Jan142017
Lola Gayle, STEAM Register We all know The Dude from The Big Lebowski. But did you know there’s a long history of the word “dude” that spans all the way back to the 1800s? In the 1880s, being called a dude was an insult of the highest order. That’s because dude was used to describe a… read more
Jan142017
When Donald Trump this week gave his first press conference since winning the presidential election, he alternately lauded the press and shouted down reporters he didn’t like with jeers such as: “Fake news!” He slipped into stream-of-consciousness rants about everything from Chinese hackers to hidden cameras in hotel rooms “all over the place.” And he denounced… read more
Jan132017
If only this picture was true.
At least when it came to trading.
So far, this year has been a trader’s dream come true.
I’ve made trades each and every trading day of the year, but the only problem has been that there is no trading on Saturday and Sunday.
On top of that, you’ve got those pesky holidays.
The past couple of years I welcomed some of those pesky holidays.
But for a really large part of the 2007 to 2014 period I was actually upset whenever there was a day off from trading.
It’s nice to feel that way again. read more
Jan112017
It may be too soon to call this a victory, but for the moment, I’ll take whatever I can.
In this case, the victory was waking up this morning an still having Monday’s share purchase of Whole Foods in the account.
Whole Foods was ex-dividend today for $0.14
But shares closed yesterday at $30.73, which meant that the $30.50 strikes could have been assigned early.
But it’s all about the math and the probability of what could still happen over the course of the days remaining on the option contract.
In this case, following the $30.73 close and then deducting that $0.14 dividend, Whole Food shares would then start being available to trade at $30.59
For the option holder, the question was would it be worth actually paying the $30.50 for shares in order to grab the $0.14 dividend or hoping that maybe there was still some juice in that option contract.
Of course, if the option holder decided to grab the dividend, not only would he have to pay the $30.50 for shares, but he would also take the risk of shares declining in value at the open. read more
Jan102017
I don’t know what it is about 2017, but whatever it is, I want to be dealt in on it.
While a 1.3% increase YTD on the S&P 500 isn’t necessarily the kind of thing that legends are built upon, it’s far, far better than the first 10 days in 2016.
I don’t like to project very much, especially if that means counting and spending money that you don’t really have, but 2016 ended being up such a nice year when compared to the already good S&P p500 performance, that I am beginning to salivate about the prospects for 2017.
That’s probably not a really good idea.
What I especially like is that I’ve had a trade in each of the 6 trading days to date.
That’s a pattern that I would really love to continue.
Today’s early rollover of the Cliffs Natural Resources puts in the face of commodity strength is something that I hope to be doing a lot of, much as was the case with Marathon Oil in the latter half of 2016. read more
