots of negative reaction, but as the March 2016 FOMC meeting draws more near, we may get to see whether the market has a more forward looking penchant, rather than being so negative about the prospect that would actually reflect an improving economy.
With no new assignments this week, I at least do look forward to 7 ex-dividend positions next week, but would still love to see some chance to open some new positions and put some existing positions to work.
Even as prices do show some ability to climb and volatility does decrease, there is still the chance to secure some better premiums than was the case through almost all of 2015.
Increasingly, I look at using the longer term options and am slowly seeing some light at the end of the tunnel for some positions that had been badly beaten down
, but could end up having been reasonably good performers, even if assigned at their purchase prices.
I’d rather be able to get even more than that when having to hold a position for an unduly long time, but for me, it’s still about beating the index for the same period of holding time.
I hope that the market doesn’t forget to follow oil higher in the event that there is some sustained move in that direction. It would be a real shame to have seen it follow oil lower, only to come to the realization that a move higher has some real negative implications with regard to the expense side of life.
So, I wouldn’t mind making some trades next week, but I also wouldn’t mind more passivity, as long as asset values continue to climb and make up for some lost ground.
I haven’t asked for much lately, so I hope that’s not over-stepping my boundaries.
.
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: none
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: none
Calls Rolled over, taking profits, into the monthly cycle: none
Calls Rolled Over, taking profits, into a future monthly cycle: none
Calls Rolled Up, taking net profits into same cycle: none
New STO: BBY
Put contracts expired: none
Put contracts rolled over: none
Long term call contracts sold: none
Calls Assigned: eBay
Calls Expired: Ford
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: none
Ex-dividend Positions Next Week: ANF (3/2 $0.20), BAC (3/2 $0.05), COH (3/2 $0.34), HAL (2/29 $0.18), HFC (3/2 $0.33), MOS (3/1 $0.28), WY (3/4 $0.31)
For the coming week the existing positions have lots that still require the sale of contracts: AGQ, ANF, AZN, BBBY, BBY, CHK, CLF, COH, CSCO, CY, DOW, FAST, FCX, GDX, GM, GPS, HAL, HFC, HPQ, INTC, IP, JCP, JOY, KMI, KSS, LVS, MCPIQ, MOS, NEM, RIG, WFM, WLTGQ, 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.