Dashboard – July 11 – 15, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

SELECTIONS

MONDAY:   This morning’s futures are telling us that we are in store for a new all time record high, but we have to have it tested first. Sometimes it takes a couple of those tests to really mark a new high and to go well beyond

TUESDAY:   After breaking the all time record high yesterday, it looks as if the market isn’t interested in testing the old high and instead looks to move even higher. Sometimes when it seems that there are absolutely no good reasons to head in any particular direction, that is the only direction that makes sense.

WEDNESDAY:  More all time record highs, but today may be the time for a healthy break in the action

THURSDAY:  Yesterday’s pause looks like it’s giving way to another step toward a breakout as the monthly option cycle comes to an end tomorrow

FRIDAY:.  Today may be one of those rare quiet days on the last 2 weeks as the monthly cycle comes to an end and the world finds another reason to grieve.

 

 

 



 

                                                                                                                                           

Today's TradesCash-o-Meter

 

 

 





 “SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK” APPEARS ON FRIDAYS

Sneak PeekPie Chart Distribution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Summary

  

Weekend Update – July 10, 2016

 I still have a fascination with license plates and the bumper stickers put on their cars.

The license plate thing these days is more geared toward trying to decipher the message contained on someone’s vanity plates.

That often takes a combination of having a very open mind as to the intended grouping of letters and numbers and to the message.

Of course, the exercise isn’t complete until then driving past the car driver and either giving them a thumbs up or a shoulder shrug.

The bumper sticker thing is more just a question of reading and then trying to imagine what the person in the car will look like once going past them.

For example, in my experience, those with the “Choose Civility” bumper sticker tend to be very rude drivers, but they don’t look rude.

What both fascinations have in common is that as I get older, the distance that I need to get within range to be able to read the plates and the bumper stickers is increasingly getting smaller and smaller.

That brings some danger, but sometimes it’s really hard to resist.

When I say “sometimes,” I mean that I can never resist and it is the reason that my wife won’t let me drive when we’re together.

I need to be within range.

Continue reading on Seeking Alpha

 

 

Week In Review – July 4 – 8, 2016

 

Option to Profit

Week in Review

 

July 4 – 8, 2016

 

NEW POSITIONS/STO NEW STO ROLLOVERS CALLS ASSIGNED/PUTS EXPIRED CALLS EXPIRED/PUTS ASSIGNED CLOSED EX-DIVIDEND
1  /  1 0 1 0   /   0 0   /   0 0 1

 

Weekly Up to Date Performance

July 4 – 8, 2016


Well, this was another in a series of interesting weeks.

Once again, just when it looked like….

….It turned out not to be that at all.

In fact, it turned out to be another really good week on top of the previous week that was the best week in 2 years, even with Monday’s big decline.

When it was all said and done the week ended within easy striking distance of an all time high.

There was only one position opened this week and it was a familiar one.

That position ended the week 3.9% higher and was 2.6% higher than both the adjusted and unadjusted S&P 500.

The S&P 500, itself, rose an impressive 1.3%

With no new assignments on the week closed positions in 2016 remained 6.8% higher, while the comparable performance for the S&P 500 dur
ing the same holding periods has been 1.6% higher. That represents a 337.7% difference in return on closed positions. That would be much more impressive if there were many more closed positions in 2016, but that just hasn’t been the case, although the pace has been slowly increasing

This was another good week.

It’s always nice to see asset values rise, but I still prefer to have some activity accompany the gains.

This week had only 1 new position opened and only a single rollover.

On top of that, there was only a single ex-dividend position, so there wasn’t too much income generation for the week.

Hopefully, some of that can change next week, as the July 2016 option cycle comes to an end and there are a handful of expiring positions.

While there are no ex-dividend positions next week, I do have some cash to spend and maybe some potential for rollovers, as well.

So, as we approach resistance, I’m wary, but still looking forward to the coming week.

Today’s Employment Situation Report was a big surprise, but this time it was a good surprise.

Compared to the horrific number in May, maybe it would be time to stop focusing on a single month’s report, but that’s never going to happen and who knows what next month may bring?

What today’s number could bring is an FOMC one step closer to be willing to pull the trigger and finally commit to raising interest rates.

The market seemed to like that idea today and may trade higher into the FOMC meeting even as those resistance levels loom overhead.

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:  MRO

Puts Closed in order to take profits:  none

Calls Rolled over, taking profits, into the next weekly cycle:   MRO

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 cyclenone

New STO: none

Put contracts expired: none


Put contracts rolled over: none

Long term call contracts sold:  none

Calls Assigned:  MRO

Calls Expired:  HFC

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   CSCO (7/5 $0.26)

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.



Daily Market Update – July 8, 2016

 

 

Daily Market Update – July 8, 2016 (7:30 AM)


The Week in Review will be posted b y 10 PM and The Weekend Update will be posted by noon on Sunday.

The following trade outcomes are possible today:

Assignments:  none

Rollovers:  MRO

Expirations:   none

The following were ex-dividend this week:   CSCO (7/5 $0.26)

The following will be ex-dividend next week:   none

Trades, if any, will be attempted to be made prior to 3:30 PM EDT.

Daily Market Update – July 7, 2016 (Close)

Close 

 

 

Daily Market Update – July 7, 2016 (Close)


Yesterday would have been a good day to take a little bit of a break.

It did do just that until about noon and then it just became another day of gains and another day getting closer to the resistance points that reside ahead.

This morning, following those gains, which left the market closing at its highs, looked as if it was going to take another break.

This time, if it did, but only after oil reversed course.

Still it may have been a pragmatic break, because tomorrow brings what could be an important bit of economic news.

With the release of the Employment Situation Report we can either confirm the last shockingly low number which definitely scuttled plans for an interest rate increase or we can disavow those numbers as either a one time or maybe even erroneous data set, as revisions are always possible.

Either way, that could mean some significant activity.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that tomorrow’s numbers will be mediocre and the market may continue to be of a mindset to think of that as good news for stock investors, as interest rates will continue to decline.

With only a single position set to expire this week, and a highly volatile one at that, it’s again another situation of not minding if I could roll that single position over, rather than seeing it get assigned.

With some positions set to expire next week as the July 2016 option cycle comes to its end, but no ex-dividend positions, I may still want to free up some additional funds, 

So there may not be much trading left in me for this already trade shortened week, although if the market does react negatively to the news on Friday, I may want to get a head start on the consideration of new positions for the following week, especially if that single expiring position is still in line for assignment.