Option to Profit
Week in Review
October 3 – 7, 2016
| NEW POSITIONS/STO | NEW STO | ROLLOVERS | CALLS ASSIGNED/PUTS EXPIRED | CALLS EXPIRED/PUTS ASSIGNED | CLOSED | EX-DIVIDEND |
| 0 / 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 | 2 |
Weekly Up to Date Performance
October 3 – 7, 2016
I have no idea what this week was all about, but something is brewing.
I also have no idea whether to be pleased or displeased about this week.
I was definitely displeased with the really poor timing in adding shares of a precious metal ETF.
I knew that there was a likelihood of continuing sharp volatility in that position, but I didn’t think that it would be sustained in a single direction.
That one position was 11.6% lower on the week, while the adjusted and unadjusted S&P 500 were 0.7% lower.
Not even close.
What was better was how existing positions performed.
Existing positions were 0.1% lower on the week, but outperformed the S&P 500 by 0.6%.
That was mixed news, at best.
What was good was the opportunity to sell calls on multiple lots of two uncovered positions and doing so to try and capitalize on their healthy dividends and option premiums. Even though those positions were rolled out in time, all the way to January 2017, the opportunities that they presented still looked far better than the questionable alternatives that the market is offering.
There were no new assignments of shares to add to the closed positions in 2016 and, therefore, no new cash to add to the reserves, that i would desperately like to see grow.
What there was, however, was an assignment of the short puts position, which ended up deep in the hole for the week, but if that volatility continues may not be too big of a hole to dig out from under.
It’s really hard to know what comes next after Friday’s ambiguous Employment Situation report.
Stocks were basically all over the place for the week and were all over the place on F
ri
day, as well.
Earnings season actually starts next week and that could take our mind off of the re-association between oil and stocks, interest rates, plunging precious metal prices and currency woes in Great Britain.
There is no greater clarity following this past week and unless corporate earnings or the guidance provided can do anything to clear things up, we may just be in store for more of this kind of annoying uncertainty and lack of conviction.
I still have some cash in reserve, but have no positions expiring next week and have no ex-dividend positions, so may very well be on the lookout for some opportunity to generate some income, but am very reluctant to do so with anything other than a quick hit.
However, that’s what I thought I was getting into this past week and those precious metals turned out to be a big, big disappointment.
At this point, I don’t particularly want any more disappointment, but I do want the income.
While we await earnings, we may get some cues from the many Federal Reserve speakers, especially since there is also a release of the FOMC minutes on Wednesday.
Before Janet Yellen wraps up the week, there is also a retail Sales Report and that could shed some light on what the consumer is up to, as the evidence may be mounting that the consumer is getting back into action.
Interest rates, anyone?
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: AGQ puts
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: DOW, DOW (January 2017), LVS, LVS (January 2017)
Put contracts expired: none
Put contracts rolled over: none
Long term call contracts sold: none
Calls Assigned: none
Calls Expired: none
Puts Assigned: AGQ
Stock positions Closed to take profits: none
Stock positions Closed to take losses: none
Calls Closed to Take Profits: none
Ex-dividend Positions: GPS (10/3 $0.23), BMY (10/5 $0.38)
Ex-dividend Positions Next Week: none
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.