Dashboard – October 17 – 21, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

SELECTIONS

MONDAY:   Other than earnings, this is a quiet week for scheduled events. Markets look like they will open to the negative, but not with too much conviction

TUESDAY:   A small loss yesterday and the market looks to erase that, even as some earnings in the important technology sector aren’t looking too good this morning

WEDNESDAY: A decent day yesterday and some decent earnings still from financials, but otherwise some of the outlooks are not as optimistic as we need to get buyers excited.

THURSDAY:  The market is in a position to break a 2 week losing streak and this morning could add a little to that margin as the monthly cycle comes to its end with lots of earnings to come still this week

FRIDAY:. Markets are poised to end the week higher, breaking a 2 week losing streak, even as earnings and guidances have been mixed.


 

 



 

                                                                                                                                           

Today's TradesCash-o-Meter

 

 

 





 “SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK” APPEARS ON FRIDAYS

Sneak PeekPie Chart Distribution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Summary

  

Weekend Update – October 16, 2016

As a movie a few years ago, “It’s Complicated,” starring Alec Baldwin, was a funny one that explored some aspects of life that many could relate to in one form or another.

A few weeks ago we were all surprised to learn of some new casting for the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live. But now after his successful appearances portraying Donald Trump, Alec Baldwin’s next role could very well be that of Janet Yellen.

While the Chairman of the Federal Reserve may not be as widely known as the Presidential candidate, for those that are aware of the very important role she plays in all of our lives, we could use something amusing to put events into perspective as we end so many days just shaking our heads wondering what is really going on.

Clearly, it’s complicated.

The one thing you know in life is that when you hear someone begin an explanation of anything with the qualifier “it’s complicated,” you had better be prepared to be deflated.

In the event you are paying attention to the world’s economies, deflated is not the direction anyone wants to be going.

Unlike the way it was portrayed in the movie, complications are usually not very funny, unless perhaps brought to life by Alec Baldwin.

Continue reading on Seeking Alpha

  

Week in Review – October 10 – 14, 2016

 

Option to Profit

Week in Review


October 10 – 14, 2016

NEW POSITIONS/STO NEW STO ROLLOVERS CALLS ASSIGNED/PUTS EXPIRED CALLS EXPIRED/PUTS ASSIGNED CLOSED EX-DIVIDEND
0  /  1 0 3 0   /   0 0   /   0 0 0

 

Weekly Up to Date Performance

October 10 – 14, 2016

This was another one of those weeks in which I had no idea what the week was all about, but I still think that something is brewing.

Again, it’s also a week in which I have no idea whether to be pleased or displeased about this week.

I was pleased to have made an opening position trade and to have been able to roll some positions over, but I was displeased with the performance of existing positions in an otherwise weak time period.

The single new position outperformed the adjusted S&P 500 by 2.2% and the unadjusted S&P 500 by 1.8%.

That position was 0.8% higher for the week, while the unadjusted S&P 500 lost 1.0% and the adjusted S&P 500 was 1.4% lower.

What was good was also the opportunity to rollover the week’s sole expiring position and to also rollover a couple of longstanding positions that have been retracing their price and instead of being in line for assignment next week are now continuing to be income producers for another few months, at least.

That’s OK by me.

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 still like to see grow.

With mostly good news to end the week, the market managed to give up most of the big gain that it had made on the day and ended up the week with a 1% loss.

The bad news on the week, at least as far as investors go is that the odds of an interest rate increase by December is now thought to be about 70%.

Investors don’t seem to like that kind of certainty, nor do they like the kind of opinion that was expressed in the release of the last month’s FOMC meeting.

So, despite good bank earnings, there wasn’t too much to cheer about and the market spent most of the week just following oil back and forth.

With another purchase this week of a speculative position, I was just glad to be able to roll it over and hope to be able to do so again next week.

I was also happy to be able to rollover one of those positions set to expire next week and has been the case for the past year, there was another opportunity to extend the expiration date, this time into 2017.

I had been looking forward to next week’s month ending expiration, but the sudden turn in pricing now makes some of those assignments and rollovers look much less likely.

I’m hopeful that earnings next week may buoy the market which is in need of some kind of a catalyst.

I still have some cash as the week is about to begin and with only one ex-dividend position coming up and perhaps the chance of no rollovers or assignments, I would like to find some way to generate some income.

That of course is balanced with wanting to preserve cash, but I’ve had a hard time resisting some of the recent opportunities.

Most of the time I’ve been happy to have not been able to resist, but there’s still the occasional trade that should have been resisted.

Fortunately, in the past year I’ve become more patient with some of those positions and can wait to make an income generating trade, rather than jumping at a less than appealing trade.

Next week will be a busy one ith earnings and we may also get a more and more clear idea of what December may bring.

If that’s the case, there may be reason to hang on tightly, unless markets come to their senses and realize that it may be time to celebrate.

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

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:  GDX (1/20/2017)

Calls Rolled Up, taking net profits into same cyclenone

New STO: none

Put contracts expired: none

Put contracts rolled over: MRO

Long term call contracts sold:  none

Calls Assigned:  none

Calls Expired:  none

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:  FAST (10/21 $0.30)

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 – October 14, 2016

 

 

Daily Market Update –  October 14, 2016 (7:30 AM)


The Week in Review will be posted by 10 PM and the Weekend Update will be posted by Noon on Sunday.

The following trade outcomes are possible today:

Assignments: none

Rollovers: MRO puts

Expirations:   none

The following were ex-dividend this week:    none 

The following are ex-dividend next week:  FAST (10/21 $0.30)

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

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Daily Market Update – October 13, 2016 (Close)

 

 

Daily Market Update –  October 13, 2016 (Close)


Yesterday was a surprisingly flat day after a surprisingly weak day.

Once the FOMC Meeting minutes were released, which showed that there was a fairly strong contingent of voting members who believed that we were ready for an interest rate hike, I thought that the market might vote with its feet.

That’s especially the case as word came yesterday that retailers are getting ready for the Christmas season and are having a hard time finding seasonal employees, despite offering better wages than last season.

No doubt that is an inflationary pressure, the kind that has to be factored into the consumer equation.

Maybe the reaction was going to be delayed, as the futures this morning had been showing triple digit weakness.

The market did acquit itself pretty well, though, coming back from a nearly 200 point loss to finish the day not even 50 points lower.

But tomorrow does beckon.

At some point, all of this will be over, just as it was last year, except that we may still be placed into that waiting phase, where we again wonder when the next and the next interest rate increase will come, as now the expectation is for multiple, yet small increases in 2017.

That same expectation for 2016, which has yet to materialize has been a burden and also a gift when the expected hasn’t materialized.

With one position set for expiration this week, I’d actually give some thought to rolling it over, even if in the money, if I can add another 1% ROI to the bottom line on that position. 

And I did try to get that rollover done today, but I may have been just a little too greedy.

With some cash available for next week, as well as some income producing possibilities with some potential rollovers, I don’t mind adding to that list.

With bank earnings beginning tomorrow, the Retail Sales Report and Janet Yellen speaking, in addition to the Rig Count, tomorrow may be a big day,.

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